ALL ELANS ON PISTONHEADS.

[ShaunM]

Anyone know anything about this one - #256, the owner says he is a regular at Lotus meets.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/172072.htm

Thanks,

Shaun

[ShaunM]

Hi everyone,

I'm going down to Surrey at the weekend to look at Sophie's 701 and also this BRG S2 at A&J Cars http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/290722.htm.

It's no. 280, and I was wondering if anyone knew anything about it.

Thanks in advance.

[GeoffSmith]

It's no. 280, and I was wondering if anyone knew anything about it.

No but I trust you got all the information for Gazza!

[jonathanclare]

I had a look at No280 a couple of months ago. It's OK and drives well. However, I would have a look at the sump. I think it had received a fair thump. Under the bonnet, there's a broken bolt on the turbo cover and some scars in the glassfibre close to the engine. The previous owner had also had some work done followng a loss of oil. I could be wrong but it's worth noting, I think. Service history was good and the interior wasn't too bad considering the mileage. It had been standing outside and was a little damp (and some green mould in the hood).

Jonathan

[Gazza]

Shaun, got nothing on those 2 cars.

Jonathan, I take it you have just bought #467 from U.k sports cars? Any chance of the engine and vin numbers (by private message) for the S2 register.

Gazza

[ShaunM]

Thanks Johnathon another couple of pieces to the puzzle..

I called Bell & Colville who sold it to A&J Cars who are selling it. They where very helpful and told me that they had fixed the oil leak and also replaced the windscreen before selling the car on.

They had not done any previous servicing nor did a full service on the car, so couldn't tell me anymore.

I suppose the Sump and Oil Leak could be related, as to the windscreen who knows?

I'm now going down the weekend of 26/27th so Sophie's can get her 701 taxed and MOT'd.

[ShaunM]

For anyone who is looking at buying the BRG S2 #280 at A&J Cars, here's what I noticed. Please note, I am not writing this to put anyone off. I hope the experienced Elan owners on this forum will reassuring comments if I have been too negative and to help a new buyer like myself.

When I arrived it had been idling for "half and hour" to "dry out the carpet" after it was jet-washed (they where cleaning all the cars when I turned up). I looked underneath the car and there was a beer mat sized patch of oil with oil dripping down in the centre of the engine bay.

On opening the bonnet, there was oil all over - see the green arrow on the attached picture (this picture was taken from another thread and is not the car, I have pm'd Mike_H for using his image, please remove if he objects)

There the entire cover on the right side underneath on the lower half of the engine (sorry, don't know what this part is called as I'm not a mechanic) was soaked with oil.

On driving the car it felt fine compared to the other 3 I have driven, the usual hiss of the power steering, it didn't pull left or right and the brakes where VERY GOOD. What I did notice (which sacared the hell out of me) was the Turbo was Boosting to 0.75 and was VERY FAST compared to the other S2 I test-drove an hour before. There was a receipt for "Power Performance Upgrade" for £385 (if my memory serves me correctly) in the folder of Service History. I guess it is one of the mountain chips (?), but I do not know what to look for. I guess an experienced Elan owner would know straight away.

The other thing I noticed was a strong smell of petrol. I don't know if this is because of the "Performance upgrade".

Apart from that the car did need some TLC, but it seemed a good car. The Body work was good, the brakes were very good (Green Stuff Pads) and I was only put off by the Oil Leak and the "upgrade" which I didn't want (an was worried about stress on the engine)

The Oil Leak is noted in a service 2 years ago - rectified by replacing some pipes, then by Lakeside engineering who treated it before it being sold to A&J Cars, but it is apparently still a problem. I hope this is of some use to a prospecive buyer.

[markv]

...The other thing I noticed was a strong smell of petrol. I don't know if this is because of the "Performance upgrade"

The petrol smell could be due to a cracked petrol tank, a common fault in the earlier Elans (and the subject of a recall in the USA but not here). This would need replacing or repairing - I've just had mine done.

[ailwyn]

This "performance upgrade" doesn't sound like a mountain chip, more likely to be an manual boost controller or some hack.

The oil situation does sound worrying.

[clemo]

cas o ring.?

[paulwatkins]

The oil patch in the area you are indicating is either the cas o-ring or the plastic bung o-ring on the end of the other cam. Both are an easy fix.

[ShaunM]

Just to add, the petrol smell was strong for about 5-10 seconds after the turbo kicked in.

[ShaunM]

These 2 S2's on Pistonheads are very cheap!

Silk Red, 37k miles, £7,500 http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/571482.htm

BRG (Recent Lotus Respray, P-Reg(!)), 59,000 miles, £6995 http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/567323.htm

[M100_DMM]

These 2 S2's on Pistonheads are very cheap!

Silk Red, 37k miles, £7,500 http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/571482.htm

BRG (Recent Lotus Respray, P-Reg(!)), 59,000 miles, £6995 http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/567323.htm

The BRG 'P' reg is an SE that wasn't registered until 1997.

[Candles]

The 'BRG' one is an SE! The date of manufacture and the boot badge give it away.

[GeoffSmith]

SNAP!

[Gazza]

The BRG advert has been changed recently to include year of manufacture (1992) after I question if it was an S2

Gazza

[surfboardfiller]

The claims that it is the youngest Elan when it isn't by far, makes this seller worth avoiding like the plague! What a w####r!

[ShaunM]

The thing that grabbed me the most was "This is a very reluctant sale due only to Northern Rock! " A strange think to write I thought, so much so that I didn't even notice the SE badge

[Gazza]

The BRG SE/S2 was originally advertised as an S2 for £8,995. I contacted the buy to ask about the limited edition number, as I do for the register. He came back to me with a lengthy answer with I was going to post but seem to have lost.

He dropped the price by £2,000 after finding out various info on the car.

He has since been in touch again after finding LEC and seeing some comments which he feels are not very nice about him and his car. I have said I will post the e-mail so we can clear up the mistake about his advert;



"It's clear that you and your mates are Lotus experts. I am not. I am just an average bloke who saved up and bought himself the car he'd always wanted. You lot can spot, just by seeing the SE badge, that this car was not one of the last 800 run and therefore couldn't possibly be one of the last made. I simply went by the logbook which said year of registration 1997. Therefore I thought it was made in 1997 and therefore I advertised it as 1997.

When Gary asked me about the limited edition number at first I was perplexed. I didn't realize the relevance. I telephoned Lotus, gave them my chassis number and then learned the truth. From the Lotus information I contacted the original owners (a Lotus dealership) and found out that they had bought the car and stored it as a long term investment before finally registering it in 1997. The car was five years older than I'd ever known. An absolutely gut wrenching thing for me to find out!

At this point I could have lied, I could have tried to dupe someone. But I didn't. I emailed Gary straight away and told him the truth (not knowing at that point that he was a Lotus expert) FIRST TIME I HAVE BEEN CALLED THAT I went straight onto pistonheads and changed the advert (disclosing that the car was a 1992 model). I also dropped the price by £2,000.

As for the Northern Rock comments. Well thats just the simple truth. I've just come off a fixed rate with them and my mortgage has gone up from 4.79% to 7.49%!!!

I love this car and it's killing me to have to sell the best car I've ever
owned! It makes it even worse to see me portrayed as some kind of wide boy. I made a simple mistake and I disclosed it straight away.

Just remember guys, not everybody is a Lotus expert. Some of us just like em because we like em!

Calling people w*****s because they aren't Lotus experts aint right and it isn't going to attract people to your club."

I hope this clears it up and I wish Roj all the best with his sale, so don't right this car off without giving it a chance.

Gary