My Dilema

[martin nick]

Hi all...

I bought my elise to replace my beloved Bonneville. My idea was to keep the car in the garage and use it on sunny days when I would have used the bike. Now, since I have has the elise I have used my BMW 523 once. So I'm thinking is it worth keeping the BM. I love driving the Lotus it makes me smile, but when the newness wears off will I wish I kept the BM for 'everyday use'.

I guess what I'm asking is:

Is the elise (30k 1999) up to daily use? Its just had a Head Gasket replaced and a full service.

Will the stunning bodywork be trashed by everyday use?

Will I get p''''ed off with it in the winter? Or wil it be fine with a hard top.

Will it cause too much attention from undesirable peops?

I do about 10k a year so, not huge mileage.

I'm just rambling on a bit I hope you get the jist of what I'm trying to find out...

Its not really a money issue but i can see the point in spending about £1k a year to keep the BM on the road if i'm hardly gonna use it.


Thanks..

Martin

[turnamere]

I use my 2000 S1 every day of the year including the recent freak Cornish snow; but my other half does have an Audi Avant that I can use as a last resort if I need to move large amounts of kit or tow the boat.

Provided you are careful about warming it up before using large throttle openings/high revs the n the engine should be pretty reliable.

Yes it will pick up chips on the front clam but provided you keep a good layer of good quality polish on the car the weather shouldn't cause any damage to the paintwork.



Only ever get positive attention when I drive or park mine.

I have a hard top but that has lived in the garage since I bought the car; provided the soft top is carefully fitted I only get minor dribbles on the sills. This means I can easily remove the roof for the drive home if the weather improves. Also invested in a shower cape, on and off in seconds and keeps showers and dust out of the cockpit when the car is parked.

If you don't need the space of the beemer flog it and use the saving for some upgrades.



>> Edited by turnamere on Saturday 25th March 12:29

[dgr]

Loads of us use them every day, if you look carefully we normally have access to soemthing sensible for hauling stuff to the tip etc though. You do look stupid queuing at the tip with the garden rubbish bagged up in the passenger seat. There are many threads on this and the car works well for every day use. That said you may find a S2 a little bit more practical.

Go for it, the BMW won't get used. I do 4K in the alfa and 10K in the Lotus each year.

[tanman]

martin nick said:

I love driving the Lotus it makes me smile, but when the newness wears off will I wish I kept the BM for 'everyday use'. Martin

Does the smile wear off? i've had mine for 18 months and love it more and more each day! trust me this will not happen.

Because i don't want to trash the Elise carrying crap about i've always had a crappy 2nd car (currently a Fiesta 1.3- such power and handling) £500. doesn't matter if it gets keyed (has done), easy to take things to the dump, cheap to run, insure etc.
that would be my tip. The BM is too expensive to keep when you will mostly be driving the Elise- put the money you you will save towards some nice little extras for the Elise
tanman