looking to buy a s1elise
Discussion
what do i need to look out for when buying my 1st s1 elise its for weekend and sunny days only im not a mechanically minded at all ive read a few articles on them and the seem to ave a few niggles, ive a mazda6 as my daily driver and a mk4 supra which is great because it never goes wrong but i fancy a s1 as something different from what i have many thanks lee.
Liam, think I've seen your Supra out and about. I'm just the other side of the river to you if you need any help (or want to have a poke around my car to familiarise yourself with them). Generally speaking, Elises are very simple cars so there isn't a vast amount to worry about.
You need to look carefully around the suspension mounts for signs of crash damage, easy to see at the front, not so easy at the rear.
Check engine oil and coolant levels carefully and get the owner to take the car out with them driving it from cold, see if they allow it warm up properly before caning it, realistically this will be driving it pretty sedately for at least 20 mins. If the owner canes the car from cold it could be a sign that the engine is likely to suffer from HGF at some point or it could not, you never quite know but I'd prefer to see a car being looked after.
Ideally, most S1's will have had the majority of their suspension components replaced by now. In a perfect world the original Konis would have been replaced with Bilsteins from the S2 or, even better, Nitron adjustables but the Konis are fine, if a little noisy.
Check for play in the steering rack, as racks can wear. You'll also need to check that any recall work has been carried out, this can include the clutch hose and floors. There is a good techwiki on SELOC that you should familiarise yourself with. Otherwise, good luck and wise choice.
You need to look carefully around the suspension mounts for signs of crash damage, easy to see at the front, not so easy at the rear.
Check engine oil and coolant levels carefully and get the owner to take the car out with them driving it from cold, see if they allow it warm up properly before caning it, realistically this will be driving it pretty sedately for at least 20 mins. If the owner canes the car from cold it could be a sign that the engine is likely to suffer from HGF at some point or it could not, you never quite know but I'd prefer to see a car being looked after.
Ideally, most S1's will have had the majority of their suspension components replaced by now. In a perfect world the original Konis would have been replaced with Bilsteins from the S2 or, even better, Nitron adjustables but the Konis are fine, if a little noisy.
Check for play in the steering rack, as racks can wear. You'll also need to check that any recall work has been carried out, this can include the clutch hose and floors. There is a good techwiki on SELOC that you should familiarise yourself with. Otherwise, good luck and wise choice.
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