Newbie

[dal2litrefrogeye]

Hi all , just started looking into buying a Lotus Elise s1 ,Iv been looking and lerning as such? over the last couple of months , but iv now come to the point that I could see myself owning one by the end of september if not before ,this will be our 1st lotus ,we are not complete novices , in our stable at the mo is an E Type , an Ultima a very modded frogeye , and a couple of mx 5,s. any tips on what to look out for would be appreciated, cheers, Darren

[Lawrence5]

Howdy

Buying guides sticky at the top should help you along.....


http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Best one for an s1

http://elise-faq.info/index.php?title=Buying_Guide

A known car from here or SELOC is a good bet.


Happy hunting

[Scuffers]

dal2litrefrogeye said:

Hi all , just started looking into buying a Lotus Elise s1 ,Iv been looking and lerning as such? over the last couple of months , but iv now come to the point that I could see myself owning one by the end of september if not before ,this will be our 1st lotus ,we are not complete novices , in our stable at the mo is an E Type , an Ultima a very modded frogeye , and a couple of mx 5,s. any tips on what to look out for would be appreciated, cheers, Darren

usual rules apply with the Elise.

specifically, start at the chassis, make sure all the pickup points are straight (specifically the front ones) and that there is no damage to the chassis (as in gouges/deformation/holes/etc)

big issue with all the cars was corrosion of the floor under the factory fitted rubber 'mat', most will have been pulled up by now and delt with, but check all the same, in mild cases it's just a white powder finish that can be cleaned up, in bad cases, there are holes in the floor, Lotus's fix for this was to glue another sheet of ali over it (although I am not wildly keen on this approach).

after this, then it's all usual stuff, panel (Clam) damage is easy to spot and deal with, but check for further damage behind, also wishbones for being bent.

Apart from the chassis, everything is replaceable (all be it some at some real cost).