thinking of getting a m100

[leeroyv]

im currently driving a '05 impreza wrx which dont get me wrong i love but since a pal of mine as got a tvr chimera i want to go back to a 2 seater sports for the summer months, however this does hinge around getting a decent family car for the missus as we have a 3yr old and another due in a month....

i want something a little older rather than a s2000 or alike so was thinking either an mx5 (previously had one and loved it but they are 10 a penny) a fiat barchetta (not sure about the lhd factor) or a elan m100 (prefered choice at the moment)....

my budget will be the value in my impreza so say around 3k. i know i'll be looking in the cars needing some work section but im not adversed to maintaining, modifying and improving my cars so a nice little classic project will be nice (hopefully i dont chew on those words lol)..

anyway first off is to sell the missus beetle tdi, sort family car then look to sell or swap the impreaza for possibly a elan

[Jeemy]

Compared to the S2000, this is a much better car. S2000 is nicer inside, sure. Not a big MX5 fan on looks mainly, I never drove one.

Do have a read of the thread DannyR has posted, he is in much a similar situation to you (reading between the lines here) wanting to spend £3k on an Elan but drive it straightaway.

Trouble is with Spring coming, there are a ton of less than scrupulous sellers with £2k Elans trying to sell them for £3-4k, combined with guys who bought one for £1.5-£2k and couldn't fix the issues that made them cheap, trying to pretend they have never had any issues, and selling for £2-3k.

There are a ton of new Elans posted today on eBay, all yelling 'buy one, have fun for summer'. Quite a few look great on first look, and may well be. If you are prepared to do work, you'll be fine longtermly and a bit of haggling will always get you a fair car. But if you want to drive through summer and then do the work, really do take care as all the nasties are out of the woodwork just now, several documented here where the guy has been on asking advice, not listened or not been able to implement it, then put the car up for sale with £1k on top and no mention of the problems he'd whined about here.

Without endorsing, buying a car advertised directly here you can't go far wrong, as those well-meaning, and less so, all have chance to comment, so you'll be well appraised of the problems before purchase, even if they are overstated.

Elans are always a good option if you want performance works for classic/underlooked money but there's definitely a headway with shysters at the moment - just now on eBay, piston heads et al, there are a bundle of issues with the £3k cars. "Needs some TLC" definitely means "remortgage your house" at the moment, sadly.