Is this a good buy?

[bathbeckham]

Test drove my first Elise today. 1998 S Reg. 30,000 miles, CD player, driving lamps, alarm & immobiliser. 2 previous keepers and serviced at same main dealer. No receipts for work done. Owner is a small trader who picked it up from his contact at a Peugeot garage where it had been traded in. He knows nothing about it. He hadn't cleaned it etc. It looked like it certainly had not been garaged, had some stone chips on the front and signs of a minor front end shunt which has caused the bodywork to crack around the bolt above the front grill. It certainly needs some TLC. On for £12,800 but i feel he would drop some. Are bodywork repairs expensive? The wheels were not scuffed but showing a few signs of the outer coating peeling. Is this normal/expensive to get redone?

[Nightmare]

minor GRP work (like front clamshell) quite cheap if minor. That said, replacing the entire clam aint that costly either.

Concern would be that the 'minor front end shunt' had done far more below the surface damage. If the chasis is twisted at all, Lotus tend to write em off rather than repairing...which gives you some idea of how important NOT gettting a bent one is.

Wheels are well cheap to get relacquered...about 40 quid a corner.

N

[DanH]

Also worry about front crash structure, et al.

There are plenty of nice cars for 13k, so why get a dodgey one?

[WildfireX0]

The last car I visited with "minor front end damage" was a 1998 car with all the extras but only £10 000 so £13 K is a lot for what you are describing.

[spining-v-grid]

I need help to.

I seem to be in a similar situation, not the same car I hope

Looked at a S1 fully loaded with 160 wheels,suspension, carbon trim and loads more. 12k gets me the car but it has had a repair to guess what...........the front end. Is it worth the money as she needs a bit of tidying

SVG

[alunr]

spining-v-grid said: I need help to.

I seem to be in a similar situation, not the same car I hope

Looked at a S1 fully loaded with 160 wheels,suspension, carbon trim and loads more. 12k gets me the car but it has had a repair to guess what...........the front end. Is it worth the money as she needs a bit of tidying

SVG

If the car has been repaired already get it to a dealer or a specialist for an inspection. Elise's are'nt hard to repair the real problem is people not checking for chassis damge etc.