Ariel.Club Forum

Hi all,

I'm Paul from Cheshire. Seriously looking into Atom ownership after almost doing it several times, but life getting in the way. Not decided between a used 3/3.5 or trying to bag a 4 that someone wants to move without a silly premium - I know the sensible answer may be to order and then wait, but I don't really have the patience for that I don't think

Need to shift my Exige Cup260 first, but will soak up the info here over the next few weeks.

Welcome. That is a wide budget if you are looking at 3, 3.5 & 4 - a good supercharged 3 will be £35k, a supercharged 3.5 is £40k and 4 is £60k+ on the used market. £60k+ will also budget you into a manual 3.5R or £80k+ for a Sadev equipped one. You can of course buy any one of these now and put a deposit on a 4 if you don't want to wait to enjoy the Atom experience.

I would recommend a full factory service history for any Atom for your peace of mind.

Good luck - I'm sure your Exige will sell fast enough.

Cheers [mention]Fastlane[/mention] Re budget I know its a wide spread. Being honest spending as little as possible is always appealing so I am trying to talk myself to a 3.5, but there does seem to be a lot of benefits to a 4 (these may be self justification for going newer). 3 also considered due to there being more out there at the moment, well thats what it seems

I know Sadev equipped cars aren't likely for me, daily is an M5 so want to keep a manual in the garage ideally.

4's are appealing as I have spent the winter doing a complete rebuild on the Exige, as I wanted it mint and not having to repeat that this winter on another car would be beneficial (I'm quite anal)

I need to go through the options I am really after and be strict with myself - hopefully I'l find plenty hear

Not particularly concerned about selling Exige, Cup260 is a bit of a unicorn car in the community so its just about finding the right buyer (famous last words)

I think I've mentioned this before, but if you're looking at buying an Atom, and you've not tried a 4, the 3.5 will seem impressive and entertaining. You could of course just enter the marketing "must have the best because they say so" numbers game, and buy a 4.

Go to the factory and try a couple of cars if that's possible.
The supercharged and turbocharged cars are very different.

A

Thanks chaps for the feedback. [mention]AlanP[/mention] good idea, I presume Henry is the goto man to see if that would be possible?
[mention]phil4[/mention] yes agree easy to get lost in paper specs, really need to try some out which obviously is not the easiest thing to do! Hopefully I can find a few locally

Well search has been expanded to a Nomad as I'm trying to get a completely different experience to my M5, so adding in some different terrain feels appealing as I spend most of my time in the woods and am a stones throw from N. Wales so it feels like a potentially better fit

I know you're meant to narrow down the list but I'm expanding it, so clearly not doing it very well

Best of both, Nomad R. Just the small issue of only 5 in the world and none on the market!

[mention]Valey80[/mention] absolutely that would be the one you want, but even I will accept that its a bit of an impossible task!