Another boring newbie post!...

[Shug]

Teaches me to skim-read posts - okay, it'd have been this year's AMP3 day!

[s29ttc]

Hi scott, ive sent you my email address, the sheet would be great

Is your colour rare? ive not seen many for sale that colour, it looks really classy

Do you have pics of the cockpit

So is yours the 118hp model?

I think whenever i get near an Elise im going to need one asap too, deffo want to have one for the better waeterh coming

Cheers

Donna

Thats the inside when I bought it. I got rid of the dogs wanger handbrake and got a new gearknob as that was of the same style. Few other bits and pieces to change but I love the seats. The carpet is all velcro. Ive not had a problem with it, makes it easier to use daily and reduces the noise down and if its in way two minutes and its out. Mines is the 111s so has 145bhp.

[donnac]

Wow thats really nice Seats look great.

Im going to look at the 111S model i think, it seems a good all round model for what i want

Do you have the AA parts & labour cover Scott? what year is your car?

Thanks

donna

[philthy]

I passed a Yellow NSX at glasgow airport a good few months back, looked very similar to yours.

[s29ttc]

Wow thats really nice Seats look great.

Im going to look at the 111S model i think, it seems a good all round model for what i want

Do you have the AA parts & labour cover Scott? what year is your car?

Thanks

donna

Not as yet which is pretty silly really. Works out around the £150 mark a year. Thats AA cover plus the parts and labour. Basically if you brake down they will pick you up drop you home take your car to your garage of choice, most people use Ali at SLS. Now with AA parts and labour they will pay anything up to £500 on the repair, all you need to pay is a £25 excess. CAn claim up to 5 times a year or something. You will need to read their website but I think thats generally it. Means you break it and it cost £600 to fix you pay £125. I don't think too much can go wrong thats more than £500 on an S1 elise so it gives you great piece of mind.

My car is a T plate 1999 model and had 54,000miles on the clock when I picked it up

[donnac]

NSX looks
Paul

thanks

Here is a very nice 111S just come onto PH, any one know this car?

Also whats the going rate on a car like this given the current climate?

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/859753.htm


P.s Scott got the email thanks for the info

[Edin430]

I'd say between 8-9k

[DJ]

I passed a Yellow NSX at glasgow airport a good few months back, looked very similar to yours.

This has reminded me - I gave a wave to a guy in a yellow NSX at the EarlsGate roundabout near the Honda garage in Grangemouth when I was in the Elise a couple of months back. Got one back too

[tut]

Donna

AA standard Parts and Labour covers cars up to 10 years old and 100,000 miles. Up until recently that was it and I could not cover 11 year old N3. However for £20 more they will now cover you for over 10 years and 100k.

You can not afford to be without it on an out of warranty car, I have had to claim eleven times on my two cars, and never had a question asked.

tut

[campbell]

Donna,

Welcome along.

First off, Newbie posts are never boring...intros are important and we try to look after one another here

More importantly, your choice of Elise.

Fundamentally your budget is the key, obviously. I would say that unless someone is buying brand- or nearly-new, with warranty included, then it's VITAL to have a bit of cash left over for running costs, running repairs and the odd nasty if it comes to it.

So on that logic, with £10k to spend, I'd say you should keep a couple of £k spare for the running fund. If that leaves you with £8k (it should...last time I checked!) then you have enough for a spanking example of an S1.

Now whilst an S2 is a "better car" in certain respects (cue booing from S1 fraternity but fact remains Lotus learned a lot during the S1 days and applied most of it to the more refined S2), nonetheless it will still have its issues and I doubt you'd get a decent one for £8k. Yet.

The way around this is to find an S1 which has been both cared for and also had relevant issues sorted out. Others can provide a more comprehensive list on these, although any 1999 model or later will have had most issues addressed before it left the factory. I have a 99, and other than the original Koni suspension, it has held up pretty well over the nearly 10 years I've owned it. The Koni suspension is relatively low-lifespan and an S2 Bilstein kit mildly adapted for the S1 is "all" you'll need to sort this if the car hasn't got it already. But as an example, that's around £600 out of your running budget already.

A standard "118bhp" model will be fine for your needs as a newcomer to the Elise world. Buying a 111S model (143bhp) or already-upgraded example (anything from 135bhp to nearly 200bhp for the original K series and 200bhp+ for Honda-converted ones) is by no means necessary and for the Hondas you will pay quite a premium over your budget. Should you get to know the std model enough to want more power, this is easily achieved through a number of routes, including as "simple" as a reworked cylinder head (mine delivers 147bhp on std cams) or even simpler, some mildly uprated camshafts. A few hundred pounds can do either, and if your car was due a timing belt service ("C" service) around the same time then the job on the head can be blended in and effectively saves a bit of money in the process.

I notice you mention focusing on the 111S model. Very nice example of the S1, has 143bhp, close-ratio gearbox (makes m-way cruising a little noisier but uses the higher-end power more effectively), better seats and some ally tat as standard

However I mentioned "118bhp" std models above. I use quote marks because it is widely thought most std K series engines were producing 125bhp+ from the factory, and certainly many of those which have been driven like they should, and run in correctly etc, have shown this on rolling roads. Therefore Lotus' own "135" head upgrade was conservatively rated so as not to take the shine off the 111S' 143bhp, as in fact the "135" examples were considered nearer 140bhp anyway! Adding further complexity, Lotus' own 135 upgrade head is relatively crude being just a CNC machined effort. Operators like Sabre Heads produce hand finished head upgrades which make a more optimum job overall. Eg mine.

Point of note...the genuine S1 135 Sport cars were a bit special and if you found one in your budget it's worth a look. It got the close-ratio box, Lotus 135 head, unique paint job and even better seats than the 111S (Corbeau-trimmed affairs).

Finally...not to put you off, but cars pre-99 had increasing lists of items that were later "developed" by Lotus and fixed on later cars. So if you look at a 96 or 97 in particular, you need to check for "red clutch hose issues", whether the brakes are still the lightweight aluminium MMC version (special pads etc involved and finding replacements is getting harder), and various other minor things. Also beware of older but very very low mileage cars. These may well have been cossetted, and if they haven't been far, then there is still a lot waiting to go wrong with them. A higher mileage car with a good Lotus history including warranty fixes, head gasket failure receipts etc, is a better bet IMHO.

Anyway enough of my ramblings. You have come to the right place and will be sure of plenty help along the way!

Campbell

[LittleMorvy]

Hello and welcome.
Let me be the first to tell you that Yellow is the best colour

on the colour.

Look forward to seeing pics of whatever colour you choose.

[donnac]

I passed a Yellow NSX at glasgow airport a good few months back, looked very similar to yours.

This has reminded me - I gave a wave to a guy in a yellow NSX at the EarlsGate roundabout near the Honda garage in Grangemouth when I was in the Elise a couple of months back. Got one back too

Probably would be us, dont think there is another Yellow one around here I will certainly wave again if i see you

[donnac]

Donna,

Welcome along.

First off, Newbie posts are never boring...intros are important and we try to look after one another here

More importantly, your choice of Elise.

Fundamentally your budget is the key, obviously. I would say that unless someone is buying brand- or nearly-new, with warranty included, then it's VITAL to have a bit of cash left over for running costs, running repairs and the odd nasty if it comes to it.

So on that logic, with £10k to spend, I'd say you should keep a couple of £k spare for the running fund. If that leaves you with £8k (it should...last time I checked!) then you have enough for a spanking example of an S1.

Now whilst an S2 is a "better car" in certain respects (cue booing from S1 fraternity but fact remains Lotus learned a lot during the S1 days and applied most of it to the more refined S2), nonetheless it will still have its issues and I doubt you'd get a decent one for £8k. Yet.

The way around this is to find an S1 which has been both cared for and also had relevant issues sorted out. Others can provide a more comprehensive list on these, although any 1999 model or later will have had most issues addressed before it left the factory. I have a 99, and other than the original Koni suspension, it has held up pretty well over the nearly 10 years I've owned it. The Koni suspension is relatively low-lifespan and an S2 Bilstein kit mildly adapted for the S1 is "all" you'll need to sort this if the car hasn't got it already. But as an example, that's around £600 out of your running budget already.

A standard "118bhp" model will be fine for your needs as a newcomer to the Elise world. Buying a 111S model (143bhp) or already-upgraded example (anything from 135bhp to nearly 200bhp for the original K series and 200bhp+ for Honda-converted ones) is by no means necessary and for the Hondas you will pay quite a premium over your budget. Should you get to know the std model enough to want more power, this is easily achieved through a number of routes, including as "simple" as a reworked cylinder head (mine delivers 147bhp on std cams) or even simpler, some mildly uprated camshafts. A few hundred pounds can do either, and if your car was due a timing belt service ("C" service) around the same time then the job on the head can be blended in and effectively saves a bit of money in the process.

I notice you mention focusing on the 111S model. Very nice example of the S1, has 143bhp, close-ratio gearbox (makes m-way cruising a little noisier but uses the higher-end power more effectively), better seats and some ally tat as standard

However I mentioned "118bhp" std models above. I use quote marks because it is widely thought most std K series engines were producing 125bhp+ from the factory, and certainly many of those which have been driven like they should, and run in correctly etc, have shown this on rolling roads. Therefore Lotus' own "135" head upgrade was conservatively rated so as not to take the shine off the 111S' 143bhp, as in fact the "135" examples were considered nearer 140bhp anyway! Adding further complexity, Lotus' own 135 upgrade head is relatively crude being just a CNC machined effort. Operators like Sabre Heads produce hand finished head upgrades which make a more optimum job overall. Eg mine.

Point of note...the genuine S1 135 Sport cars were a bit special and if you found one in your budget it's worth a look. It got the close-ratio box, Lotus 135 head, unique paint job and even better seats than the 111S (Corbeau-trimmed affairs).

Finally...not to put you off, but cars pre-99 had increasing lists of items that were later "developed" by Lotus and fixed on later cars. So if you look at a 96 or 97 in particular, you need to check for "red clutch hose issues", whether the brakes are still the lightweight aluminium MMC version (special pads etc involved and finding replacements is getting harder), and various other minor things. Also beware of older but very very low mileage cars. These may well have been cossetted, and if they haven't been far, then there is still a lot waiting to go wrong with them. A higher mileage car with a good Lotus history including warranty fixes, head gasket failure receipts etc, is a better bet IMHO.

Anyway enough of my ramblings. You have come to the right place and will be sure of plenty help along the way!

Campbell

Hi Campbell,

Thanks that is a very imformative post and has covered most of the questions i needed answered, im going to keep an eye on PH over the next few weeks so i get a feel for prices and specs before i make the jump.

Thanks for your time writing that up for me

Donna

[campbell]

No probs Donna. I owe my continued Elise ownership to this entire group, and to several "regulars" in particular, without whom I'd have thrown in the towel 2 or 3 years ago I think. Any time I can put something back, I will do

Enjoy the search. And don't be rushed. This climate, plenty Elises to choose from I reckon.

Oh and don't believe everything Tut writes. He's forgotten what a standard Elise feels like (he only had one for about 5 minutes, the remaining hundred thousand miles or so have been Honda'd all the way!!). Mind you, he's had most things go wrong with his, especially the blue one. I particularly enjoyed the time he was loading a new engine map from his laptop in the depths of Spain, during a 2-week holiday we were all on. He hadn't bothered to bring a mains adaptor as he didn't expect to use the laptop much. You can guess at exactly what point it ran out of juice though eh...

Bless you Tut, I hope you are enjoying your convalescence

[Digital]

Does anyone know anything about this car?

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/850035.htm

Is that about the going rate and is it the 118bhp model?

Thanks

Going back a few pages... I used to pass this car regularly on my way to work (heading in the opposite direction, I'm not in the habit of racing other Lotii en route to the office ), looks nice and shiny.

Love the NSX by the way, looks in that colour!