ALL ELANS IN AUTOTRADER

[Jackonicko]

The asking price is a good £1k more than the car's worth at that sort of mileage, even with the wheels and bones sorted.

[ashm]

H146 LDA SE Calypso Red 108,000 miles on 26/08/07 was in Autotrader - Driver Motor Sales, Northwich, Norfolk. ORP (Open rear plate)

So she's only done 1k in the last 2 years? Tallies with what the dealer told me, he said the previous owner just wasn't using it. He also said the battery was fairly dead and would be replaced on sale.

Jackonicko: He said he was open to offers, and there'd be a 6 month warranty. Barring the odd one going for very little on eBay I don't recall seeing many sub 120k cars changing hands for much less than £3500.

Nobody else has had a look at this one then?

[dapinky]

Ash,

As you trawl through the veritable deluge of threads on here, you will see that Jon (Jackonicko) has done a lot of research on prices ACHIEVED, not prices ADVERTISED.

He is also very depressingly pessimistic on prices

Personally (and this is NOT any slight on the work Jon has done, or him as a person, or anything else), I think that a nice honest used car (ie, what-you-see-is-what-you-get), will fetch £3K - £4K all day long.....

....then with recent evidence of replaced parts (wishbones, hood, seals, tyres, cambelt) the price may go up, but without it, it may come down......


....service history will give a 'peace of mind' bonus (and maybe price premium)....

......buying a 'known to LEC' car should give a peace of mind.....

.....upgrades probably don't vastly increase the price, but do increase the desirability of the car.....

....finally, if the owner needs to sell, there may be a bargain to be had, but if they only want a change, and are prepared to hang out for more cash, then it will not sell as quickly.



(all this is in MY opinion, not fact!!!!!!)

[max and andy]

Isn't Autotrader great. We thought it was an exact copy of the magazine. No wonder the magazine is getting so thin. Max & Andy

[Jackonicko]

I am a price pessimist, but I'd agree with Pinky's assessment of £3-4K for an honest, useable, doesn't-need-anything-doing-to-it Elan.

Closer to £3k for cars with more than 100k miles, tatty interiors and poor paint, up towards £4k for better ones. And more than £4k for really tidy, well sorted cars, cars with lower mileage, etc.

And pinkster and I both know what sort of price 109K and 119k Pac Blue cars fetch!

[dapinky]

And pinkster and I both know what sort of price 109K and 119k Pac Blue cars fetch!

[nickmason]

And pinkster and I both know what sort of price 109K and 119k Pac Blue cars fetch!

I'm looking for one, as it happens. So fancy letting us know what price they do?

Rather kicking myself that I didn't seize clemo's. He who hesitates is lost, and I was a bit concerned about the BBR mod, as well as it being just out of my price range.

[Enright]

And there was me thinking that it was because you were into Ferraris rather than these cheapo British built things!

[nickmason]

And there was me thinking that it was because you were into Ferraris rather than these cheapo British built things!

Ah yes, the damned namesake. Still get e-mails "Hi Nick, just to say I really dig your drums". etc Thought I was being stalked for a while, until I made the connection.
This isn't me either - http://www.nickmason.org/news.html - shameless milking of the name.

Mind you, it has opened some doors for me in the past, though, so can't complain.

Nick

[SimonH]

Guys,

I have been talking to a guy selling a White Elan SE in Bournemouth on behalf of his son in law.

He says it is a repaired Catagory 3 car, due to the fact that the repair to the front wing was so much from Lotus?

I am thinking of going to look on Sunday, but is 100 miles away so dont want to waste my time.

Will CAT 3 repair effect my insurance?
What damage is likly if hit a front corner?

Generally he sounds a nice guy...!

Car is owned by son in law who works abroad and hardly uses car hence sale.

Any advise welcome.

Thanks,

Simon

[Ocean Blue]

Hi Simon, is the car you're looking at the white 81,000 one @£2850.00? My understanding is that damaged vehicles are categerised by letter; hence cat C or D. I've only seen numbers refered to for levels of security items; ie Thatcham Cat2 alarm. Any vehicle that has a been the subject of an insurance claim may affect your insurance, but it will certainly affect resale value. I thought that for a car with relatively low mileage, some interior trim and boot carpet looked excessively worn in the photos, so I would tread carefully. There are some really brilliant and knowledgable guys on this site, so find one the lives close by and get a second opiniun. Also, dont be put off by a high mileage; my last SE hand 130,000 miles on it, but had been serviced to the book and ran like a little gem, so service history is very important. Hope that helps and good luck, Phil

[Nige]

Simon,

You have a PM.

[tonny006]

Simon


You have another PM

[Gary]

Wish we knew what was in all these PM's

[dapinky]

Wish we knew what was in all these PM's

There's a clue in the name PRIVATE / PERSONAL message

[Jackonicko]

Of course, and while I tremble at even the prospect of agreeing with Gary then if there are concerns about this car, then it would be good if they were widely known.

Especially among those of us who may be in the market for cheap Elans.

[Jackonicko]

I'd add that for me, a Cat C or a Cat D car would generally be a no-no.

Resale value is always affected (unless it's the Paul P JPS Elan) and in my experience (I once came within a hair's breadth of buying a Cat D) it affects insurance premiums, and your ability to get insurance at all. Matt Don may have some input on the implications of owning a Cat D car.

For those reasons, Cat C or Cat D status should usually be reflected in a MUCH lower selling price than an undamaged car in otherwise similar condition would fetch. This seems to have happened in the case of most recent Cat C/Cat D cars.

Hopefully Dave Speck or Phil or one of the other experts who have an indepth knowledge of the structure will be along shortly to give a comprehensive idea of the possible implications of front quarter damage and what to look for.

[Specky]

Long story short...

Because Lotus used the VARI process to form the body panels they are absolutely awsome at transmitting stress through out the car...(But the stress raiser generated can crack the tub anywhere)...The inital and obvious damage is normally always repaired, but they forget to check the rest of the car over...

Personally If your serious about the car,get a full chassis alignment check as per the manual...These cars are millimeter perfect on the Chassis...

If in any doubt walk away... (I know what I would do)

TTFN

[tonny006]

I went to see the car and was shown photos of the damage which was obviously a very light impact to the front n/s clam which has been repaired ok.
There was a geometry printout and there didn't look like there were any problems there.
It just looked like a car that had sat around in the open and been neglected.

The seller is keen to sell as he kept telling me he was open to offers.

If anyone wants anymore info please PM me.

Tony

[SimonH]

Guys

Thank you all for the messages including the PM's

For all sorts of personal reasons I could not visit the car, and judging by some the responses I think I was wasting my time.

I will keep my eyes...and ears out.

till the next one!

Simon