High Milage on an Elise
Discussion
I'm thinking of buying a 2nd hand Elise S1 from Pure Lotus and was discussing it with them. It seems to me that, while high mileage is naturally going to mean wear and tear, is there any real difference between one with 50 000 and one with 100 000 in terms of it's mechanical soundness, assuming it's been maintained appropriately? There's not much to rust and provided it hasn't been crashed the chassis and the bodywork should outlast civilisation as we know it. Any comments or sage advice would be much appreciated.
There is little doubt that a 100k Elise will need to be priced accordingly - but there are no guarantees so far as mileage and condition. The only mathematical advantage is that if the engine has been abused every now and then, the lower mileage one would have been so less!
What we need to know (but never can) is how the car was driven from cold. Period. If the car was warmed up properly and a good quality oil used and changed often, the 100k isn't so much of an issue. More top end engine wear takes place at start up than under thousands of non stop motorway miles at high revs, on a warm engine.
A 100k car will have had (or should!) a suspension refresh, I'd have thought.
It is a very tough call. If I were looking at a 100k car and it had many previous owners, I'd walk unless the price was so cheap any surprises were covered. If it was a single owner car and had tons of paperwork to show care and quality, plus the owner could convince me he took care in warming the car up, I'd consider it.
But it is unlikely I'll bother if the ad underneath says ' 40k, 2 owners, never tracked'. Especially, as is often the case, both cars are advertised within pennies of each other.
Just the way it is, I guess.
What we need to know (but never can) is how the car was driven from cold. Period. If the car was warmed up properly and a good quality oil used and changed often, the 100k isn't so much of an issue. More top end engine wear takes place at start up than under thousands of non stop motorway miles at high revs, on a warm engine.
A 100k car will have had (or should!) a suspension refresh, I'd have thought.
It is a very tough call. If I were looking at a 100k car and it had many previous owners, I'd walk unless the price was so cheap any surprises were covered. If it was a single owner car and had tons of paperwork to show care and quality, plus the owner could convince me he took care in warming the car up, I'd consider it.
But it is unlikely I'll bother if the ad underneath says ' 40k, 2 owners, never tracked'. Especially, as is often the case, both cars are advertised within pennies of each other.
Just the way it is, I guess.
The way I see it is that any cars wears with mileage. The Elise is a simple car and so there is less to wear than other cars so high mileage needn't be a huge concern. Most of the suspension components don't last 50k miles let alone 100k so its worth finding out what work has been done to the suspension and if neccessary budget for an almost total replacement which would be IRO of £2500 fitted. I'd budget the same for a 50k car to be honest.
Seats wear but are cheaply refurbed as are hoods. Bodywork is easy to remove which makes any paintwork repairs cheaper.
HGF is something to consider but it is likely that a 100k car would have already suffered this and if its been repaired to a high standard this could be construed as advantageous.
Personally, if the price were right, I'd almost consider high mileage to be desirable, it shows the car has been used and probably well understood by its owner.
Seats wear but are cheaply refurbed as are hoods. Bodywork is easy to remove which makes any paintwork repairs cheaper.
HGF is something to consider but it is likely that a 100k car would have already suffered this and if its been repaired to a high standard this could be construed as advantageous.
Personally, if the price were right, I'd almost consider high mileage to be desirable, it shows the car has been used and probably well understood by its owner.
personally im not one to worry about miles...im more interested in condition.i work for a main dealer and see some cars that have covered 10k that look more like 100k and visa versa, so id be more inclined to look at the overall condition than mileage alone. my S1 has done nearly 80k....drives sweet, had a head gasket a year before i bought it (i looked at a 40,000 miler but decided on one with 65k as it had recently had a hg, water pump and cambelt change - but worse case senerio its £800 for a second hand engine. I'd be more concerned with suspension and brakes...and whether it has the correct tyres etc....far more important than the 2 a penny k series behind your head!! just my opinion....
Edited by swannynhb on Monday 16th February 16:40
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