I would like to buy a Noble!

[catton]

I am thinking of buying a Noble, Would like a new one but can't afford it! Have a Lotus Elise S1 at the moment and The Noble seems to be the way forward. I have spent a lot of time reading up on the net to learn as much as poss! Only have a buget of about £25k. My questions would be:-

A) Could I buy a good one for every day use for £25k ( or less to keep the wife happy!!!!)
B) Is it better to buy from a Dealer?
C) What should I be looking for when buying one.
D) What would be the running costs

Hope you chaps can help!

[blot]

catton said:

I am thinking of buying a Noble, Would like a new one but can't afford it! Have a Lotus Elise S1 at the moment and The Noble seems to be the way forward. I have spent a lot of time reading up on the net to learn as much as poss! Only have a buget of about £25k. My questions would be:- A) Could I buy a good one for every day use for £25k ( or less to keep the wife happy!!!!) B) Is it better to buy from a Dealer? C) What should I be looking for when buying one. D) What would be the running costs Hope you chaps can help!

Hi Catton,

A) Yes
B) No as long as it has a full factory or dealer history and has had the necessary upgrades
C) ECU upgraded, fans upgraded, serviced regularly, track sump maybe, tyres wear quickly, check discs and pads. Oh and only buy azure blue as silver is just soooooooooo 05
D) More than you would imagine, but depends on mileage of course

erm www.pistonheads.com/sales/50647.htm well wadda you know!

email me for full running costs/history

[Matt_FP]

catton said:

I am thinking of buying a Noble,

Good plan

catton said:

A) Could I buy a good one for every day use for £25k ( or less to keep the wife happy!!!!)

25K will get you a good 2.5 litre GTO with full history.

catton said:

B) Is it better to buy from a Dealer?

For the older GTO's go private - there's little point paying the premium for one from a dealer as a warranty etc. can be sorted out via a third party if required.

catton said:

C) What should I be looking for when buying one.

The car must have the later MBE ECU (either from build or as an upgrade from the early MM ECU's) and the fan/shroud upgrade along with decent history (don't be put off tracked cars, it doesn't hurt them).

If your planning on tracking it you require the track sump (this can be retro fitted if required by the factory or us) and it's nice to have the LSD upgrade (again can be retrofitted) both from a handling and reliability point of view as the standard open diff is a bit on the weak side (more of an issue on the 3 litre cars)

We offer a used car inspection service, drop me a mail for more details if required.

catton said:

D) What would be the running costs

Depends very much on mileage and number of track days - 6000 mile service is £375 from a good aftermarket specialist. 12,000 mile service is £600 with a 2 year/24K service at £710.

Common failiures are front bank manifolds and gaskets (around 7 hours labour to replace the front manifold and associated gaskets) and front bank turbo's (£400 for a replacement + similar labour as above). Both of these failiures can be avoided by installing suitable thermal management modifications.

Clutch replacement is a bit of a big job as it's engine out and around 16 hours labour + around £350 for a new clutch kit - however clutches (even on heavily tracked cars) seem to last well so it's not a regular thing.

This is a bit of a bargain in my opinion - www.pistonheads.com/sales/50647.htm

Also don't look at the 2.5 as the 3 litre cars little brother - it's only 6 hours work to bump the power/weight ratio up above that of the 3 litre cars!

Hope this helps.

Best Regards
Matt

[blot]

This is a bit of a bargain in my opinion - www.pistonheads.com/sales/50647.htm

Also don't look at the 2.5 as the 3 litre cars little brother - it's only 6 hours work to bump the power/weight ratio up above that of the 3 litre cars!

Hope this helps.

Best Regards
Matt[/quote]


And I've never met Matt before! Car is at the factory tues for it's 36k service

[joust]

That looks a very nice tidy car indeed.

Have a look at my 2.5l car pages at www.lotus-elise.org.uk/noble - should give you a good idea of what to ensure has been done on the car. Apart from that, take advantage of Matt's inspection service and budget around £1-2k per year in servicing/tyres/wear&tear depending on milage / track use and you shouldn't really go far wrong.

If you like a bit more peace of mind, there are 3rd party warranty deals around, again Matt can advise you on things like that.

J

[blot]

joust said:

That looks a very nice tidy car indeed. Have a look at my 2.5l car pages at www.lotus-elise.org.uk/noble - should give you a good idea of what to ensure has been done on the car. Apart from that, take advantage of Matt's inspection service and budget around £1-2k per year in servicing/tyres/wear&tear depending on milage / track use and you shouldn't really go far wrong. If you like a bit more peace of mind, there are 3rd party warranty deals around, again Matt can advise you on things like that. J

So much good info out there from the likes of joust and matt, I traded in the wifes Elise S1 for this car, so Karma say it should go to another S1 owner

insurance- try tesco or privilidge to start with.

Ownership experience is just a blast

Or you could even ring the factory on Tues or Weds....

[catton]

Thanks Chaps,

Lots of Good info, still reading www.lotus-elise.org.uk/noble web site.

I haven't driven a Noble yet! Was think of going to a dealer for test drive, but all their cars were £30k plus. Saying that, I had never driven a Elise till I picked it up and drove it home. Are these cars easy to handel compared to the Elise? Don't what to smash it up in the 1st week. Sorry for the silly questions, there isn't many Noble owners in Colchester to Ask!

[Mr Noble]

What you having next Mr Blot?

[joust]

The M12 is like a 'grown up' Elise IMHO. Handling is more predictable and 'safer' on the limit, but the M12 is still a 320bhp RWD car and so deserves some respect.

If you are investing £25k in the car, you could do much worse than spend £500 or so on some professional driver training to go along with it. Try Ride Drive, Don Palmer, Cadence, Track Academy or any of the others out there.

J

[blot]

Mr Noble said:

What you having next Mr Blot?

Well it was going to be an M3CSL but total change of plan, got the turbo 2 and developing that into full rally spec for sprints and hopefully single venue tarmac rallies.

Looking seriously at PCP's etc and might pop down to Brooklands in Leeds

I will not be leaving Noble for long.....