s1 wanted for 8k ! am I in cuckoo land ??

[mogsmex]

first post, Hi everyone

I have always fancied an S1 , and after spending some time on ebay and autotrader, looks like it may actually be a possibility ?? with my meagre (already stretched) budget

I'm pretty clued up on cars in general (development engineer for ford's) and have always owned sports cars, but i know naff all about elises other then I want one


so is this a real poosibility, or am i looking at kak at that price and i should forget it ??

all comments positive and negative greatfully recieved ???


Cheers Glyn

[bogie]

I think you will be lucky to pick up a mint one - if you can do a lot of work on it yourself then its a possibility....but you are likely to get an early car that needs some care and attention. Lots of things can wear out on an Elise that cost ££ to replace if you use a dealer/specialist even - Id be cautious of buying one so cheap unless I had a couple of grand to spend on it bringing it up to scratch

[xxplod]

Yep, Bogie is spot on. You could drive away in one for £8K, and it's a good time of year to buy and you may strike lucky but chances are it will need a few £££. If you strech to £10K you'll have much more choice.

[Nick J]

I agree with the others, it can be a false ecomomy to buy one for £8k which could need some cash spending on it when for an extra £2k you can buy a minter that will need no work. If you get a nicer one in the first place it will be worth more when you sell it on making it cheaper overall.

I know its difficult to expand an already streched budget but it will be cheaper in the long run.

Hope this helps.

[bogie]

yeah - just reading here and www.seloc.org theres been quite a few guys who have picked them up for <£10K, then moaned that its an expensive car to run as theyve had to cough up £2K in the 1st 6 months etc.

Lots of things can wear out on a 7 year old car - steering rack,bushes, track rod ends, ball joints, the usual discs/pads/tyres...most of which are not that expensive in parts...but in labour are huge.

Most enthusiast owners understand the market - if its mint and well maintained it will be up at £10K+ ...if it needs a load of stuff doing (they may be selling and getting a newer one etc so dont want to spend on it) then it will be cheaper.

You may get lucky - if you know what you are looking for.

Theres loads of info on www.elises.co.uk , www.seloc.org, www.elise-faq.co.uk

I do around 15-20K miles per year in mine - its 3.5 years old and has done 66K miles. Without upgrades, I would think Im doing £3-4K per year on servicing/consumables...and thats on a new ish car.

Yes - you can run one on a shoestring...but crippling a fine car by running cheap tyres, pads, shocks etc is not really what the Elise is about .....

[cej]

I guess it depends on how much you can do yourself.
I'm not planning to spend several k a year on my elise, but then again I probably won't take it to a lotus specialist to get it serviced.I want to do that myself.
But finding one for 8k that's in good condition won't be easy.They might be out there. But unless you want to replace the parts yourself I suggest saving up a couple of k more and get a mint one

[mogsmex]

cheers for the reply's

I thought that would probably be the case somehow

I can do all the work on it myself, (I'm pretty handy and have done lots of rebuilds, engine swaps etc on past cars, porsche's cosworth's etc over the years) and realise the importance of not skimping on things like tyres etc, I will have the cash to run it ok, just can't stretch anymore at the moment to actually buying it !

due to the time of year I thought there is bound to be good cars in my bracket but obviusly finding/recognising them will be the hard bit !

I was going to get another ford racing puma (already had one a few years ago !)until i realised an S1 is (just) within my budget sounds like I need to forget the idea though

I think I need to give it some more thought !

any other comments, or cars ! greatfully recieved !

Cheers Glyn

[cej]

If you look in the classifieds here on PH there is a couple around 8k. But not much. And judging by the ads there a bit of work to be done before they're mint. But if you can do the work it makes it a lot cheaper.

[MJK 24]

Glyn you sound like you'll be able to sort ony niggles etc.

If you can get £9k in your pocket you can go looking at the £10k cars. There's a lot of Elise's looking for new owners at this time of year and some people will be quite desperate to get shut before Christmas.

Keep an eye out, be canny and you may well get a bargain.

Also, have a look at www.elises.co.uk Loads of excellent info there.

[Urgent Harry]

Judging by these comments, 8k cars aren't worth 8k!!! So do they actually go for 8k or is it worth shopping around with £6,750 cash in your pocket and hang on until someone accepts it?

[DJ111S]

Urgent Harry said:

Judging by these comments, 8k cars aren't worth 8k!!! So do they actually go for 8k or is it worth shopping around with £6,750 cash in your pocket and hang on until someone accepts it?

That would be one desperate seller. Looks to me like Elises have bottomed out at 8k, and as mentionned above those won't be in good condition.

[bogie]

the £8K cars are cars that would be worth £10K if they were mint........

[Shakespeare]

To have, or not to have: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of driving an average car,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And buy the Liz?

What else would you spend your 8k on?

Buy an 8k Liz, call in favours from your ford Tec mates to replace things as they wear out (fall off)

Sell it for 8k in 4 months when the sun comes out.

It will however be difficult to give the car up.

[Lotus_al]

To get a 8k elise it would be a very high mileage car upwards of 50,000 and probably one of the earliest models going. But one thing is for sure if you do get one you'll have the time of your life. Enjoy.

[GCCK]

To get a ropey Elise into good condition will cost you £2-3K over a couple of years. S1 Elise was developed on a shoestring (Lotus had overspent on M100 Elan and not seen a profit from it) and bolted on a lot of off-the-peg components, many of which suffered premature wear in such a demanding environment as an Elise.

The aftermarket has developed improved replacements for many of these flawed parts and you just need to work your way through them until you've got the car "right". Hence the budget! Elise owners are very knowledgeable about their cars - because they're enthusiasts and because they know about the things that can break! It also means that when someone puts their Elise up for sale, they know if their car is in £8, 9, 10 , 11, 12K condition.

I'm afraid the £10K car for £8K money because the owner made a mistake just doesn't exist!

But buy the £8K car, budget for enhancements and enjoy making it "yours". That's part of the labour of love.

[bogie]

ding :up

[cej]

maybe this one ? www.pistonheads.com/sales/56091.htm if you're not put off by the high mileage.

>> Edited by cej on Monday 21st November 00:11

[Buster44]

cej said:

maybe this one ? www.pistonheads.com/sales/56091.htm if you're not put off by the high mileage. >> Edited by cej on Monday 21st November 00:11

If you can get him down £500, that would give you a grand for immediate repairs/upgrades.

Motorway miles shouldn't have put much strain on the engine - nicely run in!!

[Mark B]

I bought my car ('99 S1 Azure Blue) 12 months ago for £9500 and then sold a standard exhaust and hard top that came with it for about £850 making the car £8650. It was a one owner car, FLotusSH, leather, driving lights and came with shower cap too.

I think you'll get one for £8k now, you will need to be pretty careful though, have the money in the bank waiting and move very quickly on anything that looks promising. Go and start looking at a few too, this will get you wise to the pro's and cons of different cars.

My car has cost me in the past 12 months, a cambelt, new front pads, set of tyres, exhaust down pipe and a servise, which I did myself. All other costs have been down to upgrades and driver incompetences!

Go for it, they're out there!

>> Edited by Mark B on Monday 21st November 12:55

[Thelemming]

bogie said:

yeah - just reading here and www.seloc.org theres been quite a few guys who have picked them up for <£10K, then moaned that its an expensive car to run as theyve had to cough up £2K in the 1st 6 months etc. Lots of things can wear out on a 7 year old car - steering rack,bushes, track rod ends, ball joints, the usual discs/pads/tyres...most of which are not that expensive in parts...but in labour are huge.

Echoing earlier posts, the early cars especially suffer from the "shoestring" budget development, as a result your going to be replacing a lot of components with upgrades instead of factory standard components.

If the shell hasnt been off in the time (or even if it has) your going to have to cut off all the bolt heads with a dremel and replace them with stainless steel, the list continues like that...

The car is relatively simple though, so assuming youve got a garage to work in and a mate or two willing to help out (some jobs are MASSIVELY easier with 2 or more people...) then you should be able to do the majority of the work yourself.

The only other downside is that access to a lot of components is tight (changing the steering rack for example will lead to the loss of a lot of skin...)

So the list of replacements is relatively easy to do armed with a workshop manual and a parts list (the parts list contains some nice exploded diagrams that help more than the workshop manual).

Balljoints can be done at home, with a friendly garage or a screw-press to fit them to wishbones. Steering rack isnt too tough. Brakes / discs are easy, bushes are a pain but once again not complex... There arent many jobs on an S1 that I would hand over to a garage after spending 6 years working with my Dad on his.

An 8K Elise might be a false economy, or if your armed with the right knowledge beforehand (or someone who has it to come look at the car with you) and are willing to spend a few weekends getting your hands dirty, it could be a bargain.