Thinking of an Elise. Am i mad?

[phey708]

I was originally looking to get a smaller 1.4 car i.e. Leon TSI or Ibiza TDI however I am still quite young (24) and I would think that these cars would bore the hell out of me.

Then I was thinking, why not an Elise S1? You can pick one up for the same price as a Leon TDI but the Elise looks much more fun to drive and to chuck around with. I would be thinking of using it as a daily however and I would be traveling up to 220 miles during the week, so what would it be like to fuel?

Any input on my crazy idea?

[ewenm]

Go for it. MPG isn't too bad as the car is light and you don't have to drive everywhere enthusiastically Plenty of people on here use them as daily drivers.

[Bear Phils]

DO IT. As above the light weight and small engine mean mpg is good, as well as servicing costs.

[a311]

Do it. If you can live with the 2 seats and can fit in one, MPG would be the last consideration on why NOT to buy one IMO.

[phey708]

Cheers guys. It is very tempting and I would imagine they are fantastic for handling etc.

What are they like for storage i.e. boot space?

[eltax91]

My mate is running an S2. The one with the Supercharged Toyota engine. He says he is averaging 30mpg, and it's a toy, so he drives it hard.

[em177]

Also worth looking at a VX220 as you seem to get a younger, fresher car for your money than the Elise.

Just depends how much the badge means to you

[phey708]

Will have a look in to the VX220. As long as it puts a smile the size of the moon on my face then not fussed about badge. What is the VX220 like fuel wise?

Peter

[Captain Muppet]

phey708 said:

Cheers guys. It is very tempting and I would imagine they are fantastic for handling etc.

What are they like for storage i.e. boot space?

I use mine as a daily. Boot space is bigger than my MX5 (when the MX5 has a spare wheel in it).

Two of us can't eat a boot full of food in a week, but we can go away for a week with a boot full of clothes. So it's practical.

I use the cargo net behind the seats for dumping the stuff I'd normally keep in a glove box (ice scraper, cable ties, random junk).

I drive mine on snow, and it's not too bad. I have some snow tyres that'll fit it, but I've never bothered to fit them.

The soft top roof can be a bit leaky. I've had two soft tops, one that leaked a bit (not an OEM one) and one that didn't. I've got a hard top which has made winter use more fun (less condensation inside and warmer), but I was happy with it for a couple of years without the hard top.

Go test drive one, it's the only way to tell if you'll love it or not. I always slide the seat all the way back before getting out, which makes getting in and out much easier.

Mine was worth about £7k when I bought it. It's now worth about £7k. I've had a free Elise for 5 years...

[Captain Muppet]

em177 said:

Also worth looking at a VX220 as you seem to get a younger, fresher car for your money than the Elise.

Just depends how much the badge means to you

Yep. I bought my S1 Elise before VX220 prices had fallen that far. Definitely worth trying both.

[a311]

Captain Muppet said:

Mine was worth about £7k when I bought it. It's now worth about £7k. I've had a free Elise for 5 years...

This fact would also appeal to me. If you can get away with the 2 seats and storage if it's your only car or it's a toy there can't be many better option. Personally overlooking the badge, I don't like the styling of the VX but horses for courses.....

[thescamper]

Go for it, they are an appreciating asset.

[james_gt3rs]

For the price of an S1 I'd definitely go for a VX220, for the roof alone!

[Codswallop]

james_gt3rs said:

For the price of an S1 I'd definitely go for a VX220, for the roof alone!

Does it leak less than an s1 Elise? Having to de-ice the inside of the windscreen is a massive pain in my experience...

Had a chat with a very nice S1 owner at the Leeds castle meet last week, and I'm very tempted to get one in a year or so. Entry and egress with the roof on really wasn't as bad as some people make it out to be either, but the VX220 does seem like great value.

[Mr E]

Cheap to run from a fuel and depreciation point of view.

You may struggle to insure it.

[Dixie]

You need to test drive one.

I've had mine 10 years this year and use it almost daily. It's cheap to run, parts are cheap and is enormous fun. I tend to fall out with it a bit in winter but come the warmer days when the roof is off it's amazing.

The main thing that might be an issue for you is the noise. But you soon get used to that.

Like others have said. Look after it and it'll not loose a lot. I paid £11k for mine in 2003, a 98 Azure Blue with 80k is probably worth £7.5k today maybe? Not many cars would lose so little over that time.

They still look cool as well (IMO)

[james_gt3rs]

Codswallop said:

Does it leak less than an s1 Elise? Having to de-ice the inside of the windscreen is a massive pain in my experience...

Had a chat with a very nice S1 owner at the Leeds castle meet last week, and I'm very tempted to get one in a year or so. Entry and egress with the roof on really wasn't as bad as some people make it out to be either, but the VX220 does seem like great value.

I've no idea about that... but here is a video of taking the roof off an S1 vs S2. The VX220 has the same roof as the S2 I believe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yarFTVhJGXg

Also S2 roof on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihtkv8zGi_Y

[billzeebub]

Colleague at work uses a 2006 model as a daily, all weathers. He is well over 6ft and loves it ..so go for it would be my opinion. Life's too short not to, when you can. Very light cars, so when not going for it the economy is very respectable

[Zippee]

My mate runs an R reg S1 as a daily and does about 300 miles a week, his car now has over 110k on the clock and still runs fine. Go for it as long as you don't mind a bit of discomfort and draughty bits

[98elise]

Do it, its a whole different driving experience.

If the S1 is too raw, then for the VX or an S2.

The S1 roof is a pain in the arse, so my next elise will be an S2 short roof.