Not quite a new owner

[Chris197F1]

Welcome along mate, im sure you will find a decent motor with that budget, they truely are awesome cars! Once you have bought one have a look at the lego 197/200.net keyrings I have for sale (see signature)

 

[Warren]

I did the same thing as you in August, had 7.5k lined up and couldn't decide between a 197 or a 200. Decided I had to have Recaros and I wasn't 100% set on the look of the 200 so bought a 197 R27. All down to personal preference really, becoming a member on here first helped as I could dig a bit more into specs which Is when I found out the R27 had literally everything I wanted on the car as standard.
The market doesn't seem to be that great at the minute (Excluding private sales on here). When I was looking I viewed 10 in a day before buying mine although that did include a few Cup 197's without Recaros. I was looking Sunday as my Girlfriend has now decided she wants one after driving a VXR and my 197 at the weekend but my searching was quite tight on mileage and spec.
My advice to you would be don't rush it, wait and find a nice clean example with the spec you want. Out of those 10 I viewed only 2 where almost perfect, the other 8 had been abused and it showed very quickly, test drives where appauling and caused me to almost change my mind.
Service history, Cambelt (If buying a 197) and try and go as late a year as possible. Good luck!