Buying an Elise
Discussion
A relative is considering buying an Elise. I have a good grasp of most ordinary cars when buying used but something as specialised as an Elise needs careful consideration. It will probably be over £7k for a nine year old car.
So, those with experience of these cars can you please give an idea of what to look for when checking and driving the car. I'm worried that if the car has been involved in a shunt and repaired at some stage ~ what to look for ~ I have in mind a thread here on one such Elise.
Also, I have advised that an HPI car check be paid for as it could be money well spent. Recommendations on HPi check companies would also be appreciated, and those who are we say less reliable.
TIA.
So, those with experience of these cars can you please give an idea of what to look for when checking and driving the car. I'm worried that if the car has been involved in a shunt and repaired at some stage ~ what to look for ~ I have in mind a thread here on one such Elise.
Also, I have advised that an HPI car check be paid for as it could be money well spent. Recommendations on HPi check companies would also be appreciated, and those who are we say less reliable.
TIA.
problem with the Elise platform is that can be terminally damaged with some relatively minor incident, and then they get bodged back together.
First port of call is check the chassis, specifically the front corners, the floor, etc.
if there is *any* damage to the wishbone hard points, it's scrap, end of - many have 'repaired' them, but that's not really on, welding is not a viable option even though many seem to try this.
once your sure the basic tub is sound, the rest is actually more straightforward, front and real bodyshell (clams) are bolted on, if damaged, they are easy to change/repair (although some seem unable to manage basic GRP repairs), wishbones should be checked for terminal rust-though, bent arms, etc. that said, they are all replaceable for sensible money, as are all the bushes, balljoints, etc.
same goes for wheel bearings, track-rod-ends, toe link joints, etc, all considered consumable, also check the steering rack for slack, they don;t last forever, although once again, relatively easy to replace.
way to look at it is that they are 10+ year old cars now, so they are not going to be pristine, and Lotus are not renound for corrosion protection, so for an original 10 year old one,I would expect it to be needing a complete refurb of the suspension/mechanicals, none of this is rocket science, but you need to factor it into the price.
worth spending some time browsing www.eliseparts.com to get an idea of what parts cost etc.
First port of call is check the chassis, specifically the front corners, the floor, etc.
if there is *any* damage to the wishbone hard points, it's scrap, end of - many have 'repaired' them, but that's not really on, welding is not a viable option even though many seem to try this.
once your sure the basic tub is sound, the rest is actually more straightforward, front and real bodyshell (clams) are bolted on, if damaged, they are easy to change/repair (although some seem unable to manage basic GRP repairs), wishbones should be checked for terminal rust-though, bent arms, etc. that said, they are all replaceable for sensible money, as are all the bushes, balljoints, etc.
same goes for wheel bearings, track-rod-ends, toe link joints, etc, all considered consumable, also check the steering rack for slack, they don;t last forever, although once again, relatively easy to replace.
way to look at it is that they are 10+ year old cars now, so they are not going to be pristine, and Lotus are not renound for corrosion protection, so for an original 10 year old one,I would expect it to be needing a complete refurb of the suspension/mechanicals, none of this is rocket science, but you need to factor it into the price.
worth spending some time browsing www.eliseparts.com to get an idea of what parts cost etc.
Also remember that not all of them that are ten years old will need suspension upgrades etc.
I sold mine a couple of years ago which was 10 years old at the time with 65k & completely standard & it saled through the MOT with no advisories.
I even had the suspension etc checked prior to selling it & everything was spot on. I wouldn't even worry to much about HGF as anyone who has owned an Elise will tell you that approx £500 will sort this out & very rare for it to happen twice on the same car.
I have owned 2 of them now & loved every minuite & if they are looked after, it will look after you.
I sold mine a couple of years ago which was 10 years old at the time with 65k & completely standard & it saled through the MOT with no advisories.
I even had the suspension etc checked prior to selling it & everything was spot on. I wouldn't even worry to much about HGF as anyone who has owned an Elise will tell you that approx £500 will sort this out & very rare for it to happen twice on the same car.
I have owned 2 of them now & loved every minuite & if they are looked after, it will look after you.
Edited by boobles on Monday 23 August 10:11
Well the car was bought .... by my son. He could not arrange Insurance cover on Sunday but I could add the car to my Motor Trade Policy on-line so I could drive it home. The policy specifically excludes driving of my cars by any relatives for obvious reasons.
Here it is on the sixty odd mile drive home with my wife riding 'shotgun' behind me in our MGZS in case of any hold ups with the new purchase:~
Another view :~
Thanks to all for the heads up advices... my son will enjoy this little car ... I did. The scream of that K-Series at full chat was ... er, nice.
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Here it is on the sixty odd mile drive home with my wife riding 'shotgun' behind me in our MGZS in case of any hold ups with the new purchase:~
Another view :~
Thanks to all for the heads up advices... my son will enjoy this little car ... I did. The scream of that K-Series at full chat was ... er, nice.
.
boobles said:
Also remember that not all of them that are ten years old will need suspension upgrades etc.
I sold mine a couple of years ago which was 10 years old at the time with 65k & completely standard & it saled through the MOT with no advisories.
I even had the suspension etc checked prior to selling it & everything was spot on. I wouldn't even worry to much about HGF as anyone who has owned an Elise will tell you that approx £500 will sort this out & very rare for it to happen twice on the same car.
I have owned 2 of them now & loved every minuite & if they are looked after, it will look after you.
Yes, precisely ... with the Elise the K-Series is the least of his worries.I sold mine a couple of years ago which was 10 years old at the time with 65k & completely standard & it saled through the MOT with no advisories.
I even had the suspension etc checked prior to selling it & everything was spot on. I wouldn't even worry to much about HGF as anyone who has owned an Elise will tell you that approx £500 will sort this out & very rare for it to happen twice on the same car.
I have owned 2 of them now & loved every minuite & if they are looked after, it will look after you.
boobles said:
..."if they are looked after "
So very true.My son and his Rover mad mates swap K-Series engines for fun. VVCs into Metros and other such mods... They are very resourceful and know them almost inside out. I have changed two CHGs on friends' K-Series... has to be one of the easiest 16 valve engines to do the gasket replacement in my experience. Both were 'repeat' failures.
It is seen as a "nice little earner" in the trade. One brave soul on another car enthusiasts' site actually admitted having changed many K-Series CHGs which did not need doing. I can believe that as several paranoid friends have been told the gasket on their Rover needed doing and asking me to have a look revealed it did not. Worn water pump, incorrect coolant bleeding following service, leaky rad and dodgy thermostat were the reasons for their cars overheating.
In my own direct experience, so called "repeat" CHG failures on K-Series soon after professional renewal is usually the result of a job not well done. Even known one of the all important steel head locating dowells to be ommitted... how's that for incompetance. Clueless owners would have to accept the oft quoted "they all do that mate"..
All together now..
[quote]Oh no they don't
boobles said:
Also remember that not all of them that are ten years old will need suspension upgrades etc.
I sold mine a couple of years ago which was 10 years old at the time with 65k & completely standard & it saled through the MOT with no advisories.
I even had the suspension etc checked prior to selling it & everything was spot on. I wouldn't even worry to much about HGF as anyone who has owned an Elise will tell you that approx £500 will sort this out & very rare for it to happen twice on the same car.
I have owned 2 of them now & loved every minuite & if they are looked after, it will look after you.
Mmmmmm....... my car at much the same age and with virtually the same mileage also had no problems passing an MOT. However on advice from someone who knows better I completely refreshed the suspension - everything. The difference was night and day. Remember we're talking about a car with precision handling - the bushes etc may not be so worn as to fail and MOT but you'll notice the difference between old and new. A good refresh also gets rid of much of the 'charecteristic' crashing and banging of the suspension. With earplugs in and the stereo cranked up my car was very comfy at real world Mway speeds.I sold mine a couple of years ago which was 10 years old at the time with 65k & completely standard & it saled through the MOT with no advisories.
I even had the suspension etc checked prior to selling it & everything was spot on. I wouldn't even worry to much about HGF as anyone who has owned an Elise will tell you that approx £500 will sort this out & very rare for it to happen twice on the same car.
I have owned 2 of them now & loved every minuite & if they are looked after, it will look after you.
Edited by boobles on Monday 23 August 10:11
T
I was going to add that unless you're very lucky a decent S1 Elise is about £10k. That's the purchase price plus any work that needs doing to bring it up to tip top mechanical condition. A soggy Elise will have you wondering what the fuss is about. One that is bob-on will have you shaking your head in amazement.
TIPPER said:
boobles said:
Also remember that not all of them that are ten years old will need suspension upgrades etc.
I sold mine a couple of years ago which was 10 years old at the time with 65k & completely standard & it saled through the MOT with no advisories.
I even had the suspension etc checked prior to selling it & everything was spot on. I wouldn't even worry to much about HGF as anyone who has owned an Elise will tell you that approx £500 will sort this out & very rare for it to happen twice on the same car.
I have owned 2 of them now & loved every minuite & if they are looked after, it will look after you.
Mmmmmm....... my car at much the same age and with virtually the same mileage also had no problems passing an MOT. However on advice from someone who knows better I completely refreshed the suspension - everything. The difference was night and day. Remember we're talking about a car with precision handling - the bushes etc may not be so worn as to fail and MOT but you'll notice the difference between old and new. A good refresh also gets rid of much of the 'charecteristic' crashing and banging of the suspension. With earplugs in and the stereo cranked up my car was very comfy at real world Mway speeds.I sold mine a couple of years ago which was 10 years old at the time with 65k & completely standard & it saled through the MOT with no advisories.
I even had the suspension etc checked prior to selling it & everything was spot on. I wouldn't even worry to much about HGF as anyone who has owned an Elise will tell you that approx £500 will sort this out & very rare for it to happen twice on the same car.
I have owned 2 of them now & loved every minuite & if they are looked after, it will look after you.
Edited by boobles on Monday 23 August 10:11
T
Suspension and A/R bar bush renewal can improve the handling on any car which has a few years and miles on its clocks. Renewing all those on the front suspension of an old MG Montego Turbo transformed the steering and handling of the car. Amazing improvement. I changed the Drop Link bushes on my daily driver R620ti recently and noticed an immediate improvement. Here's the Poly Bushes I used....
..
What puzzles me is when folks spend wads on less effective upgrades when a few simple renewals like suspension bushes can transform a used car...and make it a so much better driving experience.
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TIPPER said:
boobles said:
Also remember that not all of them that are ten years old will need suspension upgrades etc.
I sold mine a couple of years ago which was 10 years old at the time with 65k & completely standard & it saled through the MOT with no advisories.
I even had the suspension etc checked prior to selling it & everything was spot on. I wouldn't even worry to much about HGF as anyone who has owned an Elise will tell you that approx £500 will sort this out & very rare for it to happen twice on the same car.
I have owned 2 of them now & loved every minuite & if they are looked after, it will look after you.
Mmmmmm....... my car at much the same age and with virtually the same mileage also had no problems passing an MOT. However on advice from someone who knows better I completely refreshed the suspension - everything. The difference was night and day. Remember we're talking about a car with precision handling - the bushes etc may not be so worn as to fail and MOT but you'll notice the difference between old and new. A good refresh also gets rid of much of the 'charecteristic' crashing and banging of the suspension. With earplugs in and the stereo cranked up my car was very comfy at real world Mway speeds.I sold mine a couple of years ago which was 10 years old at the time with 65k & completely standard & it saled through the MOT with no advisories.
I even had the suspension etc checked prior to selling it & everything was spot on. I wouldn't even worry to much about HGF as anyone who has owned an Elise will tell you that approx £500 will sort this out & very rare for it to happen twice on the same car.
I have owned 2 of them now & loved every minuite & if they are looked after, it will look after you.
Edited by boobles on Monday 23 August 10:11
T
Due to the fact that both mine were my daily drive & never had anychance of seeing a track, i didn't see any need to change things that didn't need changing. If i were to track them, suspension would be the first thing to change along with tyres brakes etc.
The Crack Fox said:
MGJohn said:
Herman Toothrot said:
MGJohn said:
It will probably be over £7k for a nine year old car.
Well the car was bought ....
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That looks a good car for the £7K markWell the car was bought ....
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It's my son's car so I shall cannot say about price paid although I do know how much.
He rarely visits PH as he is a keen Rover and MG enthusiast. The multiplicity of anti-Rover and MG types which appear to infest this site keeps him away. All I can say is that it cost a lot more than the original £7k budget ...
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My son has had his Elise about a month now and is still getting to know it. We went to Castle Combe ( as spectators ) yesterday in seperate cars and afterwards my son tackled replacing a noisy front wheel bearing.
I met my son and his mates at the Combe but as they had arrived a few hours before me, had seen what they wanted and set off home early intending to work on their various cars before it got dark. One of the front wheel bearings on my son's Elise is rather noisy and he had ordered a bearing assembly which arrived recently.
I had done some reasearch into front wheel bearing replacement and some folks had described a job that I would not like to tackle with only limited amateur DIYer facilities. I need not have worried, the job was done within a leisurely couple of hours with the help of Dad's tools... had my son not been thorough and cleaned things as he worked, I think the replacement bearing job could be done in a workshop in under an hour. Try doing that on the Honda front bearing design on the Rover 600... Ah so... Honda have hub over disc design ... John~san..
..
I took a few images whilst my son worked which may be of interest. That bearing is splined but, there are no splines on the short front axle which merely holds the bearing together:~
Old bearing:~
New bearing:~
Cleaned up location:~
New Bearing fitted:~
I wonder if the same bearing is used on the rear wheels ~ those are the driven wheels on the Elise.
.
I met my son and his mates at the Combe but as they had arrived a few hours before me, had seen what they wanted and set off home early intending to work on their various cars before it got dark. One of the front wheel bearings on my son's Elise is rather noisy and he had ordered a bearing assembly which arrived recently.
I had done some reasearch into front wheel bearing replacement and some folks had described a job that I would not like to tackle with only limited amateur DIYer facilities. I need not have worried, the job was done within a leisurely couple of hours with the help of Dad's tools... had my son not been thorough and cleaned things as he worked, I think the replacement bearing job could be done in a workshop in under an hour. Try doing that on the Honda front bearing design on the Rover 600... Ah so... Honda have hub over disc design ... John~san..
..
I took a few images whilst my son worked which may be of interest. That bearing is splined but, there are no splines on the short front axle which merely holds the bearing together:~
Old bearing:~
New bearing:~
Cleaned up location:~
New Bearing fitted:~
I wonder if the same bearing is used on the rear wheels ~ those are the driven wheels on the Elise.
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