Half decent Elise for £8k?

[KingRichard]

Every TVR I've looked at has scared me a bit when leafing through their service records. Undoubtedly loved and cherished they may be, but 'oh, that cost £600, this £800' etc has been holding me back from making any offers.

I even looked at an MX5

So, I was idly clicking through PH classifieds when I started seeing a few S1's come up for around my budget.

Now, I know I love the elise. I may have given Lotus a slating over the new Europa, but the love is strong for the Elise It's hard to deny. Sexy looks, good acceleration, amazing handling and girls loooove them. Oh, 40mpg and services at £150 a pop are quite appealing too.

Just found out our leasing company will do a cheap rate HP on it for me and our fleet insurer will bung it on as a directors car for a TINY premium

So, is an £8k car likely to need a load of sorting or what?

[Scuffers]

KingRichard said:

So, is an £8k car likely to need a load of sorting or what?

if your not in a hurrt, £8K will get you a decent S1... don't expect showroom paint etc, but perfectly servceable, main thing is get one that's stright, as in no chassis damage etc.

[Yee haa!]

this has been done loads of times but if you shop carefully I don't see why not

[KingRichard]

So what should I be paying for something in good nick?

[Mark B]

I bought my 1999, 1 owner, 50k mile car with FLSH 4 years ago for £9k with a hardtop. They're out there, but do you research and shop for a good one.

I have subsequently replaced all the springs, dampers, wishbone bushes, ball joints, track rod ends, wheel bearings, all the brake flexi lines and disks/pads, exhaust, manifold, induction, headlights, driving lights and numerous sets of tyres since owning her... No idea if they would have let me down so to speak as I do this as a rolling servicing schedule to keep it in good condition... I do then tend to spank it everywhere I drive it...

Go for it, no reason for an Elise to cost a lot straight after purchase, but always be prepared to replace stuff as it gets tired..

[Gad-Westy]

KingRichard said:

So what should I be paying for something in good nick?

Prices are a little bit higher at the moment than when I purchased but £8k got me VGC 60k S1 111S back in November so you should be ok. I'd recommend going for a looked after high mileage example, as you should find most niggles have been ironed out. Familiarise youself with the SELOC Wiki to find out what things changed and when (e.g. early S1's have a much smaller boot that later ones).

Look very carefully for accident damage around the suspension mounts and if you see anything, walk away. There are some Cat D bargains about that may be worth looking into if you know what you're doing. If it were me though, I think I'd try and find a high mile early uncrashed car for around the £6k mark and do a full suspension and interior refresh on it and a Larini and Hurricane and you'd potentially have a really nice car for £8k. One tip, silver and titanium show up stonechips far less than the brighter colours.

[Lotusnick S2]

As Simon said, be patient and you should find a good example at £8K.
Don't forget to get it checked at a specialist

Gad-Westy said:

If it were me though, I think I'd try and find a high mile early uncrashed car for around the £6k mark and do a full suspension and interior refresh on it and a Larini and Hurricane and you'd potentially have a really nice car for £8k. One tip, silver and titanium show up stonechips far less than the brighter colours.

Good thinking (and excellent tip) but you need a lot more than £2K for to do the above
However you would end up with a very nice to drive Elise.

[Mark B]

I have just done a suspension overhaul for £1k and I did everything, interior could be £150 - £350 and an induction kit and exhaust could be had for as little as £150 if you look about and pick up some bargains... For me, it's all part of the fun..

Sure, if you drive into Sinclaires, MSC or somewhere such as this and ask for them to do interior, suspension, induction and an exhaust it'll cost waaaay more than I have quoted, but for those who are happy to get on the tools can do this with ease... The beauty of the Elise is it's simplicity

[Gad-Westy]

Lotusnick S2 said:

As Simon said, be patient and you should find a good example at £8K.
Don't forget to get it checked at a specialist

Gad-Westy said:

If it were me though, I think I'd try and find a high mile early uncrashed car for around the £6k mark and do a full suspension and interior refresh on it and a Larini and Hurricane and you'd potentially have a really nice car for £8k. One tip, silver and titanium show up stonechips far less than the brighter colours.

Good thinking (and excellent tip) but you need a lot more than £2K for to do the above
However you would end up with a very nice to drive Elise.

Not if you do everything yourself (and it is a piece of piss!). £550 for S2 Billies, £250 for bushes, balljoints etc.. and £200 for a geo set up afterwards. Leaving £1000 for some nice bits.

[Shnozz]

Having a quick sweep of the classifieds would suggest its possible to get a clean car for £8k. You may want to possibly push the budget to £9k or thereabouts.

Either way, I'd be looking for one with refreshed suspension (pref S2 bilsteins or nitrons), discs and pads with plenty of life (preferably upgraded) and usual exhaust, tyres etc that wont require expenditure straight away. A recent C service inc cambelt change also..

If you dont, chances are the car will need it and its easy to do £3k+ making the £8k elise far more than the £9k one than had all that done...

I bought mine without this knowledge and spent £6.5k in about 12 months and 5000 miles. Mine was a 1 owner car with 22k on the clock. The underuse previously may have been partly the cause of the work required, but I cant help but think it was primarily the age of the car and any that are 10 years old + are likely to need a refresh of these parts by now.

[Thorburn]

I paid £8500 for my S1 about 2 months ago. Absolutely no complaints with the condition paint is in great condition for a 10 year old car, last service was 5000 miles ago (due September), head gasket done 2000 miles ago, stacks of history, and a few basic mods.

[chris7676]

Have seen some higher mileage and sorted ones (suspension renewed, etc) for around £7000+

[KingRichard]

Guys, please ignore this topic. I've increased the budget. Thanks