RE: 98,000-mile Lotus Elise | Spotted

[moffspeed]

Rule 1 when advertising a performance/classic car :

Drive it /tow it out to your local stately home/cliff top location and take moody shots of it at sunset. Then knock up an advert with plenty of "a rare opportunity" , ""much sought after", "an investment opportunity" and if you're really brave "probably the best available".

Rule 2 : don't advertise it with a wrecked TVR and a Landie on an FLT in the background..

[WonkeyDonkey]

Honestly I wouldn't even pay £5k for that. The damage its sustained just means it's a walking death trap.

I've just had my s2 111s up for sale at not much more than this one and I can guarantee the wheels just wont fall off whilst you're driving round a corner at more than 30mph

[anonymous-user]

moffspeed said:

Rule 1 when advertising a performance/classic car :

Drive it /tow it out to your local stately home/cliff top location and take moody shots of it at sunset. Then knock up an advert with plenty of "a rare opportunity" , ""much sought after", "an investment opportunity" and if you're really brave "probably the best available".

Rule 2 : don't advertise it with a wrecked TVR and a Landie on an FLT in the background..

Err.. probably as it's being sold by a prolific TVR salvage yard??

One I don't think should be given column inches by PH..

This has been for sale when I was looking for an Elise...circa 2014-15. Even longer I think. They also had a DB7 with damage the ad read 'very easy fix all parts here' ..well why don't you fix it yourself then!?

If you want an Elise - or any sports car for that matter - don't scrimp for this sort of nonsense.

[Welshbeef]

Thorburn said:

The place selling this is notorious for badly bodged repairs, often with chassis damage. Don't touch it with a barge pole.

If the suspension mounts are damaged the chassis could be a write off.

Are you allowed to post this on PH? Naming and shaming a commercial entity...

[Arsecati]

A Cat C/D wouldn't normally scare me off, if you can be assured the work has been done properly. But no matter what price this was up for - I'd have zero confidence in the work. I would much rather have bought this direct from the insurance company/salvage auction myself and then done all the repair work myself: at least then I would be guaranteed and confident that it was done properly.

[Nigel_O]

I was under the impression that traders had to declare a write-off in their adverts - have I got this wrong?

[kambites]

Nigel_O said:

I was under the impression that traders had to declare a write-off in their adverts - have I got this wrong?

I've never heard that. They're not allowed to lie if you ask, but I don't think they're under any obligation to proactively tell you that a car has been written off.

[Smellslikeaudi]

I bet the TVR in the background is a safer drive.

[HeMightBeBanned]

Dear Pistonheads,

Please take this article down off your website. Do some research and you will understand why. It will take you no longer than 15 to 20 minutes to realise your mistake.

[Apretext]

Welshbeef said:

Are you allowed to post this on PH? Naming and shaming a commercial entity...

I think there's enough information about TVRGlen and his selling practices in the public domain (and not just hearsay, provable stuff) to make it a public service making sure anyone considering buying an Elise (or any car) from him, go in with their eyes wide open.

A quick search on SELOC for TVR Glen will get you lots, and lots and lots of posts. None of it positive.

[jonathanncl]

Not sure where the Cat C stuff comes from or suspension damage? Car is Hpi clear and straight. Was bought in south London and driven to Northumberland without incident, it’s just the paintwork that needs sorting, the green flashes look like a 5 year old painted them by hand, can’t understand why anyone would do that to any car.

[Niffty951]

I tend to be a fan of the high miler sports cars. I'd prefer a car that's been used regularly a d had bits replaced than sat rotting for long periods between use doing sub 3k per year.. but in this instance it seems potentially a poor value for money option.

It's held its money too well to make sense. 5k could dissolve very quickly in the first three months getting the bits you'd want up to scratch and at the end you'd have a high mile car maybe worth 12k. 15k would likely buy you a value car in this instance.

[A1VDY]

Why even the mention of 98k miles?
Its just a rover k series, plenty of these around with way more mileage than this.
As for the comments re background photo shots, would it make the car any more attractive with a large country house with crunchy gravel driveway in the back drop?? Of course not, a car should be taken on its merits not location..

[WonkeyDonkey]

jonathanncl said:

Not sure where the Cat C stuff comes from or suspension damage? Car is Hpi clear and straight. Was bought in south London and driven to Northumberland without incident, it’s just the paintwork that needs sorting, the green flashes look like a 5 year old painted them by hand, can’t understand why anyone would do that to any car.

Suspension damage comes from the article about past mot's. I wouldn't touch any elise with suspension damage unless it can be proven the pick up points weren't damaged. You can bodge them which is dangerous. The only proper way to replace the pick up points is to replace the entire chassis.

For the sake of saving a grand or so it really isn't worth the risk to your life.

[Water Fairy]

Billy_Whizzzz said:

What’s with the horrible black highlights? Sounds as dodgy as hell. Worth paying £3k more for one with better provenance I think.

They're green and yellow aren't they? But yes still unpleasant.

[andymc]

PH would quite happily take anyone's dollar, I, as well as several others raised the issue

Hi everyone,

We have reviewed the situation and have decided that Motorhub will remain on PH. However, to be clear, we do not condone the behaviour for which they were fined.

Like you, we don’t want any PHers (or anyone for that matter) to have a bad car buying experience, especially when using PH. However, monitoring dealership activities that occur outside of PH is currently beyond our scope. That said, we are exploring ways we can better address issues like this in the future. Our sister site, CarGurus, has both consumer reviews of dealers as well as technology-based solutions that address suspicious pricing on listings on the CarGurus platform. These may be approaches we will consider implementing in the future on PH. As and when we have more news about any plans for future developments, we’ll let you know.

Best wishes
Jon MacKinnon
Senior Director, Business Operations - PistonHeads

[andymc]

they then locked the thread

[Augustus Windsock]

kambites said:

Nigel_O said:

I was under the impression that traders had to declare a write-off in their adverts - have I got this wrong?

I've never heard that. They're not allowed to lie if you ask, but I don't think they're under any obligation to proactively tell you that a car has been written off.

I’m guessing that the clue in the name ‘North East Sports SALVAGE’ wouldn’t be big enough to suggest that the car isn’t a pristine example?
It’s not as if you’re buying it from a Lotus specialist, where you would expect it to a ‘good’ example.
As for the question as to why it was previously advertised with thr parts required to fix it, surely if the dealer did that they would need to provide it with a warranty and run the risk of it coming back for reparatory work on a regular basis. Therefore sell it as it is from a salavage yard where I’m guessing that the same rules don’t reply?
And the crack in the ‘B’ pillar? I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near a car with that having regard to previous MOT history (albeit Ferrari’s of the 348 model run I believe was known for cracks in the ‘C’ pillar and had them regularly repaired; no one seems to moan about that).
All in all I’d be as attracted t this as I am to my ex-wife; wouldn’t touch it with yours although plenty apparently have and will continue to do so...! (Ran the last bit by my current wife and she laughed...)

[aaron_2000]

andymc said:

PH would quite happily take anyone's dollar, I, as well as several others raised the issue

Hi everyone,

We have reviewed the situation and have decided that Motorhub will remain on PH. However, to be clear, we do not condone the behaviour for which they were fined.

Like you, we don’t want any PHers (or anyone for that matter) to have a bad car buying experience, especially when using PH. However, monitoring dealership activities that occur outside of PH is currently beyond our scope. That said, we are exploring ways we can better address issues like this in the future. Our sister site, CarGurus, has both consumer reviews of dealers as well as technology-based solutions that address suspicious pricing on listings on the CarGurus platform. These may be approaches we will consider implementing in the future on PH. As and when we have more news about any plans for future developments, we’ll let you know.

Best wishes
Jon MacKinnon
Senior Director, Business Operations - PistonHeads

So posting a thread about a car you're working on and will eventually sell is strictly banned, but selling deathtraps to families to hide your heroin money is fine with PH? You'd think with all the money they must get, they'd pump it into improving the site by taking it out of 1998.

[kambites]

Augustus Windsock said:

And the crack in the ‘B’ pillar?

I'm not quite sure what that means, the Elise doesn't really have a B-pillar. If it's just a crack in the fibreglass roll-bar cover that's far more likely to have been caused by someone dropping something on it or something falling on it than a crash.

IF the suspension mounts are straight and strong, I could see the appeal of the car as a track slag. If they're not, as someone said above, it's pretty much worthless.

Edited by kambites on Sunday 30th June 19:44