How did you decide which model to buy?
Discussion
There aren't many cars that have had more special editions and different option packs than the Elise. This makes it difficult to say " I want this model in this colour" and then go out and find one. What makes things more difficult is the oddly shaped depreciation curve which sees new cars lose quite a lot in their first year and then slow down for the next decade. This means there isn't a vast difference in price between a two year old car and a five year old one. So my question is, how did you narrow down the search and arrive at the car you have?
Originally wanted a vanilla S1 Elise, early spec with the MMCs as I figured this would be the purest driving experience and the best introduction to the whole Lotus thing. Also, the first of the breed is usually looked back upon as the best. I still regret selling her to get the Exige, but the Exige was one I always HAD to have.
Even today I want a stock S1, early spec as the first of the breed, to go along with the Exige, which I think is basically the ultimate evolution.
Even today I want a stock S1, early spec as the first of the breed, to go along with the Exige, which I think is basically the ultimate evolution.
I wanted a N/A Exige with touring pack and purchased the best condition example I could find for my budget.
I'm fortunate it was painted in my first choice colour but in an ideal World I would have also got seats and harnesses however I would have narrowed my market possibly forcing me into buying the wrong car.
I would recommend a decision process along the lines of:
Set your budget with ~5% allocated to immediately replenish/upgrade items.
Decide if Elise or Exige.
Decide if N/A or SuperCharged.
Decide which packs you would like.
View the best examples you can find.
Buy the best condition.
That's just a quick simple suggestion, feel free to tweak away, provided your being realistic with the budget, the right car will become available.
I'm fortunate it was painted in my first choice colour but in an ideal World I would have also got seats and harnesses however I would have narrowed my market possibly forcing me into buying the wrong car.
I would recommend a decision process along the lines of:
Set your budget with ~5% allocated to immediately replenish/upgrade items.
Decide if Elise or Exige.
Decide if N/A or SuperCharged.
Decide which packs you would like.
View the best examples you can find.
Buy the best condition.
That's just a quick simple suggestion, feel free to tweak away, provided your being realistic with the budget, the right car will become available.
Always been a bit of a Lotus fan and i quite liked the Elise, Trouble is i just like torque from turbo charged cars or big engined cars too much and the Elise just would not cut it for me. I wanted an Exige s but they are so expensive... Then i found the Europa and thought,perfect.. Turbo charged torque with elise size and handling..Looks ok too. That and working at a Vauxhall dealer was making it a "no brainer" So,now after a tweak or two i have 300ftlbs and 32mpg.
I fell in love with the S2, the S1 was never really on my radar because it came out when I was a poor student.
The first S2 that I drove was a 135R which I somehow managed to persuade a dealer to let me have a drive. Ever since then I was determined to have a 135R.
Finally, I was in a position where I had the money to spend £15k on something that would sit in the garage i.e. a weekend car and I was looking for a 135R.
I couldn't find one that I liked the look of and I actually started having doubts about that particular model due to it being pretty hardcore (for an S2!) with the suspension setup.
So to get some of the performance and better comfort I opted for a 111S, and that's what I've got.
I would like probax seats though as, whilst the seats are alright, I'd like something more comfortable.
Oh, and you can never have enough power, so maybe I'd like a bit more of that too
The first S2 that I drove was a 135R which I somehow managed to persuade a dealer to let me have a drive. Ever since then I was determined to have a 135R.
Finally, I was in a position where I had the money to spend £15k on something that would sit in the garage i.e. a weekend car and I was looking for a 135R.
I couldn't find one that I liked the look of and I actually started having doubts about that particular model due to it being pretty hardcore (for an S2!) with the suspension setup.
So to get some of the performance and better comfort I opted for a 111S, and that's what I've got.
I would like probax seats though as, whilst the seats are alright, I'd like something more comfortable.
Oh, and you can never have enough power, so maybe I'd like a bit more of that too
I am currently on my 3rd lotus in about 10yrs. My first was a 2001 race tech (120bhp) in Laser Blue, bought this after opting out of the company car scheme and fancied something different. The allowance paid for the car so it was a no brainer. Unfortunately after 3 years I wrote it off in the wet but was hooked by the car so decided to buy a brand new 05 plate S2 111S in Arctic silver with a few more luxuries like leather seats, electric windows and a bit more power. It was one of the very last k series (160bhp) to roll off the production line and in the 7 years and 60k miles it was very reliable for a lotus. However the more I looked at them the more the exige appealed. I had 4 options the n/a which was only marginally quicker than the elise, the 220, 240 or 260. In the end it came down to cost, the 260 was out of my range and after speaking to a friend of mine who had had a 220 and a 240 he said I should go for a 240 with the performance pack. So after scouring the ads for about 6 months I found a 240PP in grey which had a mountain of paperwork, low miles and was in budget. I even managed to part-ex the 111s which was a bonus.
I bought my first Lotus, an S1 111S, about 6 years ago. I went for a 111S over a standard S1 as I suspected with a standard S1 I'd end up wanting to upgrade for a little bit more poke, so I figure I'd save money in the long run 
. I also went for one that had the usual tweaks (s/s exhaust, S2 suspension, grooved discs) again to help resist the urge to upgrade. In terms of colour I was really after azure blue, but one came up that was ideal which was lotus racing green - I wasn't sure about the green from photos, but actually it works really well - so I think it's worth actually seeing a few different colours in person before writing any off as an option .
Last year I fancied a change, in part wanting something which could soak up a longer journey a little better than an S1, and really it was going to be another Lotus. I narrowed down my choices initially to an S2 111S, an S2 111R or a Europa S. Again with the S2 Elise I didn't fancy the standard K series or basic Toyota ones, hence the 111S or 111R. Also preferred ones with a nice exhaust (2bular or Larini). However with the S2 Elise I was concerned it wouldn't be enough of a change, so despite having no roof-off option a Europa S was my first preference and I finally got one a month or so ago. With looking at Europas again it was a case of thinking about which upgrades I'd be tempted by and seeing if I could get one with those on already (of course bearing in mind condition of the car as well). In terms of colour choice for the Europa I'd actually seen a few different ones at various car events over the years and found again that some colours I wasn't sure about from photos I actually liked when I saw them in person.
vxah - not sure if you're aware of it, but there's a group on Facebook for Lotus Europa S/SE owners/fanatics if you fancy joining
. I also went for one that had the usual tweaks (s/s exhaust, S2 suspension, grooved discs) again to help resist the urge to upgrade. In terms of colour I was really after azure blue, but one came up that was ideal which was lotus racing green - I wasn't sure about the green from photos, but actually it works really well - so I think it's worth actually seeing a few different colours in person before writing any off as an option .Last year I fancied a change, in part wanting something which could soak up a longer journey a little better than an S1, and really it was going to be another Lotus. I narrowed down my choices initially to an S2 111S, an S2 111R or a Europa S. Again with the S2 Elise I didn't fancy the standard K series or basic Toyota ones, hence the 111S or 111R. Also preferred ones with a nice exhaust (2bular or Larini). However with the S2 Elise I was concerned it wouldn't be enough of a change, so despite having no roof-off option a Europa S was my first preference and I finally got one a month or so ago. With looking at Europas again it was a case of thinking about which upgrades I'd be tempted by and seeing if I could get one with those on already (of course bearing in mind condition of the car as well). In terms of colour choice for the Europa I'd actually seen a few different ones at various car events over the years and found again that some colours I wasn't sure about from photos I actually liked when I saw them in person.
vxah - not sure if you're aware of it, but there's a group on Facebook for Lotus Europa S/SE owners/fanatics if you fancy joining
I chose the S2 on looks and comfort, with a 111S on my wish list until I happened to speak with someone who had an earlier, 120bhp car coming up for sale. Having tried it, I didn't see the point in spending the extra 3 grand so I bought his one. Added some touches to make it more of a tourer and have loved it ever since. One of the beauties of these cars is that you can change the spec so easily - seats, interior trim, carpets, etc. And the power is sufficient for my needs.
I wanted light and nimble. Control over power. So that meant n/a. But I wanted at least some grunt and I sort of always had a thing for the S2 shape..
Then a S2 190 came about, and after a quick research and a look at the production numbers I realised I just had to get it. Every time I accelerate past 5k rpm and the soundtrack turns into a pure racing one.. I know I made the right choice :-)
And plus it was selected as one of the all time best Elise in this month's EVO...
Then a S2 190 came about, and after a quick research and a look at the production numbers I realised I just had to get it. Every time I accelerate past 5k rpm and the soundtrack turns into a pure racing one.. I know I made the right choice :-)
And plus it was selected as one of the all time best Elise in this month's EVO...
I always prefered the styling of the S1 over the S2 and compared to my previous cars any model was going to be faster than I'd owned before so a K-series was no issue. I wanted a 111S but in NZ its rare enough for any S1 to be on the market so I ended up with a 118hp one as thats what turned up first which Ive been very happy with.
Thanks for the replies chaps. Clearly everyone is different. The dilemma I have is that we used to have a VVC MGTF and a regular MGF and I really liked those K series engines. My mum's 1.4 Metro GTI was, don't laugh, a really good car too. A few years ago when I was driving a Civic Type R I had a short test drive in a NA Exige with performance air filter and exhaust. I didn't think the Toyota lump was as good as my Civic's engine or the K series and it was so noisy it would have been quieter if I had put my head inside the crank case.
So, what I'm thinking is, buy an early 1.8 S2, see how I get on with it and if I like it get the engine swapped for a Honda lump. There would be little financial risk in the short term as I could resell for a similar price that I'd pay for it and in the long term the Honda engined cars seem to be in demand and would resell ok too.
One last observation. Aren't there a lot of boring cars for sale these days? All the interesting manufacturers have gone bust or now cater for Mr and Mrs Bland. Here's hoping Lotus keep going and continue to remember that there is a market out there for interesting performance cars that don't cost a fortune.
So, what I'm thinking is, buy an early 1.8 S2, see how I get on with it and if I like it get the engine swapped for a Honda lump. There would be little financial risk in the short term as I could resell for a similar price that I'd pay for it and in the long term the Honda engined cars seem to be in demand and would resell ok too.
One last observation. Aren't there a lot of boring cars for sale these days? All the interesting manufacturers have gone bust or now cater for Mr and Mrs Bland. Here's hoping Lotus keep going and continue to remember that there is a market out there for interesting performance cars that don't cost a fortune.
SonicHedgeHog said:
Thanks for the replies chaps. Clearly everyone is different. The dilemma I have is that we used to have a VVC MGTF and a regular MGF and I really liked those K series engines. My mum's 1.4 Metro GTI was, don't laugh, a really good car too. A few years ago when I was driving a Civic Type R I had a short test drive in a NA Exige with performance air filter and exhaust. I didn't think the Toyota lump was as good as my Civic's engine or the K series and it was so noisy it would have been quieter if I had put my head inside the crank case.
So, what I'm thinking is, buy an early 1.8 S2, see how I get on with it and if I like it get the engine swapped for a Honda lump. There would be little financial risk in the short term as I could resell for a similar price that I'd pay for it and in the long term the Honda engined cars seem to be in demand and would resell ok too.
If you like the K series and its character then you can always go the DVA Power route for a bit more power from the K. Obviously if you're going to want a lot more power then sticking with the K isn't the way to go, but the honda/duratec/audi route isn't cheap and while converted cars may be in demand you'd only recoup a fraction of the conversion cost in the sale price down the road.So, what I'm thinking is, buy an early 1.8 S2, see how I get on with it and if I like it get the engine swapped for a Honda lump. There would be little financial risk in the short term as I could resell for a similar price that I'd pay for it and in the long term the Honda engined cars seem to be in demand and would resell ok too.
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