Standard 1.8 or 111 ? Help please

[smitstui]

I wonder if anyone can help or offer me some advise.

I am looking to buy a Elise 111 S2. Its a 2002 model. I am happy with the car, the only problem is the Tax is £175 (or whatever band E is). I thought it would be band D(£140).

This got me thinking and I did an HPI check (clear) and got the VIN number.

The number is SCCGA11182HC7****. From what I understood the 4th character is G for a normal k series and J for a VVC. The guy has a certificate of conformity from Hethel 'allegedly' that proves it is a 111.

Is it possible the first few VVC cars went out with a std car VIN number?

Is it possible to phone lotus (or anyone) to find out for sure?

It may be that someone has faked the car as a '111', but I am fairly sure the guy selling it is genuine.

Any help appreciated.

Cheers,

Stuart.

[Rich H]

I know about half of f-all about vin numbers, but all Elises are model 111. So a certificate saying its a 111 means little.

The tax rules change depending on the age of the car too.

It should take you about 10 seconds to establish weather its a VVC or not, open the bonnet, or just get him to take a pic of the engine. The VVC head has a lump of VVC mechanism on it, the std K does not.

Hope someone more helpful can shed some more light on this.

Rich

[ninja]

you will be able to call lotus and check mate, if you give them the VIN number they will be able to tell you the car specs over the phone.

there used to be a website but as per usual i can't find it now!

ninja

[ninja]

i'm not more helpful but can send you a pic of a standard K series lump if you want.

you'll have to wait till daylight tho

ninja

[smitstui]

I should be ok telling the engines apart and dont doubt that the car has a VVC lump. I am much more worried that it is something more sinister like a standard car with an engine from 111 and faked certification.

I dont think this would worry me if I knew thats what it was and the price was right, its just the fact it doesn't add up.


I think I will ring about tomorrow to try and find out more. The car is on the south coast so its a long way to go to turn round and come back.


Thanks.

[cla5h]

I have a s2 111 - the tax is definitely in the lower band (£140) so if DVLA have the tax recorded as the higher band, it must have been registered as such to begin with, indicating it was a standard k.

Have you checked the vehicle detail in the DVLA road-tax webpage? Or can he fax you a copy of the V5?

[Corranga]

I think you are confusing 111 and 111s/111r

111S/111R are different models of Elise with diffrent specs including more powerful engines.

The Elise itself is a 111 (as pointed out above)

Lotus give model 'type' numbers to all of its cars, kinda in the order they were made. So in theory, the original Lotus would be Type 1.

You may have heard of the Type 49 and Type 72 (famous grand prix cars that lent their names to an Elise limited edition)

The Lotus Elise is the Type 111, so every Elise ever built is a 111.

See here for a list of all Lotus Type numbers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Cars

[Rich H]

VVC fit to a normal K series car is definatly non trivial, if that is what has happened then the loom would be different. Also it would be an expensive way of doing things!

It could be that the DVLA has it registered incorrectly, now that would be a shock wouldn't it....

[cla5h]

To clarify - there is a specific model called 111 (at least for the s2) - I've got it.

It's like the 111s (i.e. VVC engine, 8 spoke wheels, oval tailpipes) but doesn't have carpets, driving lights, 111 decals and other fancy stuff.

The s (when suffixed to the 111) is misleading - it actually refers to the trim level, rather than the engine.
Obviously when they moved onto the Toyota engine, the 'r' became crucial, rather than the 111 (and so now replaced by s and r models without mention of 111.)

[smitstui]

Its amazing how many are wrongly advertised.

If you do asearch on autotrader you will see the ice blue S2 111s for £12500 that I was after. I am now convinced that the car is a standard elise.

The cheapest red 111S on the same site (13k) is also not a 111s, its a standard elise.


The black 111S on ebay finishing tomorrow is a 135 (going by the emissions) and is a jan 2002 car. From what I can gather the S2 111s wasnt intoduced until June 02.

I think people get muddled up when advertising them!

[Corranga]

I think people get muddled up when advertising them!

Maybe a good sign of who owns the car/how well looked after it may have been? I mean if they don't even know what the car is...

[jj]

I think people get muddled up when advertising them!

Maybe a good sign of who owns the car/how well looked after it may have been? I mean if they don't even know what the car is...

When I put my advert on the autotrader, it automatically fills in a whole load of details on your behalf, some of which were wrong - it put my s1 in as a 111s for example, so maybe not all the owners fault.

[gorrie]

Do the S2 111/111s models not have the 3-peice diffuser? I always thought they did.... and the standard cars had the flat diffuser...

[ceejam]

Yes, my Elise was advertised on Autotrader as a 111S, which it isn't

What the V5 says is all down to what the admin person at the dealership filled in on the form, so no gaurantees there either!!!

[DJ]

To clarify - there is a specific model called 111 (at least for the s2) - I've got it.

It's like the 111s (i.e. VVC engine, 8 spoke wheels, oval tailpipes) but doesn't have carpets, driving lights, 111 decals and other fancy stuff.

111s has round tailpipes, not oval. In over a year of ownership I have yet to find any 'fancy stuff' though !

Do the S2 111/111s models not have the 3-peice diffuser? I always thought they did.... and the standard cars had the flat diffuser...

yep. 111s has the 3 piece diffuser