First post so hello 
I’ll be in the position to buy a an exige pretty soon, done a bit of research and I’m thinking that an s will tick all the right boxes. Daily driver so fast road and the occasional track jaunt.
I’ve just sold a toyota mr2 turbo, around 280-300bhp so the power to weight is in the ballpark so to speak.
I’ve noticed a few ex track demo cars coming up for sale, notably from silverstone, given that these should be well maintained are there any reasons that they should be avoided? They seem to be pretty good value but I dont want to invest my hard earnt into something thats going to give me no end of headaches.
Any opinions/experiences in this matter would be much appreciated.
John.
First off “Hi”.
I’ve always been one of the first people to jump up and down and say “no way” to ex-Silverstone cars.
One reason for that is I was nearly caught by a dealer trying to pass one off as a “non-track” car and basically lied through their teeth.
I think as long as you know what you are buying and you accept the lack of warranty then fair enough as long as the price reflects this, ie. it needs to be cheap, very cheap.
I was offered an ex-Silverstone car for a fraction over �20K if it was bought as part of a job lot. No choice of colour or options.
Other than the obvious potential mechanical issues that could exist buy on condition as with all other cars.
Having done 76k miles in my S2 Exige and been on track lots with it I would say the following:
A track car used by novices or amateurs is likely to suffer lack of mechanical sympathy over its time on track. Whilst brake pads, discs and clutches are replaceable at reasonable cost the gearbox and engine are certainly not cheap to replace. Your also looking at a suspension & bushes refresh along with toe-links, geometry and so on. It all adds up and can be costly if many small things need replacing.
At 50k miles on mine it needed a new clutch, new brake discs, new pads, new suspension bushes, steering rack, geometry & service. That bill wasn’t cheap although prior to that it cost me peanuts to run with just fuel, tyres and a service once a year.
I went through the same loop and said no. Whilst the S2 are pretty bullet proof just look at the numbers;- lets say it two years old, thats 730 days, working 75% of its life so 550 days on the track with at least two differant drives per day so consevitivly that 1000 differant drives all hammering the hell out of it with no regard for it. Its differant if you are tracking your own car as you tend to respects and look after it allowing cooling etc
Nuff said
Yep I think you are right, will have to smash a few more piggy banks and find the cash for one thats had a better start to life.
Many thanks chaps, really looking forward to joining the fold.
john.
I wouldn’t let a high mileage engine put you off either if you want to save a few pennies. If it runs smoothly at idle with no obvious tapping noises and still pulls hard to the limiter you’ll be fine.
mine has a sticker on the back that says ‘always for sale’ !! 
Gearbox. That is what I would worry about.
can you get a warranty on the engine and box ?
i bought a car that had been with a dealer for a few months, they used it as a demo at a few track days.
first track day i brought it to, it munched the gearbox on the third session. sheared all the cogs right off third gear.
i wasn’t happy with the rebuild either and sent it back again, turned out the synchro on third was either worn or hadn’t been fitted correctly.
since that second rebuild it gave no trouble at all and i’ve done a lot of track days plus almost 40k miles of road driving.