Scottish Elises

An eagle-eyed Mr Kinger sent me a heads-up on this. Begs a question, apart from why Graham is browsing for more Loti...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LOTUS-ELISE-S ... 33876f9bb5

It's my old car, TT stickers removed (the indignity!), which was written off a few months ago. The damage description (and the mileage quoted) are a little bit optimistic, to say the least. OK, buyer beware and all that, but it gets my back up to see misleading advertising, and think of some unwary purchaser walking into this. It doesn't look as if these guys are amateurs making a genuine mistake.

My second thought is to do with chassis repair-ability in general. In this case it was torn wishbone/suspension mounts. which going by the book is a replacement chassis, hence the write-off. But having been browsing though magazines like Practical Classics recently, and seeing people rebuild cars from literally piles of rust-eaten junk, is it really that hard to repair an elise chassis? I have no expertise in such matters...just curious. As the elise platform gets longer in the tooth I'm sure it's a question that will become more relevant, as more people look to restore tired or damage cars?

Saw this one on pistonheads, surely this is a write off, and aluminium welding wont do ?
It's about the fourth picture ...
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/ ... 99/1863989

If it's on eBay, you could "ask the seller a question" from a position of knowledge...

Mileage looks like a genuine typo, as you can clearly see it as 37000 on the pictures?

I assume thats more like it!

Purpel
Fiberglass
Complet

Great spelling for a dealer.

tut

These guys are well talked about on TVR forums and don't get great reviews.....buyer beware is general opinion.Don't think my wreckage will be turning up anytime soon as damaged repairable although will be interesting if it does as I've had the first half of V5 returned to me from DVLA as the registered keeper......insurance company assure me that all paperwork is complete and there won't be any problems!!

Think there was a thread on SELOC about TVR Dean too. Had a damaged car up with (say) 35000 when it was actually 350,000 and was well known for its mega mileage being probably the highest known about. When this was pointed out to the seller he became severely abusive and threatening. Thoughts ere that he had fcuked up and thought he had a low mileage car hence his high asking price but his reaction certainly gave the measure of the guy and definitely not someone you would want to deal with.

If you know there are material inaccuracies in the advert you should contact ebay - they will pull the listing.

Cheers,
Robin

Not just eBay, if you can prove that he has wound back the mileage, ie:- from a service sheet or MOT, I believe the DVLA would be interested.

tut

The economics of salvage Elises always confuse me - Let's say an identical undamaged car is worth £13-14k.

You buy this one for £8.5k, saving £4.5k...

...But need a £1k crash box, £1k of fibreglass repair (or a new clam to make it perfect), paint, a headlight (not cheap), a chassis welding repair, new wishbones and possibly upright / hub /brake disc / caliper / brake line / front damper(s) / radiator / various other bits & pieces.

Any saving will be slight, and at the expense of a huge amount of work & hassle...

Fluoxetine wrote:The economics of salvage Elises always confuse me - Let's say an identical undamaged car is worth £13-14k.

You buy this one for £8.5k, saving £4.5k...

...But need a £1k crash box, £1k of fibreglass repair (or a new clam to make it perfect), paint, a headlight (not cheap), a chassis welding repair, new wishbones and possibly upright / hub /brake disc / caliper / brake line / front damper(s) / radiator / various other bits & pieces.

Any saving will be slight, and at the expense of a huge amount of work & hassle...

Totally agree Ross, but then if someone has access to used parts and the facilities to do such work, it'd become far more cost effective, and thus potentially sell-on-able to make a profit?

rossybee wrote:

Fluoxetine wrote:The economics of salvage Elises always confuse me - Let's say an identical undamaged car is worth £13-14k.

You buy this one for £8.5k, saving £4.5k...

...But need a £1k crash box, £1k of fibreglass repair (or a new clam to make it perfect), paint, a headlight (not cheap), a chassis welding repair, new wishbones and possibly upright / hub /brake disc / caliper / brake line / front damper(s) / radiator / various other bits & pieces.

Any saving will be slight, and at the expense of a huge amount of work & hassle...

Totally agree Ross, but then if someone has access to used parts and the facilities to do such work, it'd become far more cost effective, and thus potentially sell-on-able to make a profit?

Plus some people actually enjoy spending their time on a project.

Steve.

rossybee wrote:

Fluoxetine wrote:The economics of salvage Elises always confuse me - Let's say an identical undamaged car is worth £13-14k.

You buy this one for £8.5k, saving £4.5k...

...But need a £1k crash box, £1k of fibreglass repair (or a new clam to make it perfect), paint, a headlight (not cheap), a chassis welding repair, new wishbones and possibly upright / hub /brake disc / caliper / brake line / front damper(s) / radiator / various other bits & pieces.

Any saving will be slight, and at the expense of a huge amount of work & hassle...

Totally agree Ross, but then if someone has access to used parts and the facilities to do such work, it'd become far more cost effective, and thus potentially sell-on-able to make a profit?

Not really. Having access to used spares would be a requisite for taking on a project like this even then unless you repair the crash structure and clam then paint it yourself any "profit" will soon get eaten up. That though is expensive for a crashed one. Guessing it is at least a couple of grand more than they paid for it at auction. And as a Cat D at best it will be difficult to shift once the extent of the damage is revealed. Put this way, would you buy it once it was repaired ................. thought not.