6 to 8k Elises bargain or liability ?

[BMWChris]

Thinking of buying one. Is it like many "specialist" cars in that old cheap ones are money pits or, with so little to go wrong is a cheap Elise just good value?

[kambites]

You should get a reasonable high-mileage S1 for 8k but you'll probably have to look at a few before you find a good one.

[Paul RN]

Get it looked at if you're only spending that much. Doesn't take much digging to find the post of some guy on here that bought a 6/7k Elise and then had to spend just under 4k at its first service to get it sorted.

There are decent ones out there though, so don't be too put off.

[DucatiGary]

miles dont matter as long as its had all the right bits done to it and if I was you id pay a couple of hundred pound to have the engine looked over by somone that know what they are doing.

I struggle to see the point in paying 6 grand for an elise when you KNOW its going to have to need a fair amount doing to it.

false economy as you will spend alot of time and money (mostly time but a couple of grand too) to put it right.

track rod ends?
geo set up?
stonechips?
exhaust downpipe?
HGF?
unpinned body panels?
ugly history (which could mean the car doesnt drive straight)
incomplete? (IE missing bits that are not needed but just annoying knowing it should have them, towing eye, top rollbar cover, etc etc)

the first car I went to see was for 6 grand, only one set of keys, missing some non essential parts, looked a bit unloved wasted a 300 mile round trip mainly becuase it was NOT as it was advertised to be when I saw it in the flesh.

then after maoning about it on a forum I found out it was owned by a guy in manchester about 12 months before and he had crashed it up a curb at 30mph and thrown the chassis out, cat C write of! the guy who was selling it was a mechanic and had botched it up on the cheap.

most people who own elises know about the cars, they also know how much they are worth and if they are letting them go for no money, id be suspicious from the off as with any car, you spend a fair amount of money looking after it, you want to retain as much as possible, if you just drive it and dont keep on top, things need sorting and if they mount up thats when its time to move on and sell it cheap.

if its a car in the classifieds tell us which one, chances are somone on here knows it or its previous owner etc.

[BMWChris]

Is there a dealer with a decent reputation who specialises in older Elises, or at least has several?

[DucatiGary]

there is a specialist in the east of england who is "pure"

offered to sell me my old written off 911 !

then wouldnt let me see a car on a monday morning "becuase its booked in at the spray shop" he had already told me its not due to go to the spray shop till that afternoon so I said ok, ill run down now, be with you in an hour, if its as you say in the advert ill buy it, no need to spray it.

he then tried a few contradicting excuses as to why he couldnt let me see it, even if I came up that morning before it went to the spray shop!

gave that one a wide birth after that.

its also worth noting most of their cars are below the average private sellers prices, some by a couple of grand.

gotta be a reason for it

Edited by DucatiGary on Wednesday 24th October 14:53

Edited by DucatiGary on Wednesday 24th October 14:56

[kambites]

BMWChris said:

Is there a dealer with a decent reputation who specialises in older Elises, or at least has several?

I suspect any of the big lotus specialists will have a fair few S1s. You'll struggle to get one from a dealer for 8k though. Where abouts are you based?

[BMWChris]

I'm in Norwich. Which means everywhere is a long way away. I don't mind travelling a long way if there is a reasonable chance of buying the car when i get there. I'm good on cars but not the practialities of Elises.

Is there someone who i can pay to do inspections?

I drive within a few miles of the factory every day!

Cheers

Chris

[Paul RN]

BMWChris said:

I'm in Norwich. Which means everywhere is a long way away. I don't mind travelling a long way if there is a reasonable chance of buying the car when i get there. I'm good on cars but not the practialities of Elises.

Is there someone who i can pay to do inspections?

I drive within a few miles of the factory every day!

Cheers

Chris

Keep an eye on the specalist forums, here and SELOC for example for well cherished cars.

[BMGM3]

I bought a 7K S1 Elise via PH. No, you won't get something that's mint, but I feel I got a good solid car that I can use while I slowly upgrade and sort the few things that need doing. I didn't have a penny more than 7K top spend,so there wasn't a choice for me.
Some random things I would say to look for ...

Drivers seat is usually worn.

Orginal Koni red dampers don't seem to last 5 mins - evidence of replacements ( ideally S2 dampers ) is a plus.

Ball joints and toe links seem high wear items - again look for evidence of replacements.

Outer door window seals rust and cost £100 for the pair.

The factory Armourfend on the rear clam and sill areas yellows over time and looks shite. £20 replacements made the world of difference. Might not be a bad thing if yellowed though,as it could indicate towards being factory orginal and the rear of the car not having been painted.Check to make sure they are there though.

Check steering rack for play.

The original exhaust box rots and ideally would have been replaced by a stainless part by now.

[porteouz]

I wouldnt be put off, Id prob be trading mine in when it does go but if i was to sell it it would be between 7-8k. Has S2 suspension that is 2 months old, just had track rod ends done but needs track rod bushes done, Paint work is in decent condition, not great but decent, plenty of stone chips on front as expected and a couple on the doors also has a hardtop. Id certainly pay 7-8k for it and im sure there are others out there who are selling similar cars. Best bit of advice i could give is not to jump in and buy the first one you see, i did that and it took me a few month with lots of time spent on it to get it up to scratch. Just keep looking on here and on seloc as mentioned

[TIPPER]

Someone, somewhere (who should know what he's talking about) said not long ago that S1 Elises are £10k. For every £1k under that expect to pay at least the same to bring the car up to scratch.
The thing to bear in mind is that things that you can get away with in 'ordinary' cars (ie suspension bushes) will badly affect the Elise.
My car (99 S1)has now completed 60k miles and could do with a complete suspension refresh (It was partially done at 40k). Including new Bilstein dampers, parts alone will cost about £1000 and a garage would charge about 20 hrs labour.
The Elise is a fantastic little car and engine wise the're fine (they can suffer HGF but that shouldn't cost more than about £800 to fix). Remember the K was designed to do good service in a 'Eurobox' so will take miles well.
Take your time, don't buy the first you see and check, check and check again the provenance.
Happy hunting.

[SpeedyDave]

You definitely don't have to spend 10k to get a decent elise.

I've had an S1 elise for 6 years now and watched many others buy since and I'd say that if you take your time you can certainly buy a nice car that needs no work for 8k.

I advised someone on a purchase recently and we identified a few cars around 30 - 50k miles that were in very tidy condition and with nothing obvious to spend for that money.

What I would say to any elise buyer in this part of the market is to hold a decent reserve of say 1k just in case. Hopefully you wont have to tap into it (and in the example above he didn't).

The exception is track use. Anything over minimal use on track will quickly highlight any weak points and stuff like standard brake pads are not up to the job on any car.

For a bit of fun and general road use 8k can get you a nice car. There are cars available for less but it gets to be more and more of a gamble and the rule mentioned previously begins to apply - for anything less than 8k you need to expect to spend the difference to bring it up to scratch (and hold contingency for HGF etc above that)

Very cheap pound per smile though.

[kevin ritson]

SpeedyDave said:

You definitely don't have to spend 10k to get a decent elise.

You don't but always buy a sub £10K Elise expecting to spend £2-3K on maintenance and if it doesn't need it keep the money in a repair fund. That way there'll be no nasty surprises. At the end of the day it's an 8-10 year old car.

[DucatiGary]

kevin ritson said:

SpeedyDave said:

You definitely don't have to spend 10k to get a decent elise.

You don't but always buy a sub £10K Elise expecting to spend £2-3K on maintenance and if it doesn't need it keep the money in a repair fund. That way there'll be no nasty surprises. At the end of the day it's an 8-10 year old car.

its not guaranteed but I can see where you are coming from, ive spent 3 grand on mine in the past 3 months, ive only had it 3 months.

it is now complete.

but if somone wants to buy it, 10 grand and its yours.

[TVaRt]

I bought a 1998 S1 elise in a rare pearl yellow, with Sport 160 wheels, S2 suspension, some engine mods that makes it pull like hell!, full 1 year warrantee, and bought from a garage with 69k miles and FULL service history with a folder full of receipts for £7K!!!

Its got less steering play than my friends 2000 sport160, it has no knocks or bangs, its in v good nick too!

SO YES!