Elise S3 Prices

[highway]

I’ve been watching a long time now. The last two years have seen prices take off, which no one really expected.
The same Elises are for sale on Auto Trader for months before they sell. The peppermint coloured car has been on for seasons.

They are spread between £41 and £49k with more asked for a Cup and a bit less for an earlier car. To be clear im only looking at post 17 models. Given there are so few for sale you’d think those advertised would find a home quickly. Yet they don’t. I conclude that many can’t swallow buying a 5 year old Elise today, for the same price it was new.

What a bizzare market.

[chappj]

When you compare the prices of an S3 to where S1’s are now, they seem relatively good value.

I’m chuffed that I managed to get an FE240. I can’t see prices weakening as there isn’t anything else like it on the market now.

[highway]

There are no final editions for sale yet. But every S3 Elise is effectively a final edition, bar the digital dash which is a straightforward retro fit.
I was disappointed the standard spec on the FE wasn’t more generous, rather than leaving so much as a cost option.

[mike150]

I've no thoughts of selling my 2019 as there is nothing I'd rather have and nothing else like it (as said) nor ever will be in the future.

I've just ordered an AIM dash too.

[highway]

I’ve got the carbon engine cover and carbon roll bar cover ready to fit. Just need a car to fit them to. However, a pal has just completed a mega build on an S1. Everything has been fettled, changed, replaced or improved to make it what likely the best OEM ish, S1 available. He may be looking to sell.

I sold my 111S with a view to moving to a post 17 S3 18 months ago. I’ve since missed a couple of cars through a combination of hesitancy and disbelief at current values. The big attraction with an S3 is the improved liveability and AC. I’m beginning to wonder how much this actually matters.

[G Thang]

I'm currently having the same dilemma, and there are a number of factors:

If you buy now and sell, let's say, in a couple of years, you might end up losing:
1.the price increase of the last couple of years
2.the natural depreciation that should have happened over the last two years
3. the depreciation of the next two years

On top of that there's the looming fuel and cost of living crises, which could send prices plummeting.

All that could amount to a fair few grand, so the wise thing to do might be to wait a couple of years.

On the other hand it's an Elise and they're not making them any more, so it might never happen...

[kambites]

If you wait until you're sure it's a solid investment, you'll never buy anything...

[highway]

Solid doesn’t come into it for me. I’m still baffled why, having been in the doldrums for years, prices for Elises are as high as they are now. Yes, production has ended. But they sold barely any from 2017 -2021. Not because they were hard to come by- they were factory orders in the main. Just that no one wanted one.

I maintain, biggest competition for an S3 is another type of Elise. All those post 17 S3’s on Auto Trader have been up for months. I can’t be alone in not seeing them at nearly £45k at 5 years old. They weren’t that new.