UK used car buying guide

[bolus]

Used car buying guide: Ariel Atom (2000-) | Autocar

I think they picked up on the good things

not sure about this.
maintenance "every 4500 miles and cost around £500, or around £800 for four-yearly visits to include valve clearances and spark plugs"

Ariel checks valve clearances every year? is that standard? Do honda's have that much trouble with valves?

Rod ends:
"Replacing all 20 costs about £1200, of which 30 per cent is labour."

so removing the 30% labor charge that's about $1300-1400 for rod ends. that seems a bit pricey, no? its been a while but I think I spent $450 for all mine.

[Terry Kennedy]

Rod ends:
"Replacing all 20 costs about £1200, of which 30 per cent is labour."

so removing the 30% labor charge that's about $1300-1400 for rod ends. that seems a bit pricey, no? its been a while but I think I spent $450 for all mine.

I think you did the math the wrong way round on that.

Anyway, PRB-10T's (the larger of the 2 sizes used on the Atom) are $94.99 each at HRPworld. A US car takes 6 of those as well as 5 each of PRM-6T and PRB-6T at $55.99 each. So even in the US, you're at $1130 for just the parts. Presumably shipping to the UK (they're made in the US) adds a bit, although the factory probably orders in bulk from the manufacturer.

The numbers for the standard grade parts (the above are the race grade option) will be $39.99 for the big ones and $21.49 for the small ones, for a total of $455.

There are differences between the Brammo cars and the TMI / Ariel UK ones. I believe those have some combination of LH/RH thread on the size 10 rod ends, while Brammo cars use only LH thread for these positions.

[bolus]

I dont do my own math anymore
£1200- 30% to usd - Wolfram|Alpha

[Terry Kennedy]

I dont do my own math anymore

Whoops - missed the £ vs $.

[AtomJohnny]

Used car buying guide: Ariel Atom (2000-) | Autocar

I think they picked up on the good things

not sure about this.
maintenance "every 4500 miles and cost around £500, or around £800 for four-yearly visits to include valve clearances and spark plugs"

Ariel checks valve clearances every year? is that standard? Do honda's have that much trouble with valves?

Rod ends:
"Replacing all 20 costs about £1200, of which 30 per cent is labour."

so removing the 30% labor charge that's about $1300-1400 for rod ends. that seems a bit pricey, no? its been a while but I think I spent $450 for all mine.

I read that as the valve clearance checks are part of the four-yearly visit.

£840 is on the high side for rod end costs. Mine would have cost much less, but then I used QA1 and FK rod ends of the same or better specification as replacements.