What i should be looking out for when buying a Trophy

[Woozie]

Hi all,hopefully all going to plan I'm going to view 2 Trophy's at the weekend with the view to be coming home in one!! ☺ Just wondering what I need to be looking out for,any hidden things that are not easily noticeable, I'm not that mechanicly minded by the way!! Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Mikeyjp]

Hi, loads of threads on here asking the same thing

have a read through this http://www.cliotrophy.co.uk/threads/trophy-buyers-guide.50822/

 

[Rik Perry]

I'd say Make sure the dampers have had a recent rebuild... Ask for proof of this .. If not knock about £400 -£500 off the price to get them done, Also recent Belts and dephaser change , Again with proof ... If not expect another £400 off..

 

[Ashtons99]

There's a lot of hype about the dampers on these cars and people getting hung up on them if they haven't had a refurb. A car isn't worth £500 less just because it's a bit out of time on the dampers. All it means is if they haven't been done at some point you may end up forking the money out to get them done.
Service history is important and the belt change intervals likewise. .......but buy the owner and buy the car, it's no good if the Sachs have just come straight out of BG if it's going to cost you £1k to get the bodywork and wheels sorted.

They are French so check all the electrics do their job. Check the seats slide fore and aft and tilt as they should.

The rest is just checks you would make on any over car of this age. They tend not to rust. The paint fades and the plastic bits go pink. Look for a nice straight car, good wheels and if the suspension has had a recent service that's a bonus, it is hasn't it's not a deal breaker, unless it's peeing fluid out the car will be fine.

 

[Woozie]

I know one Trophy's I'm going to see had the dampers with new shafts done around 4 years ago and its done 17k in milage on them,I'm guessing its like asking how long is a bit of string,but how long to they seem to last once they have been serviced? The belts/dephaser were done last August so that's pretty good,the other one is currently on coilovers but comes with all the original dampers and springs but the fronts have never been serviced,so I'm guessing you would send these straight off to be serviced before refitting them to the car.

 

[Claude]

My Sachs were done by the previous owner at BG Motorsport, Silverstone in April 2011. Since then the car has covered 20,000 miles so I've budgeted for it and am expecting it to happen soon but who know when that will be?!

In terms of the Trophy where the Sachs aren't fitted, I'd want to understand if they had failed or were taken off as a precautionary measure and in search of handling improvement - some switch to a Cup setup for winter, for example, others prefer coilovers for what they use the car for. I personally wouldn't refurbish the Sachs unless there was something wrong with them.

 

[Chris197F1]

The Trophy im getting tomorrow #113 has the Sachs rebuilt in 2011 so I expected them to need doing soon however when the current owner had the car MOTd the Sachs were given a clean bill of health with no leaks etc and its mainly been used for motorway journeys. I guess its just fingers crossed they last you as long as possible lol

 

[Ashtons99]

As I say, a lot of unnecessary hype about Sachs


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[SharkyUK]

I'm guessing its like asking how long is a bit of string,but how long to they seem to last once they have been serviced?

In my experience it's nigh on impossible to tell mate. Initially I got some 80,000 miles out of the dampers before they needed refurbishment. Then I only managed circa 12,000 miles before they needed doing again.