Elise Sellers
Author
Discussion

AVES

Original Poster:

68 posts

274 months

Friday 2nd September 2005
quotequote all
Anyone know these people?:
http://www.speedwellautomotive.com/

I'm not sure I understand their pricing policy- Compare the Orange R reg S1 with the type 49?

Are they straight dealers or selling on a commission basis?

Thanks in advance

anonymous-user

84 months

Friday 2nd September 2005
quotequote all
"Vehicle solutions". Lol! That's pure Arfur Daley and fit for Private Eye.

sneakypete

173 posts

259 months

Friday 2nd September 2005
quotequote all
Will is a stand-up guy and gets some great cars in. He knows the market (ex-lotus sales) and runs an S2 135 himself. He might sell a lot of different marques - but he loves Lotus. Just ask him about Ferrari's and TVR!

Tell him that Pete recommended him to you. I bought my Red S2 from him and I know him fairly well.

Yep - some cars are sold on commission - but mine is lovely and had no problems. (Touch wood).

AVES

Original Poster:

68 posts

274 months

Friday 2nd September 2005
quotequote all
The pricing just seemed odd - The Type 49 on a V being only £500 more than the Orange S1 on an R with not hugely dissimilar mileages?

Anyway he's away for a week

Davey S1

13,394 posts

284 months

Friday 2nd September 2005
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Is that Will from SELOC?

Seems to be agood guy if it is.

apprentice

1,219 posts

290 months

Friday 2nd September 2005
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Davey S1 said:
Is that Will from SELOC?

Seems to be a good guy if it is.


You are thinking of Will Blackham, who usually has the odd Elise or Elan S2 for sale.

S Works

10,166 posts

280 months

Saturday 3rd September 2005
quotequote all
I think those prices are pretty keen and on the mark for the market. Nowt wrong as far as I can see.

AVES

Original Poster:

68 posts

274 months

Monday 5th September 2005
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Yep - The prices are about average for dealers but why is a car 3 years younger & a special edition only £500 more than the Orange S1?

Actually £12.5K is a bit rich for an R reg S1 even from a dealer. I saw an immaculate S reg for under £12K in a Lotus dealer.

S Works

10,166 posts

280 months

Monday 5th September 2005
quotequote all
Chrome Orange is very rare, and pretty sought after.

The simple fact is that price is a factor of supply and demand right? Low supply, reasonable demand, higher price.

Are you interested in buying it?

rfoster

1,482 posts

284 months

Monday 5th September 2005
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LOVE the orange one!

AVES

Original Poster:

68 posts

274 months

Monday 5th September 2005
quotequote all
I am interested in buying it (& the Type 49). I just wonder whether the colour is worth the premium.

After all there's this:
www.pistonheads.com/sales/43879.htm

on here

apprentice

1,219 posts

290 months

Monday 5th September 2005
quotequote all
Cracking colour Chrome Orange IMHO.

The specialist trade will not place a premium on CO, on the contrary most dealers will invariably choose not to stock a CO Elise, as it is one of those colours that although possessing the wow factor, few punters will actually end up "putting there money where their mouth is"; prefering instead to stick with a more tried and tested colour, that will inevitable prove more saleable.

However Chrome Orange on an Exige is more widely accepted within the trade.

apprentice

S Works

10,166 posts

280 months

Monday 5th September 2005
quotequote all
Fair enough mate - I think apprentice has a point Re: the trade though. One of the first I looked at was a Chrome Orange 111s with blue leather and it didn't appeal to me... but it sold damn quick!

Best thing to do is get down there, have a look and see how you go - make an offer with cash to back it up, you never know

IMvHO I'd go for the 49 - the spec's better (111s seats & wheels, rareity value) - as it's more keenly priced.

But then at that money I'd be looking at 111s's of which there are a few about.

xxplod

2,269 posts

274 months

Monday 5th September 2005
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I know Will Deedman. I bought my first and third Elises from him when he was at Salisbury, then Westover Sportscars. A thoroughly decent chap. I wouldn't hesitate to use him again if I were in the market for a Lotus.

bassgurusi

17 posts

254 months

Monday 5th September 2005
quotequote all
I was in contact with Will Deedman about that Chrome Orange S1. I pointed out that i thought it was a bit over priced for what it is. I used the glasses pricing web page to get an exact book estimate. And then added the cost of the extras such as the Driving lamps. I even included the cost of the labour for the retro fitting. After doing the maths it was still about 1.5K over the mark.

When i pointed this out Will's reply was that at the moment we're paying "over book price"

I queried this asking for the reason why we were paying over book price at the moment. Asking if it was some sort of seasonal pricing issues that Olympic Lotus Exeter (now Mazda only) talked about when i bought my first Elise. They had pointed out that over winter the market comes to standstill and prices should be lower. Where as in spring and summer supply is less than demand.

Will denied this and neatly avoided the issue of why we should pay over price for that car. Just saying he was confident that at that price he would have a buyer within the 90 days he holds stock for.

Call me old fashioned... but the side step and "paying over book" excuse seems a little poor. Glasses is put together by the trade/experts giving the current price of what we should pay. Its not put together by a Granny in her community centre in between eating beef spread and bourbon biscuit sandwiches!!!!

The point I am making about Deedman is that if you take your car to a dealer to PX they'll give you the book PX price for it ONLY if its mint and quote some company policy of sticking to Glass's like the proverbial to a shovel.
They won't give you "over book price" for it. The previous owner of that car will have got the book price minus the cost of any refurb work. Yet its now being sold over the book selling price!!!

It seems one rule at one time and another for another time. I'm guessing its not us, the consumer, that wins.

On note of the colour-

As mentioned by another contributor - Alot of dealers won't touch CO as only a handful of people are 'brave' enough to go for it on an Elise.

Adrian Blyth is one such dealer... whom i can fully recommend after having dealings with them upon selling my beloved Type 25. They were very friendly, honest and i have no hesitations of giving them recommendations.

On the note of Special editions etc being rarer -

well, there are 100 S1 Type 49's. But how many Chrome orange elise's are there?

i'm not professing to have an answer,

Naturally there will be many more Azure blue and silver elises that a Heritage edition.

But Scandel green and chrome orange are pretty rare. I would wager that they are rarer than a Hertiage model.

WOW sorry to rant!!!

AVES

Original Poster:

68 posts

274 months

Tuesday 6th September 2005
quotequote all
Good points, well made!

I suppose ultimately dealers do know their market. If they are confident that one punter will come along in that 90 day period & pay full whack then there is some sense in it.

However............My Caterham was originally listed by a dealer at £17K & he rejected an offer of £14K. 3 months later (October 2000), half the country was flooded & I paid him £12K for the same car.

Turnover has to be worth something. I've NEVER understood a dealer who turns down a definite £1K profit in the hope of getting £1.5 later

S Works

10,166 posts

280 months

Tuesday 6th September 2005
quotequote all
So make him an offer and see what results you get. Day 91 might be a good day to do that given the above.

As for rareity value etc. The point I was making about the Special Ed's is that the benefit is you actually get a higher spec car than a standard one for not a great deal more, not neccessarily it's inherent rareity "value".

Personally I wouldn't go for either - I'd look for a private sale 111S or Sport 135 at that money.

seetim

124 posts

257 months

Tuesday 6th September 2005
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bassgurusi said:

The point I am making about Deedman is that if you take your car to a dealer to PX they'll give you the book PX price for it ONLY if its mint and quote some company policy of sticking to Glass's like the proverbial to a shovel.
They won't give you "over book price" for it. The previous owner of that car will have got the book price minus the cost of any refurb work. Yet its now being sold over the book selling price!!!


Isn't that the way dealers work though. If you have the confidence, go for a private sale with the backup of an independent specialist to look over it before parting with the cash!!! - Assuming can find the one you are after of course. Andrew

bassgurusi

17 posts

254 months

Tuesday 6th September 2005
quotequote all
I think the point i'm making is the following:

Yes dealers are in the buying and selling game, they try to buy cheap and sell expensive. Its sensible business practice after all.
But in my experiences they try to pull the wool over your eyes, come out with lines that are intended to baffle us and get us to accept a lower price for our car and pay a high price for their's.
There is absolutely no reason to pay over book price, thats what the book is there for - to give the dealer the price that the car is worth. He'll be more than happy to get the book out when it comes to valueing your car.

Every dealer i've worked with says that they never pay more than book price for a car... so why should the consumer? Dealers have enough of a margin already.

So my suggestion is: only pay what you are prepared to pay for it. If you think a car is over priced and have supporting evidence that it is such, then say so. Tell the dealer you are interested but you are not prepared to pay more than £x. Then play the waiting game. As was mentioned by AVES - very often after a month or so they will come down on their price.
Yes you take the risk that someone else will come in and swipe it - but they clearly are happy to pay over the odds.

Its a buyers market at the moment, exploit it.