Best bang for buck car in the UK to bring back
Discussion
A trip back to the homeland for a couple of years may be on the cards in the future and the plan will be to buy a fun car to use for the 2-3 years touring the UK & Europe and then bring it back as a personal import to NZ to use for 1 year and then sell it. We will have about 20k UK to spend.
I have been looking through the Piston Heads classifieds at both Caterham cars (which I love) and Lotus Elise S2 cars (which I also love) and I figure that the Elise S2 is going to give me the best return in NZ when I come to sell it. I have seen 2006-2007 S2 cars with touring packs selling for around 15-18k pounds which puts them at around NZ $30-35k plus shipping and then after a year maybe sell in NZ for $50k. (worked out on the current rates which I know could really change after 2 years away)
A good 04-08 Caterham Supersport will cost about 20k pounds sterling so say NZ$45k back in NZ but would it be a car that would sell for that price or more in NZ as we have our own local builders here who's new cars cost $50k to build to a decent spec, the Elsie sure does look the way to go too me all through I really would like to own a Caterham.
I have been looking through the Piston Heads classifieds at both Caterham cars (which I love) and Lotus Elise S2 cars (which I also love) and I figure that the Elise S2 is going to give me the best return in NZ when I come to sell it. I have seen 2006-2007 S2 cars with touring packs selling for around 15-18k pounds which puts them at around NZ $30-35k plus shipping and then after a year maybe sell in NZ for $50k. (worked out on the current rates which I know could really change after 2 years away)
A good 04-08 Caterham Supersport will cost about 20k pounds sterling so say NZ$45k back in NZ but would it be a car that would sell for that price or more in NZ as we have our own local builders here who's new cars cost $50k to build to a decent spec, the Elsie sure does look the way to go too me all through I really would like to own a Caterham.
Probably safer with the Lotus as it will appeal to a wider range of buyers.
There are a number of nice Frasers currently on TradeMe and most are under $30K.
Openwheelers don't seem to sell that well here. For example, you can get a nice low km Atom in the UK for ~£25k ($52K) and brand new they would be +$90K landed in NZ. But you'd be hard pressed to sell one secondhand in this country. Whereas in the UK they get quick sales and good returns on the same car.
There are a number of nice Frasers currently on TradeMe and most are under $30K.
Openwheelers don't seem to sell that well here. For example, you can get a nice low km Atom in the UK for ~£25k ($52K) and brand new they would be +$90K landed in NZ. But you'd be hard pressed to sell one secondhand in this country. Whereas in the UK they get quick sales and good returns on the same car.
Most of the touring in the Caterham would be done to the big Caterham club events and also overseas, I have a passion like no other for the Lotus 7 car and that why I would always want one in the UK 
But looking forward to coming back to NZ after the stint in the UK the Elise S2 always looked a better buy and I think better value too and could help fund me back into a very nice Fraser once back here.
But looking forward to coming back to NZ after the stint in the UK the Elise S2 always looked a better buy and I think better value too and could help fund me back into a very nice Fraser once back here.I nearly brought my S1 Elise over with me in 2007 and decided aginst it after talking to Lotus people in Auckland and Christchurch. Potential certification costs and the price of Elises in NZ were the main factors. I've been keeping an eye on Elise prices in NZ and the general pattern seems to be that UK imports sell for significantly less than NZ new models, and are much harder to sell. This is because of the levels of corrosion found in the parts of the car that do corrode. Lotus Cars NZ have told me they no longer import cars older than 2006 for this very reason.
I also looked into importing a Caterham from the UK and have found that people like Neil Fraser (who, as you know, has a lot of experience in certifying Sevens) are very wary of them. I have also contacted people who have succeeded in importing a Caterham for road use and it seems that they can be difficult and expensive to get road legal in NZ. There was one for sale on Trademe for ages recently that didn't seem to sell and the Seven community in NZ seem very "anti" Caterhams and much more inclined to support the local products. (There have been a number of threads on this topic on the New Zealands Lotus 7 & Clubman forums - as I am sure you are very well aware!)
Bottom line, an imported Elise or Caterham may be difficult to get on the road and slow to sell, not really what you're after if you want to make a quick profit here! Buy a Caterham or Elise in the UK and sell it before you come back to NZ, you shouldn't lose any money and, if you buy in the winter and sell in the spring, you might even make a small profit. Either way, you should have no difficulty finding a good car and selling it again. You can then come back to NZ and buy an Elise or a Seven here. Another option would be to put your Birkin into storage while you're away and carry on using it when you're back
I also looked into importing a Caterham from the UK and have found that people like Neil Fraser (who, as you know, has a lot of experience in certifying Sevens) are very wary of them. I have also contacted people who have succeeded in importing a Caterham for road use and it seems that they can be difficult and expensive to get road legal in NZ. There was one for sale on Trademe for ages recently that didn't seem to sell and the Seven community in NZ seem very "anti" Caterhams and much more inclined to support the local products. (There have been a number of threads on this topic on the New Zealands Lotus 7 & Clubman forums - as I am sure you are very well aware!)
Bottom line, an imported Elise or Caterham may be difficult to get on the road and slow to sell, not really what you're after if you want to make a quick profit here! Buy a Caterham or Elise in the UK and sell it before you come back to NZ, you shouldn't lose any money and, if you buy in the winter and sell in the spring, you might even make a small profit. Either way, you should have no difficulty finding a good car and selling it again. You can then come back to NZ and buy an Elise or a Seven here. Another option would be to put your Birkin into storage while you're away and carry on using it when you're back
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