Newbie, considering a Series 1 Elise

[Synbios]

Hello,

I am currently preparing to change my car and among my options is a Lotus Elise S1. I'd rather not spend much more than £7,000. But this seems to be starting prices judging by this website and Autotrader. Is buying one for this amount a big risk? I know the K engine has it's head gasket issues but are S1s generally reliable cars?

Thanks

[TIPPER]

This is covered quiet regularly on here and the subject of debate.
I've a very simple view: An S1 will cost £9-10k and you will be probably spend £1500 for every £1000 less than that you pay. Simples.
Why?
Don't worry about the engine: its from a shopping trolley so should take miles well as long as its had regular oil changes. HGF is an issue but don't get paranoid over it: take the view that it will happen and set aside £800 to cover a proper fix.
Suspension: the Elise isn't about straigtht line speed. Its all about handling and feel so suspension needs to be in good nick or you'll wonder whqat the fuss is about. Dampers don't last forever (40k miles seem par for the course with either the OE Konis or S2 Bilsteins (dependant on use/abuse). Of more concern is that suspe nsion bushes, ball joints etc will be past their best long before they become MOT failures. The difference between perfectly serviceable but tired components and new ones is amazing (voe). Its a labour intensive job and I'v got an Eliseparts invoice for about £600 (for parts only) from when I did mine last winter. Add another £1k and more for labour.
Steering racks don't last long so will need refurbing at some point.
Radiators prone to go: £250 ish for a replacement plus labour (its a clam off job so not cheap).
Interiors wear - easy enough to get retrimmed but again it all costs money.
Stone chips - ignore. They all get them (quiet badly) and light colours show them up less.
View a £7k car as a project car and you won't be far wrong. Don't think you can get away with trying to run it on the cheap: whilst not expensive to run for what they are, remember these are ten year old plus cars that weren't designed to be 'idiot-proof'.

[noodleman]

I'd agree with most of the above but would add that it is possible to buy an average condition but mechanically good early Elise for £7K.

A nice car is going to cost 9K but 2 friends have bought standard 98-99 S1s for £6995. One was from a known owner but the other was simply on ebay.

I wouldn't call them great condition but mechanically they're fine and drive great. They'll probably need new dampers soon but this can be done for £500 diy.

Having said all this....I'd save the extra couplew of K. You may keep it longer than you think and it's cheaper in the long run to buy a car that needs no work as you may find you end up fixing/repainting/retrimming the compromises you made earlier on. I certainly wish I'd gone for a car with upgrades already done but have fallen in love with this particular car so much that I just can't sell it.

[noodleman]

With regards reliability, some seem more problematic than others.

Personally, in 20,000 road and track miles, it's only let me down once due to a duff battery. The only other thing outside of routine servicing has been a wheel bearing.

I've upgraded brakes, dampers and most recently the engine (to a 2.3 Duratec) but this has been done because I wanted to, not because of issues.

I'm confident enough in it's reliability to drive it 200+ miles to a trackday, cane it all day and then drive home again.

[mrssumner]

^^^^
LOL - wheel bearings are routine maintenance

[stinkysteve]

TIPPER said:

Don't worry about the engine: its from a shopping trolley so should take miles well as long as its had regular oil changes. HGF is an issue but don't get paranoid over it: take the view that it will happen and set aside £800 to cover a proper fix.

Agree with all said previous, although if you can use a spanner, they're fairly simple work on.

If you've done any mechanical in the past you can change the head gasket yourself for £100 pretty easily.

[Synbios]

Thanks very much everyone. Much appreciated.

[Scuffers]

Synbios said:

Hello,

I am currently preparing to change my car and among my options is a Lotus Elise S1. I'd rather not spend much more than £7,000. But this seems to be starting prices judging by this website and Autotrader. Is buying one for this amount a big risk? I know the K engine has it's head gasket issues but are S1s generally reliable cars?

Thanks

end of the day, at this kind of money, you need to know what to look for/at.

pay somebody that does to look at them if you don't, may cost you a few pints worth, but it's the only sensible way!

[JBanx]

I'd say for £7k your going to need to be spending some more cash on it very quickly.

New dampers (£500 + DIY fitting)
Ball joints perhaps (£30 a corner + Fitting (EASY DIY))
Steering rack (Re-furbed £170 + fitting)
Geometry set-up after the above £75
Brakes (probably just pads £100 + fitting (easy DIY))
A service (oil change, spark plugs, air filter £60 maybe and about 1 hour DIY)

Plus the bushes would probably need doing as well so that's a couple of hundred for the parts then there is fitting on top!

I'm not trying to put you off; in fact I would say do it! but just be aware that once you start spending you won't stop. It soon adds up but you won't resent spending the money; in fact it will be the opposite

I've found the elise to be easy to work on and I do most things myself;

But I would look at spending a bit more on a car that's had at least some of the work already done as it will save you money in the long run as you will end up spending it anyway.

You haven't even started on upgrades...........!

Edited by JBanx on Tuesday 6th October 09:38