Scottish Elises

Hi, I'm looking at my first Lotus and test drove a 1998 S1 Elise Bell & Colvill 160 today from Kintore Car Sales - apparently a previous owner is a Lotus enthusiast and thought they might be on here - just looking for some background info on it.

The ad is here: http://www.kintorecarsales.co.uk/used-c ... 5053196272

Thanks, Paul.

Craig Walkace's old car, he tells me it's a cracker, thought about it myself!

Steve.

Yep my old car feel free to pm me any questions. Genuine car thats never been damaged and has had a lot spent on it over the years.

Strong car for the money, given provable history.

Have you bought it then?!

Not bought it yet - my concern was the relatively high mileage (for this kind of car) combined with a lack of FSH. I also don't have a comparison in terms of the drive as its the first one I've driven so would prefer to try another to see how it compares before making any decision. I'm also considering a caterham.[FACE SCREAMING IN FEAR]

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

High mileage is pretty much the norm for a large percentage of drivers on here, it means the car is being used for what it was meant for. Far more important is the way it has been looked after and serviced, preferably by an enthusiast who looks after his car as opposed to someone who puts it into a main dealer purely for the kudos and a dealer stamp.

The reason many of us went back to Murrays was because of Craig, we could trust the servicing and paid a fair price. However that does not compare to lots of our members who do their own on here to an even better standard, as the hours are not paid for, parts are sourced at none dealer prices, and everything on the car is put right or refurbished over a period of time. You can not compare a fifteen year old S1 to a new Evora or Exige. One is worth £70K, the other £9K.

To really see the condition of an old Elise you need got get it up onto a ramp, or crawl underneath with the under tray off. That is where the corrosion and expensive repairs are going to occur as they are out of sight, anybody can carry out an oil, filter and brake pad change which is the basis of most services.

Any of our experienced members on here would be happy to check the car over for you if they were in your neighbourhood.

tut

Good to do the homework, Paul.

For ref my 1999 S1 has 110,000 miles on it. Albeit from one careful owner (and the occasional lady thrown in!).

It goes better than when new. And improves every year that it's been serviced since it came back under Craig Moncrieff's care about 4 years ago.

There are some key troublespots to check on ageing examples, like front suspension mounts in the chassis, and you can consider the K series engine to be a consumable (in the sense that it's relatively cheap to put a younger one in if the original is worn or threatening HGF).

But as Tut says, cars with considerable miles from SE members will generally be in great shape. Except his ones. Avoid those

Speak to Craig, he will tell you all about the car. Good and bad.

Thanks guys, that's all good to hear. I've dropped Craig a PM to get more info on the car.

Seems like there was a flurry of interest on this car just before the weekend... Guess buyers are like buses, nothing for a while then a few at once! Anyway, I made an offer but someone must have made a better one as it's now sold.

Spurred me to do some further looking though and going to view an S2 135r and a 111 on Tuesday.

Here are the cars if anyone knows them:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/ ... 03/4295826

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/ ... rb/4382008

If the yellow 135R is as good as it looks, that would be my choice.

tut

Buyer is on SELOC and came from Cornwall/Devon I believe to get it... I'm not normally a fan of yellow cars but that looks in phenomenal condition!! That said I'm a huge VVC fan as long as it's not ticking lol.. nice power and torque, loved my old one! revs higher too, only marginally but my new one seems to run out of revs before power lol, maybe the cams, who knows?

The badge on the back of the 135R isn't original... had a respray maybe?