Scottish Elises

Hi All,

Newbie here looking to buy my first Elise and came across this advert.

https://www.motor-port.co.uk/used-lotus ... ar-4678478

The garage is selling it as base k-series (I called them today and they were pretty much clueless about it apart from that it's a lotus and there's ten folk all looking to buy it) but it had a bit of work done in 2017 by the then owner. They are on SELOC so I dropped them a message so I know it had the following. New gaz gold pro coil overs and discs all round, painted the suspension ,set by Rob Boston.,Engine was installed by a lotus specialist, Dan up north, came from a MGF 160 with 58K ( cambelt and head gasket done ) new alloy rad, new exige wheels from lotus and s/s exhaust. The owner did all the servicing while they had it (9 years) but seems very competent.

The previous owner also found out (after he sold) the car had a new chassis from lotus and was rebuilt by lotus within the first 12 months of it being new.

Since it was sold it has missed two MOTs, was supposed to be done in Oct 2019 but wasn't done again until Dec 2021. Done about 6000 miles since 2017.

What do you guys think, a good first car? What do you think about the price? Any help would be appreciated!!

Thanks

Michael

Welcome to SE - where you based, that might help people recommend local assistance.

I can't really comment on pricing as I'm out the loop there - hopefully someone else can comment.

It's led a life, but they mostly all have - the benefit there is that you know most of it. "Dan Up North" gets mixed reviews on here (being kind) but the engine swap would be straightforward and assuming (your timeline isn't that clear) long enough ago that major boo-boos would be sorted. Wonder if the ECU went in also? Can't remember full spec of MGF 160s, but I'd be surprised if it was standard map MEMS ECU. Would likely run, but might not be right.

So does it have a Cat listing if it's been re-chassied, or was it done out of insurance? I'd check - if the garage care little enough about its history, they might not know.

The recent history being pretty ropey would make me want to get it a good top up service (just get belts and fluids and a proper check over) done at a specialist - so I'd slot that into budget and always have at least a grand or two slush fund for gotchas. They are old cars now.

Price wise, if its saving you enough versus others you've looked at and where the market is, then it might be worth a punt, but at that age it's condition not mileage, so the fact it's relatively "low" at 66K for the age makes less of an impact for me.

Hi Shug, thanks for the reply.

I'm in Bathgate, the car is obvs in Newcastle so not too far but can't just nip over to see it myself.

I can ask about the ECU.

No Cat listing, lotus had it on record so knew of the replacement, the new chassis number starts with a LR (Lotus Replacement). Must have been insurance/ warranty? The garage weren't interested in helping. I asked if they could go through the paperwork to see if the cambelt had been done since 2017 and they brushed that request away.

The plan was to buy something cheaper, 15k-16k k-series S2 that maybe had high milage, needed suspension refresh or poor paint that I could spend money on fixing up. Jon Seal sold two earlier this year but I wasn't quite ready to buy at that point. The plan is to keep the car long term and this one looks like it 'might' not need as much doing to it.

Cheers!

Are you wanting to go down the S2 route as noticed this on Facebook Marketplace and may be another option
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 799463723/

No affiliation, I had it saved in my MarketPlace but no joy from my lovely wife on me getting another S1 elise 🥲

Haha, another one? It was hard enough to persuade my lovely wife to let me get one hobby car!!

I did see that one come up but it is an S2 I’m looking for really. I’ll take another look at it though, thanks for pointing it out.

Hi Mike

Sound analysis from Shug there.

Dan Up North does raise an eyebrow. Known for many a shortcut . And sometimes worse.

Garage attitude might tempt me to walk away. Equally, I think you said you were “happy with a project” when we caught up recently so it’s finely balanced.

I’d be tempted to sit tight until some more suitable stock pops up with Jon Seal…

MLCELICES2! wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 27, 2022 3:24 pm

Haha, another one? It was hard enough to persuade my lovely wife to let me get one hobby car!!

Michael,

Unfortunately no S1 in the stable, had a S1 111S years ago and did look at one last year but unfortunately no approval

douglasgdmw wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 27, 2022 5:05 pm

MLCELICES2! wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 27, 2022 3:24 pm

Haha, another one? It was hard enough to persuade my lovely wife to let me get one hobby car!!

Michael,

Unfortunately no S1 in the stable, had a S1 111S years ago and did look at one last year but unfortunately no approval

Sorry, I misunderstood you! Well that’s a good endorsement for the S1 if you are wanting to go back to one.

I would have a word with Craig Moncrieff in Edinburgh, he usually has a good idea of cars coming up for sale in Scotland.

He's found several great late S1's and early S2's during the last couple of years.

Thanks for the advice guys. Will contact Craig Moncrieff also.

The ECU is thought to be from the MGF.

I'm going to send an email tomorrow to the sales guy and try get some more info that way. I'll keep an eye on it selling and if it hangs around I might be tempted to put a low ball offer.

There is another S2 on autotrader in Edinburgh that looks decent (price has dropped from 19k to 17k and still willing to listen to offers) but the colour scheme just isn't for me. How much is a full respray??

I will post again if I find something!

The aubergine one in Edinburgh looks a better bet imho. Just remove the stripes and powder coat wheels satin black. Dougie on here also has an aubergine S2. Looks good in the flesh ( or should that be skin ) .

Ps. I think that’s Sports Tourer spec from the few pics. I have a 53 plate sports tourer and imho £16995 is on the money as I do follow these. Have agreed value ins at £18k .

ScottJ-PS wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 27, 2022 10:37 pm

Ps. I think that’s Sports Tourer spec from the few pics. I have a 53 plate sports tourer and imho £16995 is on the money as I do follow these. Have agreed value ins at £18k .

Ok, good to know, thanks.I wasn’t sure about how easy it would be to take the stripes off and potential for taking paint with them. I’ll Google aubergine S2’s and see what they can look like without stripes.

Managed to get some help from the garage and they sent some images.

Is there damage to the frame/seal above the driver which is causing the roof fabric to not sit as close to the windscreen?

I enquired about the aubergine one on autotrader but it has sold.



[ img]https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/4895/ztiI9O.jpg[ /img]

Image of suspension....

[ img]https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/4296/2eE1tD.jpg[ /img]

[ img]https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/4093/dvIH8G.jpg[ /img]

Thanks

Image of suspension....