Buying an S1 elise

[s29ttc]

Doesnt bother me about carpet haha! Just so happens that the red one has carpet! I really fancy it so going to look tomorrow Dont shout if I come back with it! I should really have a swatch at the newcastle one aswell just to make sure though. Just put me off with the damage at the back a bit.

Damage ? Seriously though scott the Newcastle one looks like a minter. You could even take the wheels off and make a few quid on them*




* for your carpet

He said the previous owner reversed into a wall with it haha

[Stewart]

Scott

Some varying opinions so far, but remember it is your money.

My thoughts on the blue one first off is why does his receipt say year 2000 when the car is a 1997. That in itself would hint at being a tad expensive as a fairly early car. I don't doubt that it perhaps has a 135 head and I know that this was an option at some point during S1 production, but it is not a Sport 135. Wrong colour, crap seats etc, etc. Still nice add-ons of the wheels and spoiler.

With regards to the red one. If I were buying another S1 it would be a 111S I would be looking for. By that point in 1999 the majority of the niggles had been sorted. The car looks well cared for which could mean that it has been looked after mechanically. I would disagree with Donkey about seats. He has obviously never been in my car . The seats in the red car match the colour well and will be much more comfortable than standard. With regards to the suspension, do we know that it is Gaz or Spax? It could well be Nitons- why wouldn't it be? The owner doesn't seem to have scrimped on any of the other replacement items.

All that said and done, you wont know until you have seen them both. Haggle hard and they may throw in the hard top which would be useful for running the car through the winter (as your only car). I wouldn't let that be a deal breaker though. Be prepared to walk away from both though -good things come to those who wait

[Stewart]

I know the suspension was the previous owner, but not sure about some of the other mods. I agree tyres will need to be changed is there anything else that sticks out that I should look at? I plan on going to see it tomorrow so what would you suggest..........?

I am sure the tyres will be fine to begin with. There are many Internet myths about tyres. Unless you are some kind of seasoned track god, the chances are that the continentals will do the job through the rest of the summer. When I bought my S1 it had the much maligned Pirelli PZeros on it. I thought they were fine - I didn't know anything else. Mr Boag seems to make his PZeros work rather well round KH.

With regards to the the blue car, it also has a 111S front grill, which is nice . You should to ascertain if it has MMC disks and a red clutch hose. Find out if it has had ball joints and front wheel bearings done. It is getting to the age where it could well be needing the steering rack replaced. Saying that, the mileage on the red car would also make these relevant questions to ask i.e. BJs, bearings & rack.
Make sure you check the condition of the soft top of both cars. Make sure both come with a catalytic converter - you will need this to pass the MOT. Find out when the last cambelt change was and when it is due again - this is going to cost you £300-£600. Also remember tax is about £180 per year now so a few months tax is worth a few quid.

Oh b0llocks, I am just going to say it out loud - I am not sure why the others are steering you away from the 111S to the older shabbier(?) questionable 135 headed car- as long as there is a bit of service history and no real defects, the 111S would be a no brainer for me. (although reduce price by a few hundred £ if it is spax or gaz)

Stewart
P.S.
Don't blame me if it pukes up it's coolant on the way home

[s29ttc]

111s has had new steering rack new ball joints and the head gasket done all within the last 10,000 miles he said
edit; also cat is in place and just out mot so it passes, guy only replaced the lamda sensor to get it through that was all that was up

[tut]

Gut feeling and my money would go on the 111S.

Got doubts about the 135R, and it looks fairly well stone chipped.

tut

[j2 lot]

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/560086.htm

Might be worth a look - rare colour for S1

[campbell]

Guys wee bit of help, guy reduced his car right down so I thought I would have a wee research into it. Its a 135 sport, but when I phoned my insurance to enquire about the cost he gave me 2 prices one standard, one for the 135. Anyways when I gave him the registration plate it came back as a standard car. I emailed the guy regarding this and here was my reponse.

The said car : http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/529774.htm

Hi Scott It is definitely a sport 135, I have a sales invoice dated year 2000 from a lotus dealer which states that it is. It also has sport 135 on the rocker cover. To the best of my knowledge, the sport 135 model came out just after this car was made, at which point Louts offered it as an upgrade on standard older cars.

Its is beacuase the car is a 135 conversion rather than factory car (which are pretty rare) that it is probably not coming up as such on your insurance companies computer. When looking for my own insurace, companies seemed to fall into 3 groups... either they understood that this was an official upgrade option offered by lotus and quoted for a sport 135.

They were an online company which had a check box under 'modifications' which you could put down engine modification 15% power increase, or thirdly they just didn't understand, got confused and I went elsewhere. I tried a few companies, and in the end managed to find a quote that was pretty much the same as for a standard elise.

Its worth trying confused.com etc I had a few reasonable quotes off there. The specialists and brokers were also quite good as they understood the nature of the car. Hope this helps. If you have any more questions feel free to give me a call.

Regards Gez

This is a credible response but it's all in the name.

It's only a Sport 135 limited edition if it came out the factory that way. John Reid or Stewart can give you the total specifics but the spec included:

- 135 CNC machined head
- alloy plenum
- close-ratio gearbox (if it does more than 3000 rpm at 70mph, it's a CR box)
- Corbeau trimmed seats (black chassis, red cushions, much more comfy than the originals)
- headlamp covers
- alcantara trimmed steering wheel
- later versions have 6-spoke rims as per 111S models, and rear wheelarch spats
- all are "quicksilver" which is essentially the light silver new aluminium colour with a very slight bluey tinge
- blue softop

A Sport 135 limited edition may well be worth a bit more than a std equivalent age/mileage S1.

OTOH, any S1 was a candidate for the 135 head upgrade including different cam cover although not everyone may have left this in place. This is a valuable upgrade, even more so if the person swapped to a CR gearbox too, but it is mistaken / dishonest for anyone to pass off their 135 upgrade as a Sport 135.

Oh, and I believe the Sport 135s were all built and sold before 2000...I think the first 50 were built in late 98 or early 99, and another run of 50 followed soon after. I guess this 2000 example could just be the tail end of that, but the guy's story is the wrong way round on it whatever the case.

Hopefully this helps a little - nothing to say there is anything wrong with the car you are looking at, just wanting you to know what you are actually buying and trying to protect you a wee bitty as there are some canny operators out there!

Campbell

[campbell]

Finally carpetted with nicer seats in an S1 is the equivalent of putting a small bit of foam between you and a drawing pin. It's not going to reduce the pain, merely delay it by a millisecond.

If you want a GOOD elise i'd suggest taking the advice of the forum as most have been there, done it and paid for HGF

EDIT : Full carpet = will smell like wet dog within a month

Heh heh. Gotta contest this.

Improved seats make a vast difference to the daily useability and overall comfort of the Elise especially on long runs.

Decent quality carpet mats may well get soggy, but remove them when wet to dry them properly and they will last out fine and they do help deaden the pots and pans sounds a fair bit! I've had the same set for about 7 years and they have seen some hard times but still going strong and probably look and smell better than our lounge carpet...



But at the same time, improved seats and carpets are easy things to sort out later. Lazy is spot on and it's the core of the car you need to care about. Chassis and engine. Bodywork and everything else is in the consumables dept!

[Stewart]

Oh, and I believe the Sport 135s were all built and sold before 2000...I think the first 50 were built in late 98 or early 99, and another run of 50 followed soon after. I guess this 2000 example could just be the tail end of that, but the guy's story is the wrong way round on it whatever the case.

The add says that it is a 1997 car also on an R reg although it looks like a "private" plate.

[campbell]

So the invoice from 2000 maybe relates to having the 135 head conversion done then, I suppose.

[s29ttc]

Well Ill all set going to look at the 111s, just waiting on my insurance to phone and pop it on just incase lets hope all is good

[s29ttc]

Thats me home, with the lotus woooooooops, it was a minter and I love it need to sleep but want to go back out its so much fun and the noise is amazing

[tut]

Good news Scott, I thought that it looked a good one.

Presume that you will be at KH on the 28th to show it to us?

tut

[VXJON]

Well done lad

[mac]

Nice one Scott,

I'll be in the garage most evening's the week (preping the 7 for Doune) if you want to take a spin past.



Mac