Would you buy an Elise demonstrator?

[K2iss]

It seems like you can still get the new lotus finance deal on demonstrators. Could be a bargain. I'm well tempted to grab one when I'm ready to commit.

But then, is this something I should really do?

I suspect a demonstrator is well maintained and the car well sorted, as otherwise people would not like it and wouldn't want to buy one. On the other hand it's like buying your car with the knowledge that dozens of people drove it as if they had stolen it, or tested the suspension setup on every pothole.

I suspect residuals can suffer, but how would you really find out (apart if you were the dealer)? Would it make a difference on the insurance?

Could it be as good a buy as a nearly new car, but with full warranty and new car finance? Surely it can't be much worse than any second hand vehicle... Or am I missing something?

As anyone taken the jump? What was your experience?

[K2iss]

Bebee said:

the more specialist the car the more likely you won't get the chance to thrash it solo.

I had a couple of test drives allowed with my partner and no salesman. But in these cases I always drive very conservatively. With a salesman though, I simply don't have that much restrain...

[K2iss]

RYH64E said:

On a car like the Elise it seems a bit daft to worry about how the car has been driven on (almost certainly accompanied) demos when surely the intention is to drive it like you stole it after purchase anyway? If an Elise can't cope with being driven hard it has no purpose at all.

Fair point.

[K2iss]

gashead1105 said:

How much are you actually saving by buying a demonstrator? How long are you going to keep it for? Lotus are offering some good incentives on brand new cars on top of the financing on offer. You can spec a brand new car as you like it and even have custom paint jobs or other non standard extras put on as part of the factory build process. After a lot of thought and an intense debate with the wife, I have spent a couple of grand more and ordered MY lotus direct from the factory with a paint scheme which is not offered in the brochure and I'm planning to keep it for a good while. If you are going to spend this sort of money on something which, let's face it, is unlikely to be a daily driver, do you really want to open the garage on a Sunday and think 'I wish it was a different colour' or 'I wish it had x or y'?

On a daily driver I completely get why it's worth buying an ex demo if you are looking at a new car, but for something like this? If you can afford a demo you can in all likelihood afford a brand new one at the moment. Give a dealer a call - I'd recommend Silverstone...

Good point about the colour, although two of the ex-demonstrators I saw were in one my favourite colours, so it doesn't seem to be a big deal. They also had a lot of extras that add thousands to the price of the car.
I'm keen to keep the budget as low as I can so I have more money left for holidays, track days, driving the car, so I wouldn't necessarily want to add too much from the option list if I was buying new, but will probably regret it.
I hope keeping the car at least 4 years which is the longest I've kept any vehicle so far.

[K2iss]

gashead1105 said:

Have you had one previously and are you looking at the N/A or supercharged? What is your budget? I've had my S2 Exige for almost 4 years now, which is by far the longest I've kept any car and, while it's now up for sale if I hadn't had a V6 for a long weekend I would be keeping my current one for another 4 years. If you are going to do trackdays, get a supercharged one as you will want more power once you've done a couple in an N/A version. I was at the factory last week and the new Elise cups look fab but a normal 220 cup racer in toxic green also looks pretty great (a mate has one and drives it everyday...). As to the budget, well the 50/50 deal has been extended to 2 years again for the next couple of months. So you can have your cake and eat it with no impact on the monthly budget - even my wife was happy!

Yes the Elise S CR in toxic green is high on my list if I can't go for a Cup with the crazy aero. I hope the low APR finance deal will hold until I get my house move sorted.
Feeling jealous about your V6 car though

[K2iss]

Lots of good useful comments on this thread.

eightyone said:

Lot of comments on this post about demonstrators never being allowed unaccompanied, this is not true.

I would never have bought an Elise if I'd have based it on the 20 minute test drive I initially had with the dealership. Took me a day of driving to really bond and understand it

I'm not sure how you manage to get the car for a day or two, I guess you just have to ask. I had the car for an hour and there's been nothing out there that got my partner or myself more excited, apart maybe for the caterham supersport R which is a totaly different proposition.