Windows, lights and tyres!!
Discussion
Well you may have seen my last post that generated the best reply on PH ever!! Thankyou Henry Bovis I take full credit 
A couple more questions if I may:
1. The trim at the base of both door windows seemed to be very rippled on a car I inspected today (98 135 sport conv). Is this a common problem and what is it? It looked as if there was a strip on metal inside the rubber stip that was corroding.
2. In both main front lights there was either glass from a broken bulb or the metal bulb stem with. Both lights worked fine - why would this be? Are the bulbs difficult to get out so the lazy owner has just pushed them into the lamp and not bothered to get them out?
3. A new set of tyres has just been fitted - cheap as chips I guess, they were 'Yukon' IIRC. What are the consequences of rubbish tyres?
Like to hear some pointers.
Ta.
S.
A couple more questions if I may:
1. The trim at the base of both door windows seemed to be very rippled on a car I inspected today (98 135 sport conv). Is this a common problem and what is it? It looked as if there was a strip on metal inside the rubber stip that was corroding.
2. In both main front lights there was either glass from a broken bulb or the metal bulb stem with. Both lights worked fine - why would this be? Are the bulbs difficult to get out so the lazy owner has just pushed them into the lamp and not bothered to get them out?
3. A new set of tyres has just been fitted - cheap as chips I guess, they were 'Yukon' IIRC. What are the consequences of rubbish tyres?
Like to hear some pointers.
Ta.
S.
I would leave it - if the owner is so cheapskate they cant even afford decent rubber (like even Toyos are only £70 each etc) then god knows what 'maintenance' the rest of the car has had. On a 98 car lots of things could have worn out buy now...and should have been replaced - find a car thats owned by an enthusiast and has been maintained properly.
would you buy a Ferarri with remoulds ?
would you buy a Ferarri with remoulds
?1. TATDS. There is a mild steel strip in the plastic. I am not sure that you will get a lotus replacement part for it but you might try www.woolies-trim.co.uk/ probably cheaper!
2. Last owner may have possibly lost old side lights in there? If it interferes with the light pattern then it might not pass an MOT. In any case to remove them it can be a pig of a job. Jack the car up, take the wheel off, remove the liner remove the old rusted on headlamp and then try to put it all back. Doesn't sound hard, but all the fixings will be corroded and can be a PITA
3. Tyres are the only part of your car that connects you to the road. If they are not very good then you will not have adhesion to the road. If you drive in a spirited fashion then sooner rather than later you will have an expesive repair bill, or maybe a new car altogethre! Buy new tyres!
2. Last owner may have possibly lost old side lights in there? If it interferes with the light pattern then it might not pass an MOT. In any case to remove them it can be a pig of a job. Jack the car up, take the wheel off, remove the liner remove the old rusted on headlamp and then try to put it all back. Doesn't sound hard, but all the fixings will be corroded and can be a PITA
3. Tyres are the only part of your car that connects you to the road. If they are not very good then you will not have adhesion to the road. If you drive in a spirited fashion then sooner rather than later you will have an expesive repair bill, or maybe a new car altogethre! Buy new tyres!
Have to agree with Bogie, anyone who is slightly interested in the Elise will know that having the right tyre's on it will make a huge difference to the handling of the car. As already said, if the former keeper wasn't prepared to keep the correct rubber on the car what else is wrong with it ??
I have to agree too, however, if the tyres are new they probably just put cheap ones on to sell the thing to a buyer who would not know they were rubbish. Therefore, you need to be careful about reading too much into this.
The lights are a pain in the arse (I understand) and therefore this could account for the glass. Have the services been carried out by Lotus or a good garage - if not then this may be a sign of poor workmanship.
Just my thought...
The lights are a pain in the arse (I understand) and therefore this could account for the glass. Have the services been carried out by Lotus or a good garage - if not then this may be a sign of poor workmanship.
Just my thought...
hello,
Those tyres do sound very cheap!
I had the same problem with my side light bulb, it fell into the light unit and the only way to remove it was a bit of double sided sticky tape on the end of an allen key and slowly remove? bloody hard work when you have your arm stuck under the arch liner! took me 35 minutes and about 20 swear words
have fun looking but check the history!
THE MUTT.
Those tyres do sound very cheap!
I had the same problem with my side light bulb, it fell into the light unit and the only way to remove it was a bit of double sided sticky tape on the end of an allen key and slowly remove? bloody hard work when you have your arm stuck under the arch liner! took me 35 minutes and about 20 swear words
have fun looking but check the history!
THE MUTT.
yeah - well the first thing you are going to need to do if you buy it is put some decent rubber on it - otherwise you may as well not bother buying an Elise...so knock the price of some rubber or get the owner to put something thats a recommended fitment for the car on as a condition of sale
bogie said:Oh how true!
I would leave it - if the owner is so cheapskate they cant even afford decent rubber (like even Toyos are only £70 each etc) then god knows what 'maintenance' the rest of the car has had.
Just had the results of the car inspection and it turns out the car is an absolute lemon. A bit of digging into the very patchy service history revealed a snapped cambelt that took out the top half of the engine last year - conveniently called a 'C service and cambelt change' in the ad.
Engine taken out and fixed by 'Bob in Cardiff' who I guess had a few bolts spare when he finished. Inspection revealed that some of the bracing(?) beneath the car was missing that results in 'a serious and noticable reduction in structural ridgidity of the car'.
Also a list as long as your arm of other 'lack of regular maintenance' plus leaking cam shaft seal, dodgey respary to both pasenger wheel arches, etc etc.
Buyer beware!!
S.
yup - when buying a car of this type, its much better to get somethng thats maybe done more miles (i.e. been used regularly) and maintained properly irregardless of cost. My own car is 2.5 years old, 60K miles, but people always comment on how it looks like a 10K mile old car. Im afraid the Elise is getting cheap (relatively) to buy now so maybe becoming more appealing to be owned by people who maybe can just afford to keep it on the road ....barely...in order just to 'own' an Elise.
It is a relatively inexpensive car to run - theres not much else that will do 40mpg, 20 laps around any circuit and still drive home with tyres/brakes to last until the next track day...however once things start to build up, you could soon end up with a £3K bill for a C service with some consumables
It is a relatively inexpensive car to run - theres not much else that will do 40mpg, 20 laps around any circuit and still drive home with tyres/brakes to last until the next track day...however once things start to build up, you could soon end up with a £3K bill for a C service with some consumables
Well done Seth,
Stories like that make my blood run cold!
I really hate to think that there are people in the Lotus community who are happy to palm off cars that are no longer fit for purpose to some poor unsuspecting punter!
Seems like you read the warning signs well and had the appropriate checks done, top job mate - valuable lesson to everyone out there.
Might be worth posting some "details" of this particular car so any other potential buyers could be warned. Not sure if that breaks the PH "naming and shaming" policy but I say sod it - people like this should not be allowed to sell lemons without making potential buyers aware of any potential life threatening problems!
Dunc
Stories like that make my blood run cold!
I really hate to think that there are people in the Lotus community who are happy to palm off cars that are no longer fit for purpose to some poor unsuspecting punter!
Seems like you read the warning signs well and had the appropriate checks done, top job mate - valuable lesson to everyone out there.
Might be worth posting some "details" of this particular car so any other potential buyers could be warned. Not sure if that breaks the PH "naming and shaming" policy but I say sod it - people like this should not be allowed to sell lemons without making potential buyers aware of any potential life threatening problems!
Dunc
It would be wrong of me to name and shame but you get the idea from my first post.
I couldn't possibly say where it was as the Car differs from any other I have seen!
S.
sethlj said:
1. The trim at the base of both door windows seemed to be very rippled on a car I inspected today ('98 135 sport conversion). Is this a common problem and what is it? It looked as if there was a strip on metal inside the rubber stip that was corroding.
I couldn't possibly say where it was as the Car differs from any other I have seen!
S.
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