Help me get my Dad into an Elise

Help me get my Dad into an Elise

Author
Discussion

otolith

55,899 posts

203 months

Monday 12th October 2015
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Nothing wrong with seeing what your money will buy you from a main dealer, though, and you will at least get to look at a few cars.

C.A.R.

Original Poster:

3,967 posts

187 months

Tuesday 13th October 2015
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Absolutely, this Saturday will be entirely 'feeling the water' and getting some good advice. Sure, it would be reassuring to buy such a car from a dealer but I respect what you're saying about the private market, which we will investigate once there is a better understanding of exactly what he is looking for of course!

I would want something like the VVC 160 as kambites' or a 111R with that 2zz engine which I thought was great in my old Celica. But dad might fancy something different; we'll have to see!

g7jhp

6,958 posts

237 months

Tuesday 13th October 2015
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What car does your Dad currently drive?

I suspect a standard Elise Mk1 with 118 bhp will feel fast to him and give him all the pleasure he needs.

A nice Mk1 will always be a good buy as it's the original and purest Elise and great value.

I'd try Will Blackman Lotus in Bucks as they always seem to have a nice selection!

Ozzie Osmond

21,189 posts

245 months

Tuesday 13th October 2015
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K-series engine is a bit of a sensitive matter. However, this excerpt from Wikipedia gives you a flavour,

"Following the collapse of MG Rover in 2005, the Chinese automaker Nanjing Automobile acquired the Longbridge plant, including the K series engine. The Chinese went on to further develop the K series engine, renaming it "N series" and using it to power the MG 6. The revisions included a different design of cylinder head gasket, higher tensile strength through-bolts and a stronger oil-rail fitted in the bottom end of the engine that the through bolts screw into. These revisions [were made] to solve the issues that some K series engines had of cylinder head gasket failure."


Ozzie Osmond

21,189 posts

245 months

Tuesday 13th October 2015
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kambites

67,460 posts

220 months

Tuesday 13th October 2015
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Ozzie Osmond said:
K-series engine is a bit of a sensitive matter.
I don't think it's particularly open to debate. Most of it is very well understood:

Head gaskets go.
Head gasket are much more likely to go if the engine has been/is abused from cold.
There are various things you can do to improve the situation but none of them are a complete fix (unless the N-series updates are, no-one seems to know yet).
Fixing a blown head gasket is about £500 if done in isolation or £2-300 during a cam belt change.



With my usage (3-4000 miles a year) I could afford to replace the head gasket every couple of years funded by the fuel and tax savings compared to the 111R; so far it's gone once in over eight years of ownership so you could say I'm up there. I don't expect it to ever go again but if it does I don't particularly care. I bought the K-series because I preferred the way it drives not because I thought it would be cheaper to run, that was mostly happy coincidence. smile

Edited by kambites on Tuesday 13th October 11:57

Feirny

2,500 posts

146 months

Tuesday 13th October 2015
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C.A.R. said:
I would want something like the VVC 160 as kambites' or a 111R with that 2zz engine which I thought was great in my old Celica. But dad might fancy something different; we'll have to see!
Mine's for sale in the classfieds, it's same as Kambite's but with a few extras bolted on. wink

Leggy

1,018 posts

221 months

Tuesday 13th October 2015
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Worth bearing in mind what your Dad's daily drive is.
Worth buying the most power you can afford. The 118hp's are nice but after a while I felt it underpowered.
Stretch to an SC I would say for ultimate smiles per hour.

C.A.R.

Original Poster:

3,967 posts

187 months

Wednesday 14th October 2015
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Feirny said:
Mine's for sale in the classfieds, it's same as Kambite's but with a few extras bolted on. wink
I finally found your ad after going on a pc (impossible in phone browser)

Turns out yours was the car we were initially looking at! Good to know you are on here. If I can speed up this process of buying then I'll be sure to get in touch!

As for the daily driver, of late it's been diesels for work. First an Astra Sport 150, followed by an Insignia 160. Nowadays it's a Peugeot Tepee, converted for my mum who is permanently disabled. So any car in existence is going to feel much,much faster than that!

Feirny

2,500 posts

146 months

Wednesday 14th October 2015
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C.A.R. said:
Feirny said:
Mine's for sale in the classfieds, it's same as Kambite's but with a few extras bolted on. wink
I finally found your ad after going on a pc (impossible in phone browser)

Turns out yours was the car we were initially looking at! Good to know you are on here. If I can speed up this process of buying then I'll be sure to get in touch!

As for the daily driver, of late it's been diesels for work. First an Astra Sport 150, followed by an Insignia 160. Nowadays it's a Peugeot Tepee, converted for my mum who is permanently disabled. So any car in existence is going to feel much,much faster than that!
Ahh cool, feel free to message/ring me if you want to know anything.

C.A.R.

Original Poster:

3,967 posts

187 months

Saturday 24th October 2015
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Thanks for all the help so far. I realise I haven't updated this, but I took my dad to the appointment at Castle Lotus and he thoroughly enjoyed it. He has driven an Exige before on a Silverstone track experience, but that was almost 10 years ago. The hardest part was actually getting in the damn thing. It was during this that he decided actually; a hardtop is not necessary, even though they look good. The car will be garaged and used on sunny days and Friday commutes, so the rag top will be fine.

I suppose I was shocked really at how 'cheap' some of the car felt, things like the wiring loom and rear light fitment, to the seat upholstery coming away at the sides of the base. Felt great though!

This specific car being an '04 "S". Sadly the gentleman showing us around the car couldn't tell us the engine spec, but it was a K series of some description! And the important thing is that dad returned from the test drive with a big smile across his face, so is now on a serious look for "his" Elise.

Feirny, your car is fantastic and I'm still plugging it away with dad. Sadly you're very far away from us for it to be something we can just come and look at once. One other concern was the exhaust modifications, but this was overcome when realising that probably 50% of those we looked at had breathing / exhaust mods! How loud is it, really? The longest journey it would ever undertake would be to Silverstone / Snetterton (1:15 hours). Is it deafening?

The search continues...

Mr E

21,581 posts

258 months

Saturday 24th October 2015
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I have a very loud exhaust on a k series. At motorway speeds, earplugs are advised. At A road speeds with the roof off it's tolerable. Just.

Feirny

2,500 posts

146 months

Sunday 25th October 2015
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C.A.R. said:
Thanks for all the help so far. I realise I haven't updated this, but I took my dad to the appointment at Castle Lotus and he thoroughly enjoyed it. He has driven an Exige before on a Silverstone track experience, but that was almost 10 years ago. The hardest part was actually getting in the damn thing. It was during this that he decided actually; a hardtop is not necessary, even though they look good. The car will be garaged and used on sunny days and Friday commutes, so the rag top will be fine.

I suppose I was shocked really at how 'cheap' some of the car felt, things like the wiring loom and rear light fitment, to the seat upholstery coming away at the sides of the base. Felt great though!

This specific car being an '04 "S". Sadly the gentleman showing us around the car couldn't tell us the engine spec, but it was a K series of some description! And the important thing is that dad returned from the test drive with a big smile across his face, so is now on a serious look for "his" Elise.

Feirny, your car is fantastic and I'm still plugging it away with dad. Sadly you're very far away from us for it to be something we can just come and look at once. One other concern was the exhaust modifications, but this was overcome when realising that probably 50% of those we looked at had breathing / exhaust mods! How loud is it, really? The longest journey it would ever undertake would be to Silverstone / Snetterton (1:15 hours). Is it deafening?

The search continues...
It's loud but it's not overbearing. I often travel over an hour on a journey and it's fine, sat at 70mph is 3000rpm ish and it's not bad at all, if you have music on it's not even noticable. You can have a clear conversation with a passenger without any issues.
Mine's slightly louder as the cat has been replaced, so if the cat went back it then it would be a bit quieter.

stuttgart737

59 posts

115 months

Sunday 25th October 2015
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When I got my S2 111s it had a Lotus sports exhaust on it which I found a real pain. Seemed to go right through my head even after a short drive. Managed to source a standard exhaust for it and haven't looked back. Still sounds great but the car is much more usable and I can't honestly say that I've noticed and decrease in performance. Get your Dad into an Elise - don't think I'll be out of mine this side of being 70 (still some way off fortunately).

kambites

67,460 posts

220 months

Monday 26th October 2015
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The exhaust setup on mine was fitted by the previous owner but I think I have a Larini Clubsport with standard cat and manifold and I find my car uncomfortably loud on the motorway. If I'm spending more than about 15 minutes at constant high speed I'll use ear-plugs. Despite about a foot of sound insulation in the floor-space between the garage and master bedroom it also tends to wake up the wife when I leave for work in the mornings.

However, it sounds good (for an inline four) when it's being worked hard and does have the amusing effect of sometimes setting off other people's car alarms when I'm reversing up to their cars. I've been vaguely thinking of getting someone to fit a switchable valve (like in the standard 111S exhaust) if I can find a good place to put it without destroying my fuel economy when it's closed.

Edited by kambites on Monday 26th October 08:00

C.A.R.

Original Poster:

3,967 posts

187 months

Wednesday 4th November 2015
quotequote all
Right, things are moving along at pace now.

I'm glad I encouraged dad to go and test drive one as it's catalysed this process now.

We went to go and look at this car the other day, what an absolute waste of time. After traveling for an hour we arrived at a crappy residential street in Tottenham where this 'dealers' stock occupied different parking spaces on tight street parking. Thinking we'd travelled the distance so we may as well have a look anyway, our fears were justified upon inspection. This car is f*cked. It had a big split in the front clam, a chunk of the bodywork behind the drivers side intake pod was missing, cobwebs all over, tatty soft top, wrecked wheels, lots of imperfections in the paintwork. Standing there, on the street next to (literally) a steaming pile of dog sh*t and an even bigger steaming pile of turd Lotus we decided not to even bother calling the dealer - not even to thank him for wasting our Saturday afternoon.

So, that says a lot for the more accomplished specialist dealers.

We're going back to Castle Lotus this weekend to view this Titanium 111S, which we looked at briefly last time around. It seems expensive but I suppose it's coming from a recognised dealer. The advert doesn't reveal much either.

I'm worried the old man will set his heart on this one when there could potentially be better cars out there for the same / less money (like Fierny's Type 25, which I've emailed him about). This is above his initial budget of 15-16k, and a dealer is less likely to negotiate down to that level. I've seen younger, better specced 111Rs sell for this kind of figure, which would surely be the better car.

That's another great source of frustration. Will Blackham Lotus. 99 adverts on Pistonheads and probably 2 cars in stock. What's the deal here? Very annoying seeing a great potential buy only to see further down the description the text * sold *. Surely that breaches some sort of rule? I suppose Pistonheads let the adverts continue rolling until they expire? Autotrader it is then.

Zoobeef

6,004 posts

157 months

Wednesday 4th November 2015
quotequote all
You could always point him towards the better looking brother, the VX220. I picked up another one for £4250 the other day. Great little cars.

Zoobeef

6,004 posts

157 months

Wednesday 4th November 2015
quotequote all
Also Johnny has some very nice cars.
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/dealer/7766...

Feirny

2,500 posts

146 months

Wednesday 4th November 2015
quotequote all
C.A.R. said:
Right, things are moving along at pace now.

I'm glad I encouraged dad to go and test drive one as it's catalysed this process now.

We went to go and look at this car the other day, what an absolute waste of time. After traveling for an hour we arrived at a crappy residential street in Tottenham where this 'dealers' stock occupied different parking spaces on tight street parking. Thinking we'd travelled the distance so we may as well have a look anyway, our fears were justified upon inspection. This car is f*cked. It had a big split in the front clam, a chunk of the bodywork behind the drivers side intake pod was missing, cobwebs all over, tatty soft top, wrecked wheels, lots of imperfections in the paintwork. Standing there, on the street next to (literally) a steaming pile of dog sh*t and an even bigger steaming pile of turd Lotus we decided not to even bother calling the dealer - not even to thank him for wasting our Saturday afternoon.

So, that says a lot for the more accomplished specialist dealers.

We're going back to Castle Lotus this weekend to view this Titanium 111S, which we looked at briefly last time around. It seems expensive but I suppose it's coming from a recognised dealer. The advert doesn't reveal much either.

I'm worried the old man will set his heart on this one when there could potentially be better cars out there for the same / less money (like Fierny's Type 25, which I've emailed him about). This is above his initial budget of 15-16k, and a dealer is less likely to negotiate down to that level. I've seen younger, better specced 111Rs sell for this kind of figure, which would surely be the better car.

That's another great source of frustration. Will Blackham Lotus. 99 adverts on Pistonheads and probably 2 cars in stock. What's the deal here? Very annoying seeing a great potential buy only to see further down the description the text * sold *. Surely that breaches some sort of rule? I suppose Pistonheads let the adverts continue rolling until they expire? Autotrader it is then.
Hello mate, I don't think I've had an email off you?

EDIT: Got it.


Edited by Feirny on Wednesday 4th November 17:36

Robert Elise

956 posts

144 months

Wednesday 4th November 2015
quotequote all
C.A.R. said:
That's another great source of frustration. Will Blackham Lotus. 99 adverts on Pistonheads and probably 2 cars in stock. What's the deal here? Very annoying seeing a great potential buy only to see further down the description the text * sold *. Surely that breaches some sort of rule? I suppose Pistonheads let the adverts continue rolling until they expire? Autotrader it is then.
Never dealt with Will myself but he is active and well regarded in the Lotus community, so i wouldn't write him off, especially if Autotrader is your best alternative!
are you on Seloc?
I didn't click on your first ad, Tottenham didn't strike me as Lotus territory....