S3 Exige Sport 350 - Buying Help
Discussion
Hi Guys,
Test drove my first Lotus Exige V6 Cup on Saturday and i was very impressed with the car as a whole. I'm coming from a 987.1 Cayman S and looking to get myself back into a car that's more involving to drive (like my old DC2), No power steering, no frills, just pure driving.
Some questions i have for you guys
1) Is there anything i should look for buying an Exige? What are the key barometers for finding a good car? I've noticed prices vary a lot depending on who sells it and the price difference between a car with 4000 miles to 14000 miles is huge, does it really make much difference? Did you guys do the OBD reads to see how hard the car was driven, how many times it had been overrevved or did you not bother?
2) Is it worth getting these cars independently checked by a specialist (say Paul Matty) or would it be a bit of a pointless exercise?
3) Can these cars be had without a garage? do they suffer from leaky seals when it rains/snows?
4) Are these cars likely to depreciate much further? Most nice 350's tend to go for 40-45k with some of the early / IPS models going for 33-38k am i likely to take a huge hit if i kept one for 1-2 years?
5) Can anyone comment on how expensive these cars are to maintain? i understand the majority of the servicing is relatively cheap but intervals are very short (porsche 20k vs Lotus 9k) brakes seem to be more expensive than the porsches too, if anyone who has owned both can comment it would be much appreciated?
6) I notice these insurance group 50, do they get stolen often or is it more down to insurers knowing that most people track these?
Thanks in advance
Test drove my first Lotus Exige V6 Cup on Saturday and i was very impressed with the car as a whole. I'm coming from a 987.1 Cayman S and looking to get myself back into a car that's more involving to drive (like my old DC2), No power steering, no frills, just pure driving.
Some questions i have for you guys
1) Is there anything i should look for buying an Exige? What are the key barometers for finding a good car? I've noticed prices vary a lot depending on who sells it and the price difference between a car with 4000 miles to 14000 miles is huge, does it really make much difference? Did you guys do the OBD reads to see how hard the car was driven, how many times it had been overrevved or did you not bother?
2) Is it worth getting these cars independently checked by a specialist (say Paul Matty) or would it be a bit of a pointless exercise?
3) Can these cars be had without a garage? do they suffer from leaky seals when it rains/snows?
4) Are these cars likely to depreciate much further? Most nice 350's tend to go for 40-45k with some of the early / IPS models going for 33-38k am i likely to take a huge hit if i kept one for 1-2 years?
5) Can anyone comment on how expensive these cars are to maintain? i understand the majority of the servicing is relatively cheap but intervals are very short (porsche 20k vs Lotus 9k) brakes seem to be more expensive than the porsches too, if anyone who has owned both can comment it would be much appreciated?
6) I notice these insurance group 50, do they get stolen often or is it more down to insurers knowing that most people track these?
Thanks in advance
gareth h said:
1) I’ve had a couple of V6 Exiges(350 and 410), both were bought from main dealers with warranty, but they aren’t complex cars so wouldn’t worry too much about buying privately if it was a decent deal. The engines are not highly tuned so pretty reliable, some early cars seemed to have clutch issues but this was resolved.
2)People don’t seem to get them independently checked like the Porsche guys do, but if it’s a few hundred quid and provides some confidence why not.
3)Mine lives out for 2/3 of the year but I rent a garage for 4 months to keep the worst of the weather off, they are fairly water tight but you can get the odd drip on the sills, biggest issue for me with Elise / Evora / 350 was the brakes sticking when left out in the rain and not driven for a few days, not a problem if parked on tarmac but I’ve got a gravel drive and they wouldn’t break free until the front wheels hit tarmac, not a problem with the 410, I guess they have used different pad / disc material.
4)Depreciation has been very low on all of mine, which I have either traded or commission sold through a Lotus main dealer.
5)Servicing is way cheaper than Porsche, and for most people service is time based due to annual mileage behind fairly low.
6)I’ve found insurance very cheap (£240 for my 410 with LV), but I struggled to get a policy which allowed a decent annual mileage and also covered trackdays.
I had a few little niggley problems which were frustrating due to the dealer I used not having much experience in the workshop, am now using Silverstone who have been excellent and understand all of the little quirks.
For the people that “get” Lotus these cars really get under your skin and spoil you for driving pretty much anything else, get one bought and enjoy it
Very much appreciate the reply on that Gareth, top man!2)People don’t seem to get them independently checked like the Porsche guys do, but if it’s a few hundred quid and provides some confidence why not.
3)Mine lives out for 2/3 of the year but I rent a garage for 4 months to keep the worst of the weather off, they are fairly water tight but you can get the odd drip on the sills, biggest issue for me with Elise / Evora / 350 was the brakes sticking when left out in the rain and not driven for a few days, not a problem if parked on tarmac but I’ve got a gravel drive and they wouldn’t break free until the front wheels hit tarmac, not a problem with the 410, I guess they have used different pad / disc material.
4)Depreciation has been very low on all of mine, which I have either traded or commission sold through a Lotus main dealer.
5)Servicing is way cheaper than Porsche, and for most people service is time based due to annual mileage behind fairly low.
6)I’ve found insurance very cheap (£240 for my 410 with LV), but I struggled to get a policy which allowed a decent annual mileage and also covered trackdays.
I had a few little niggley problems which were frustrating due to the dealer I used not having much experience in the workshop, am now using Silverstone who have been excellent and understand all of the little quirks.
For the people that “get” Lotus these cars really get under your skin and spoil you for driving pretty much anything else, get one bought and enjoy it
I have a gravel drive too so the brakes on the 350 might be a problem as i'll only be driving it on the weekends...
*goes straight to amazon prime*Gassing Station | Elise/Exige/Europa/340R | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff