Help buying Exige

[riccardo]

Hi peeps!

After many months of delliberation I've finally decided that a new toy is necessary!
I've been seriously considering the Noble for some time now but to be honest I can't quite bring myself to spend close on 50k for one! So my attentions have been brought to the Exige!
I'd be really interested to hear any past or current owners opinions on this car and any niggles, service costs or things I should look for when purchasing.
Also the differences between the new model and the old.

Thanks everyone,

Ric.

[steff]

The S1 and S2 Exige are two completley different cars.

Have a read of these, the exige is based on the elise so...

www.elises.co.uk/miscellaneous/buyingused.html

www.exiges.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?Cat=

[steff]

www.elise-faq.info/content/buying/index.php

[_topcat]

well ricardo, i absolutely love mine. Its probably the best car ive ever bought, even better than my 911 turbo which i thought couldnt be beaten.
The exige is such a drivers car yet so tractable too. i get positive reaction everywhere i go( not so in the porsches). Im lucky and only use the car as a second car but im sure it could be used everyday with no problems( carwise, i might be sick with climbing in and out of it).
No niggles other than the tyres wear out a little quickly, the occasional squeek from the roof panel but thats about it, oh my girlfriend keeps trying to pinch it.( she's a pistonhead too).

Any questions you can think of then please dont hesitate to ask me.
TC

[Riccardo]

Thanks for your help guys! Excellent links there Steef. Much appreciated!!

Had a peek at your yellow monster TopCat! Most impressed!! I know exactly what you mean about the other half trying to steal your thunder!!! My girlfriend is at it all the time! I have a ZM Roadster at the moment and have had to resort to strategically losing the keys!!!
I think the 190 upgrade sounds like a goer! Have you bothered to modify yours in any way?

Cheers,

Rich.

[Davey S1]

You guys can rent my girlfriend for a while if you want. She hates my car as she thinks its too uncomfortable, noisy, rattles and is hard to get in and out of.

She is fully house trained and can cook too.

Open to offers

[Riccardo]

I wander if C4 would be up for a 'Wifeswap' spinoff!!!!

Does she clean too!!!??? The car that is!
If she does I think I may be the fortunate one on any swappage!!!!! Mine seems to think that that's what the rain is for!!!!

I NEED A LYE DOWN!!

[steff]

Dave - try putting her in the classified section you may get more luck!

[_topcat]

Ricardo, the exige comes with 190 hp anyway and the only mod thats been done to the car is a stage 2 exhaust. No plans at the moment as its such fun as is.

Davey good luck with the girlfriend swap idea, probably easier just to use the 456 more often.

[davey S1]

Topcat

I would but my girlfriend complains if I go over 7000 rpm!!

That said have you seen some of the birds on wife swap recently

[_topcat]

not recently but a couple of series ago and they were ruff. are these gooduns or wronguns?
dont worry about the girlfriend when you re over 7000 rpm, the engine note is fantastic, thats all that matters.

[riccardo]

Totally agree! The birds on that programme where as rough as houses!!! Who knows, maybe channel 5 will come up with an improvement!......O.K maybe not!!

I looked at a couple of Exiges yesterday, one at Nick Whales. What a beauty!! Part Ex may be a problem as nobody want's to give me anywhere near close to what I want to get back. So I think a private sale is on the cards!! So who knows when that's likely to happen!!

Just one last question!!! What are Lotus dealers like on the whole? I've had Beamers for the last 5 years and have got to know my local dealer really well. They're always willing to cut me a deal (helped by the fact that we all have a keen interest in bikes!!) so I must admit I have been a little reluctant to go elsewhere before. Oh yeah part 2 to the last question!!!!....are servicing costs quite reasonable? The last service on the ZM set me back £700! Oh well, who needs a mortgage anyway!!!

[_topcat]

The Lotus dealer nearest me is very helpful and i dont mean in a 'you give us your money , we ll give you help'way, i mean they are friendly and can give you answers and not BS. You do have to hold them to a price though as one salesman agreed a price with me but the other tried to add a bit on. all sorted out though. Servicing is thrown in with mine but thats just part of the deal i asked for. I am getting new back tyres tomorrow though which will cost me and not them.
Bummer.
Let me know how you get on.

[riccardo]

Hey TC thats good to hear!
Hit a bit of a flat note family wise this week so things may take a while to get the new addition on the driveway. Oh well such is life. I expressed an interest in a s2 at Nick Whales over the net last Saturday and received a call from them, today. I must admit I havn't come across anybody as helpful before in the car trade over the phone! Either he had plenty of time to kill or he just takes pride in his job! Either way it was a breath of fresh air to say the least! IF I can I aim to take a trip over next week to take a look. I'll let you know how I get on!
Cheers for all your helpful advice.

Rich.

[Mr Fix It]

Just need to go and drive em. I have not driven a new S2 Exige, but drove a S1 last year. Ended up with a ZM Coupe! The exige was nice in the bends and could do sill speeds, but just was not very quick in a straight line. Since my drive to work is on fast straight roads = no good for me. ZMC is much faster for overtaking.

[riccardo]

Yep I totally agree! A test drive will be first thing on the cards before I make a final decision. In all
fairness, if I could afford it I would probably go for a Noble but I think the whole maintenance/upgrade thing could get a bit expensive!! The Exige to me looks the next best thing and I have heard great things about them. I will be gutted to say the least when the ZM goes though!! It's a fantastic car, maybe not as good as the Coupe stability wise but stil great fun!! There aren't many sub 40k motors out there that offer the same level of performance to my knowledge and as you say on long straight runs she'll blow past most things with ease!!

[Mr Fix It]

It may have felt slow to me as I was comming from a TVR. I know some people who have gone for the Tamora option, sounds fantastic and goes like stink. I do love the looks of the s1 exige, the s2 does not do it for me. I did think about getting a supercharged one, but worried about the number of rebuilds on the 1.8 rover engine! My next thought was the s1 exige with a Audi TT engine, the swap is only £7k for 250bhp or about 10k for 300+ bhp. So you can get a s1 and upgrade for less than a new S2 exige! That would be nice.

[DanH]

riccardo said:

Yep I totally agree! A test drive will be first thing on the cards before I make a final decision. In all fairness, if I could afford it I would probably go for a Noble but I think the whole maintenance/upgrade thing could get a bit expensive!! The Exige to me looks the next best thing and I have heard great things about them. I will be gutted to say the least when the ZM goes though!! It's a fantastic car, maybe not as good as the Coupe stability wise but stil great fun!! There aren't many sub 40k motors out there that offer the same level of performance to my knowledge and as you say on long straight runs she'll blow past most things with ease!!

Funny you say that, by the time I specced up the S2 Exige to what I wanted, it was costing the same as a second hand Noble with steeper depreciation, hence my decision. Not regretting it so far, but aware its going to cost more to track. Fortunately got one which has had about every mod possible done already

Debating whether to change the suspension though as its too soft to give its best on track, but has lovely ride on the road.