Elise S2 wanted

[barefoot]

I am looking for a nice low mileage S2 up to £11,500 hoping for an 03 with the present economic climate!

Kev

[stuthemong]

73K s2 111s laser blue, hardtop, EP ally bells + mintex 1144 + braided lines, 4-2-1, hurricane, 52mm throttle body. recent cam belt, steering rack, alternator, geo & service. Just under your budget if you wanted it.

Stu

Edited by stuthemong on Saturday 22 November 21:48

[barefoot]

Stu

Thanks for the offer bit to many miles for me.

[griffter]

barefoot said:

I am looking for a nice low mileage S2 up to £11,500 hoping for an 03 with the present economic climate!

Kev

In the present economic climate, you and every other petrol-head is looking for cost-effective enthusiast motoring; an agenda which the Elise fulfils brilliantly. I think there are as many people looking for an Elise because of the economic claimate as there are selling because of it. Witness the number of TVRs and S2000s (about to be hit by £400+ VED) for sale wanting an Elise in p/x.

I'm looking for an S2 too and my experience is that the best cars (and there are many sub-standard ones) are selling quickly. What's more, owners are holding out for the money they want.

Good luck, but don't necessarily expect a cheap car.

[stuthemong]

I dont know grfiter.

-I think 11.5 is plenty for a nice stock, low mileage 2003 S2.

-If the OP wants a 111s, then its getting a little stretched there, and maybe accepting a bit more mileage would yeild success. Certainly a low mileage 03 car /w/ hardtop is going to be very tough, but maybe doable with the right seller desperate to get out.


I value my car above a stock 111s because of the expensive mods it has. (I forgot HID lights aswell, which really help.) Without mods, were my car a stock 111s with 73K miles, on a private sale, I think around 10.5 is where it is at to actually sell. To yeild more than that will mean my finding the right buyer who planned to do the 'standard mods' anyway, I'm sure there is one out there, it's the buyer I was

barefoot said:

Stu

Thanks for the offer bit to many miles for me.

barefoot, I can clock it if that helps?

Good luck with your search!

Edited by stuthemong on Sunday 23 November 15:53

[The Bandit]

I think i'd rather buy one with 'honest' mileage thats had good use and regular refreshes rather than a garage queen thats sat around all its life.
Low mileage cars often end up as money-pits,its a false economy.

[JTBUSH]

Couldnt agree more with the Bandit. Mines done 60k miles, is used daily and has only had 2 problems. One was radiator, and one was HGF. In my personal opinion, the more they are used, the more reliable they will be. As long as you budget for a suspension refresh, then high miles is no problem! Engines are rover units designed for shopping cars, the car is light, so not heavy on tyres, brakes or suspension and everything is simple to sort out.

[griffter]

stuthemong said:

I dont know grfiter.

Fair point; I've been looking at Sport 135s and 111S's; but I still think an 03 with low miles is going to be difficult for £11.5k. The cheapest 'straight' S2s seem to be just under £10k and they're on a Y.

Anyway, I don't want to talk the market up do I?!!

To the OP - I saw a nice Sport 135 in your budget on Friday, but it's an 02. 03s have updated heating controls and one or two other things (8 spoke wheels?) so they tend to command a premium.

[stuthemong]

as I say, I agree, a low mile 111s 03 will be tight, but the OP never specced a 111s, so may be happy with a bog standard sports tourer if they still made them then (I don't know), which should be coming in around that mark I think.

Certainly with that cash in his pocket I'd expect him to get a nice car, as can you

[Fidgits]

griffter said:

barefoot said:

I am looking for a nice low mileage S2 up to £11,500 hoping for an 03 with the present economic climate!

Kev

In the present economic climate, you and every other petrol-head is looking for cost-effective enthusiast motoring; an agenda which the Elise fulfils brilliantly. I think there are as many people looking for an Elise because of the economic claimate as there are selling because of it. Witness the number of TVRs and S2000s (about to be hit by £400+ VED) for sale wanting an Elise in p/x.

I'm looking for an S2 too and my experience is that the best cars (and there are many sub-standard ones) are selling quickly. What's more, owners are holding out for the money they want.

Good luck, but don't necessarily expect a cheap car.

Interesting...

I'm tempted to sell the Elise and get something really stupid.


you know, with a V8



but i just wouldnt want to lose too much on the Elise...


I'm not entering the garage queen discussion, cos mine only has 4k on the clock

[stuthemong]

Fidgits said:

Interesting...

I'm tempted to sell the Elise and get something really stupid.


you know, with a V8



but i just wouldnt want to lose too much on the Elise...


I'm not entering the garage queen discussion, cos mine only has 4k on the clock

OT: great minds..... http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Fidgits]

I was thinking more along the lines of...

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/735691.htm

[stuthemong]

- OK OK let's leave this poor OP alone

[gt03raf]

Hi,
if you're interested i have started to think about selling my elise s2 (02/02 plate). It's got a fsh and only covered 24,000 miles. I only bought in in march as a toy for the summer and it came with a 1 year warranty which would be transferable. it's a standard car with the exception of the lotus stainless sports exhaust which i had fitted when i bought it. The brakes were all done and the tyres were new in march 08.
I'd definitely accept an offer within your budget.

It's a 120hp sports tourer, yellow, black hood and green, team lotus side stripes (easily removed if you don't like them)

if you want to see pictures you can email me through my profile and i'll send some pic's back.
Andy

Edited by gt03raf on Monday 24th November 16:56

[chevronb37]

I'm thinking about a 111S or 111R next year with a budget or £15k - £18k. Is it realistic to find something '04 plate onwards? I've seen a few on the classifieds that look likely. I'm one of these picky gits who wants a hardtop too as will be a daily driver.

Anyone got any thoughts on the ownership differences between the 'S and 'R? I am being naive thinking a Toyota engine will be more reliable? I'm hoping it won't actually cost me any more to run than the HCT-R I have now, but that might be further naiviety...

[JTBUSH]

I wouldnt say the Toyota engine is massively more reliable. The K series has the HG problem, but apart from that is bullet proof. Seeing as the head gasket can cost less than £500 to fix, it isnt a big issue, and if you get it sorted properly, it shouldnt happen again.

The Toyota engines have been known to have a few issues. The only thing being, if the Toyota unit goes wrong, you will be looking at bill equivalent to a family holiday on Safari to contend with.

You can buy a second hand standard K for £200 if youre lucky. Youre probably looking at best at 10 times that for a Toyota unit.

[The Bandit]

JTBUSH said:

I wouldnt say the Toyota engine is massively more reliable. The K series has the HG problem, but apart from that is bullet proof. Seeing as the head gasket can cost less than £500 to fix, it isnt a big issue, and if you get it sorted properly, it shouldnt happen again.

The Toyota engines have been known to have a few issues. The only thing being, if the Toyota unit goes wrong, you will be looking at bill equivalent to a family holiday on Safari to contend with.

You can buy a second hand standard K for £200 if youre lucky. Youre probably looking at best at 10 times that for a Toyota unit.

"Ah come on now Ted.."
I think there must be less than a dozen or so posters on SELOC who have had trouble with their yotas(2zz),so relatively speaking it seems like a very low percentage of them have problems?
I think you'd have to be pretty unlucky to have a complete engine failure on either the K or the Toyota.
IIRC the main issue was oil starvation when tracking them(the Toyota)as they don't have a baffled sump.
There are a few guys having the Katana s/c kits fiited to their 111R's and Exiges giving out 250ish bhp without reliability issues

£15k will get you a very good 111S and £18k will get you in to an 05 or possibly 06 111R ,best to drive them both and see which car YOU like

[chevronb37]

Cheers chaps. I'm going to drive both to see which I enjoy best, but going from 3 Hondas in a row which have literally given me zero trouble, I'm worried I'll spend my entire life with my hand in my pocket! I'll report my findings.

[griffter]

chevronb37 said:

I'm thinking about a 111S or 111R next year with a budget or £15k - £18k. Is it realistic to find something '04 plate onwards? I've seen a few on the classifieds that look likely. I'm one of these picky gits who wants a hardtop too as will be a daily driver.

Anyone got any thoughts on the ownership differences between the 'S and 'R? I am being naive thinking a Toyota engine will be more reliable? I'm hoping it won't actually cost me any more to run than the HCT-R I have now, but that might be further naiviety...

I've seen plenty of 111Rs advertised under £18k, and a couple under £14k. One was an 05 with 20k miles. They're out there, but make sure you know what you're looking for.
111Ss are plentiful between £13-£16k, but the two drive very differently. Coming from a TVR I initially thought "nothing less than a 111R will do" - but have just agreed purchase on a 111S!

Based on my calculations (ie rather than actual experience) the 111R will be more costly to run - slightly higher fuel consumption, higher VED - BUT - cheaper to service will will likely redress the balance (depending on usage).