ALL CARS ON EBAY.

[Rambo]

Does have S2 wheels but they don't add that much do they ?

Good S2 wheels and rubber are currently going for £1600 - 2000

[daveiow]

I've said this before but I will again, I find it bizarre how the "value" of our cars is continually talked down on "our" forum.
Have a look on the various classic car sites and try and find something with the peerless history both in racing and road cars that Lotus has. Have a look at the prices being paid for 911's, 3series BMW's M1 Golfs etc.
Baby Elans are £25k+, 2+2's are £15k for restoration projects but these values did not start to be achieved until they were 25years old+.
Also never forget £10k is not worth what is was!
Just rambling
David

[Rambo]

I've said this before but I will again, I find it bizarre how the "value" of our cars is continually talked down on "our" forum.

You have to blame Wacko Jacko for starting that

[daveiow]

Way before my time Rambo
p.s Sheep are quite affectionate 600 miles south of you, that's why some people in these parts buy their welly boots 2 sizes too big

[Artaban]

Sold my +2s 130 in 1990 for £7.5K. I want another so I have been following auctions this year and so far the most a "fully" restored one has got is £12k and most restored ones (chassis, engine,paint) have been around £8K-£9K. 25 years hasn't done much for the +2 and I don't know why as its steering and handling is sublime. People advertise them for a lot more but the market determines the price not the seller.

However even a restoration project should fetch more than £15

Andy

[Rambo]

Way before my time Rambo
p.s Sheep are quite affectionate 600 miles south of you, that's why some people in these parts buy their welly boots 2 sizes too big

I prefer to push 'em into a gorse bush and they always back out

[Rambo]

Sold my +2s 130 in 1990 for £7.5K. I want another so I have been following auctions this year and so far the most a "fully" restored one has got is £12k and most restored ones (chassis, engine,paint) have been around £8K-£9K. 25 years hasn't done much for the +2 and I don't know why as its steering and handling is sublime. People advertise them for a lot more but the market determines the price not the seller.

However even a restoration project should fetch more than £15

Andy

Andy - you should've gone for Gareth's a couple of years ago. That looked a good 'un

[Graaf]

I've said this before but I will again, I find it bizarre how the "value" of our cars is continually talked down on "our" forum.
Have a look on the various classic car sites and try and find something with the peerless history both in racing and road cars that Lotus has. Have a look at the prices being paid for 911's, 3series BMW's M1 Golfs etc.
Baby Elans are £25k+, 2+2's are £15k for restoration projects but these values did not start to be achieved until they were 25years old+.
Also never forget £10k is not worth what is was!
Just rambling
David

Is it people 'talking down' the value or is it realism? The expensive cars just don't seem to sell.

I admit that I am new to this forum but am just commenting in what I've seen whilst looking for a car.

[dapinky]

'Value' as a word is as subjective as anything can be, I guess - it rates amongst other such terms as 'quality' and 'fairness' - everyone has their own view on the meaning.

But I do agree that 'we' as a group are not doing anything to heighten the prices of our cars, and whether that is a good thing or not, depends on your views.

If I were a financial speculator, I'd want to see my investment increasing at some percentage on a regular basis, but I'm not.

If i were looking to buy a great car to drive, but only had £3K to spend, i'd be very happy with the current price levels - but realistically I'd also need to accept that it will need anything from TLC to a major re-build somewhere along the way (as with any 25 year old car).

To me, the 'value' of the car is not in the numbers on the price ticket, but the smiles on my face when I drive it, look at it, work on it, swear at a stubborn bolt with no access on it, and remember the good times I've had because of owning it - many of which have little to do with the car, and much to do with the people i now count as good friends who i have met since owning it (and more so on LEC).

Had i never spent my first £3k on a mid-life crisis for Angie I'd never have bought an Elan (I'd probably have gone back to a Europa, baby elan or now drive an Evora) - it just wasn't a car which leapt out at me as being anything special (after all, I could have got a "better" MX5 or MGF for the same money) - but now it's different - now I see the real value of that £3k initial spend.

Without that investment I wouldn't have met the people I have (and I ain't going into an Oscars Speech to list and thank everyone who has been there over the past 8 years), but as a couple of examples:-

1) I'd have missed out on being able to freely take the p1$$ out of Dico for no reason at all other than I know him well enough to do so, and expect the same in return.
2) I'd never have riden a sh1tty moped 1500 miles down the Ho Chi Minh trail with a bunch of total lunatics (self included in that term) if I hadn't shared a curry with Clemo one Friday evening at Donington.
3) I know that I could turn up on any number of doorsteps without notice and be welcomed inside with offers of food and a bed for the night...... and not just in the UK (and having said that i can already hear a number of guys over the pond saying to themselves, "I hope he doesn't mean me - is he flying at the moment - quick, lets move house!") - and would open my own door to any of them under the same terms, the only questions being "Indian or Chinese?, Beer or Tea? - not, "How long are you here for?"

So there you have my opinion on the value of an Elan to me......

.....as for the price/cost - different story altogether.....

For as long as you can get a car in the marketplace for under £3k there will always be the impulse buyer who doesn't realise that it will need time and money, and when they accept it, they're either bitten by the bug and dive in (many examples on this site), or sell up and move on.

As time progresses, there are less and less "Entry level" Elans as they are either improved or broken for spares (Another subject in it's own right), and the 'base price' will raise - pushing up others as it does so - the "problem" with this is that it is a long-term process, Also as you say, Dave, £10K isn't what it was - so by default, if the base price were to go up to 4,5 or 6K - it is still cheap enough to be realisable for many people (after all, it's 'cheap/second car' money for some, 'toy money' for others, but to some it may well be a major investment and they need reliability as a 'daily driver/sole vehicle') - an Elan can be any of those things.

Some owners will baulk at spending £1K+ on a service, HG change or whatever - but is it much different on other cars? Labour charges per hour are the same, so only the parts prices differ (and the extra time needed for the access to the parts somewhere under the bonnet) - it is easier to accept that money on a £25K car than on a £5K car..... but it's no different than with a house - it would cost the same for a new front door on my house as on yours (But not on Big Erch's!), neither house would then be worth more, but would be easier to sell because of it - and it makes bugger all difference to the fact that yours may be 'worth' half the price of mine, 5x the price of mine, or any other multiplier that the market dictates.

Back to the point.....

.... I have seen the 'top price' elans from people on here sell quickly and well (not so much from a dealer, but a good known car has better saleability) - but I have also seen very good cars go for prices which I feel were lower than could have been achieved - quick sales can often do that in any market.

I think it all comes down to your (Dave IOW) assessment that £10K isn't what it used to be - and the same is true for the seller as well as the buyer - if I wanted to sell the Elan i could put a price on my car anywhere between £2K and £20K - it's totally my choice. Realistically, to free up the driveway quickly I may choose a price under £10 as it is a psycological barrier, but to sell it before anyone else sells theirs, I may put it up for £5999 and hope to be gone in a week.....

.....so, that £4K between selling it and valueing it is a big number in percentage terms, but makes little real world difference to the overall cost of the Aston Martin DB9 Volante which I may replace it with - especially if I'd already found one at a good price, but needed to complete the deal quickly.

The buyer, however, would be getting a 'deal of a lifetime'......

...... but the bottom line remains, "How much REAL difference would £5k make to YOU?" For a rich guy of 60 years age, they'd spend it instantly on a weekend playing golf without batting an eyelid. For my son who's looking at getting his first flat away from home it's a huge amount of money.

For most of us, it's somewhere in the middle - and everyone can put their own "Value" on it!

(but one day - soon - the prices will rise and less people will make that first step into elan ownership - - those of us with them will still be happy, but think of those who will never experience the joy - and the ownership/community people will diminish, so will the Elan *Price* be worth the *Cost* to the *Value*??????)

[Graaf]

Well put & well reasoned dapinky.

[daveiow]

Totally agree with all of the above
Just to set out my position I bought my Elan for much the same reasons, as a hobby, both driving and tinkering and as a opportunity to attend shows, events and to meet like minded people (generally mental!)
To this aim it has been totally worthwhile both in terms of effort and cost and I would do a lot more if work commitments and the sheer geographic difficulties of being stuck on a lump of chalk in the Solent would allow!
I don't play Golf or attend football matches so I try to spend about what either hobby would cost yearly on my Elan, as you say,not a lot to some but a fortune to others.
I am not in this for monetary gain and if my car disappeared tonight the pleasure it( andLEC)has given me over the last 5years would far outweighed the cost.
I suppose all I meant was to replace a good M100 with something comparable would cost at least £10k (which is a bl@#dy lot to me!)
All the best
David

[Artaban]

Dave I've owned Lotuses for 25 years and none have been bought as an investment. They've been bought for the sheer thrill of the mix of handling and performance and the smile they put on your face. I used to drive 60,000 miles a year and I'd still get in my Lotus and drive it just for the love of driving it. Difficult to put a price on that. With the recent suspension rebuild the courier is beginning to visit daily now and the Mrs has gone from the odd disapproving glare to the full wasp chewing look. Thinking I might try and meet the courier at the gate. I'm afraid I've gone past the flowers and chocolates remedy and will probably need to do the full drive down through Italy trip.

Even the downsides of ownership have an upside. Dave's right, the return on your investment in an M100 is so much more than money.
Andy

[TrevorB]

This email received after attending a show yesterday epitermises ownership of the elan:

Hi Trevor

Trust you and your wife had a good journey home. Just wanted to say thanks for visiting the show today.
Very much appreciated your support and I just loved the Elan!

Very best regards to you

Rick.

What we have paid and what we have spent on keeping our cars to the standard that is appreciated by others is priceless.

Trevor

[morciii]

another Kia Elan on ebay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2001-Lotus-Ki ... 463dd071c4

[B_land]

Kia elan Much better without the lotus 'goofy' rear lights.

[Tuga2112]

another Kia Elan on ebay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2001-Lotus-Ki ... 463dd071c4

i find the "Elan" badge in the back rather classy, shame it will never fit in with the lotus badge or SE

[morciii]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1995-LOTUS-EL ... 4aed4efa93

S2 #256 for sale on ebay

[Scott J]

that looks very tidy, where is Rambo. I like it but I said never again, but as 007 said , never say never.

[Rambo]

I've got one of those and mine's tidier

[clemo]

Varying degrees of red ...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lotus-Elan-M1 ... 2a5414e954