Buying a 2 year old Elise...

[xraybloke]

Hi-

Took a test drive of a 111S last weekend and I'm still grinning...going to look at a 2 year old one tomorrow - apart from the obvious things that apply to any car, anything I should specifically be looking for?

BTW - still keeping my Elan SE, had it 9 years and it's part of the family...

[trash]

Hi there,

I see you're in the market for a reatively new 111S and wondered if you'd be interested in mine?

Mine is actually the Type 25 111S - only 50 built. It has all the refinements of the 111S but in addition has some quite unique features (red leather seats, snazzy paint job (yellow stripes) matching hard top and black alloy wheels, CD player carpets, remote control central locking etc etc). The car is March 04 and has only 8,000 miles on with full Lotus Service History (was serviced last week actually).

The reason for the sale is that I'm looking our for a 2001/2002 V8 Esprit - I just love Lotuses!

I have some pics if you're interested. I'm looking in the order of 22K - unless of course you have an Esprit to swap!

Graham
East Yorkshire
01482 679554

[xraybloke]

Hi Graham-

Thanks for the reply, was looking for a 2 year old one, only want to spend about £18K though as still keeping the Elan. Sounds a nice car though...is it similar to the one at Paul Matty's?

[S Works]

No ads in here Graham or you're attract the wrath of Ted!

Better off here...
www.pistonheads.com/sales/list.asp?p=1&s=12

[theweeninjaguy]

i'm looking for a 2 year old elsie too - something in the £15-18k bracket.

off on holiday later today so i'll look about for one when i get back.

i've bought a couple of books on buying second hand elise's and they've generally jsut pointed out the obvious things to look for that you would on any sports car.

1 - chasis, check for damage and poor repairs done by an non lotus approved speicalis - you can look at the underside of the car, it should be flat with no ripples.

2 - look for oil leaks

3 - check the rear subframe for corrosion and cracks - it's the only steel part of the car

4 - engine, look for FLSH, check coolant and oil levels and look for signs of blown head gasgets and overheating

5 - check for weak syncromesh or poor gear selection due to worn or badly adjusted linkages and also check for still clutch pedal operation

6 - check the suspension for rattles, clonks, loose feeling etc as these indicate tired bushes and shocks. poor tracking and vibration can mean past accident damage which will upset the suspension geometry

7 - check the brake discs for scoring of hte expensive metal matrix composite - look for excessive wear on cast iron discs too

8 - be wary of any cracks on the bodywork or mismatched paint. look for chips, scratches and signs the car was not "loved" and ensure that headlight covers and spotlamps are not scratched or cracked as these cost a fortune

9 - VHPD enigne: listen out for rattles and look for blue smoke, chesk service history for regular attention and check oil condition - if it has a high milage then expect to do some work on the engine in the near future

hope that helps a bit

ninja

[trash]

At the risk of angering Ted!

Mine isn't like the one at Paul Mattys (a Type 23), mines a 111'S Type 25. Not sure if they even made 50 of them.

Graham

[xraybloke]

Thanks ninja-

Some good points there...went to look at one yesterday but it was not for me. The search is still on...

If it's of any use to you, if you're also looking for an Elise, I posted a similar thread on SELOC and got this reply:

"Also check out:

www.elises.co.uk/problems/common.html

and if you have the VIN number of any car you are interested in, you can checkout if it has any outstanding recalls here:

http://grouplotus.com/generic/generic.php?section=9&page=12&page_id=35

Happy shopping."