Garage-less

[s.512]

Hi all,

I'm interested in buying an M100 - definitely a great looking car, and fantastic handling and speed to go!!

Only problem being my lack of a garage. Do you think this would be a problem? I've read on this forum the hood is like a sieve, is it really that bad? I'm assuming a new hood would sort this issue out (and even a hardtop) but both rather pricey I believe...

I plan to use the car everyday, so won't be sitting around idle for too long. But will be heavily rained on for what seems like 360 days of the year.

Any comments appreciated!

Thanks,
Sam

[Gary1958]

My experiance with the Elan M100 is short lived as i've just bought my first one but i have had many years of Lotus cars exposure. A car that is now >20 years old will not be completely water tight. A few of the various seals will be past their best and require replacement. I have used the Renovo products on many of my cars and it does work and make a difference to the soft top.

http://www.renovointernational.com/products/reviver.php

You could also buy a quality car cover but the problem with these is you then need to put it somewhere once you've taken it off. If its wet then storage in the boot will create other problems. Also consider a shower cap similar to this:

http://www.eliseparts.com/products/show ... hower-cap/

I'm not aware of a specific M100 product.

Try and drive a car as this may be enough to convince you into buying one then take a towel!

[Rambo]

I'm not aware of a specific M100 product

There is a specific shower cap for the M100. Try dropping Will Blacham (WillB on LEC) a PM

Or, better still send him an e-mail or call his mobile. Here's a link to both

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/3317143.htm

[bobbrown]

There are custom made shower covers like these on Fleabay Link the elastic on the back does give up and I stiched a couple of straps on mine to tie to the boot hinges. Comes with a bag so you can put in the bag if wet and dry it off later, also I found that in high winds it does not like staying put but some carpet tape on the windows soon fixes that little problem. It keeps the in side dry when not being dtiven and also helps keep the car cool in the summer (if we get one).

Bob

[inkitin]

Our old friends "Classic Additions" also do one for £41.50 + p&p.

I have one of these, it fits well, it's very effective, the quality is really good and I've been very happy with it.

[Gary1958]

Our old friends "Classic Additions" also do one for £41.50 + p&p.

I have one of these, it fits well, it's very effective, the quality is really good and I've been very happy with it.

I'll have to buy one of these too they look good. I'm in the process of selling my S2 Elise car cover that's made by the same people, its very good but just too big when not on the car

[dunnlor]

When mine isn't garaged, I use a full car cover made for the Elan.

The cover has mirror pockets, elastic hems at both ends, and is tailored so there's not much loose material. It's goes on very quickly.
The mirror pockets and elastic hems do a good job of keeping it on.
Only when we get high wind warnings do I ever secure it with a bungee cord.

Tom

[Rice crispy]

I have a shower cape for daily use and that works fine, I also have a full cover which is ok, and this winter I brought an external Carcoon which I think is great as it keeps the car dry whatever happens. I started a thread on it if you have a search.
David

[rip]

I've read on this forum the hood is like a sieve, is it really that bad? I'm assuming a new hood would sort this issue out (and even a hardtop) but both rather pricey I believe...

They all leak either a little or a lot.
Even hard tops are not watertight & you can't just fold those back on a warm day to let the interior dry out.

[hatters]

I have owned two M100s and one Elise and they all leaked water, In my experience it is much worse when stationary and not a problem when driving so I would say if you are not going to garage it then a shower cape is a must because you could slip it on while you are at work and again when you get home a full cover would be too big and cumbersome to do this with

[s.512]

Thanks for all your replies, that helps a lot!

So I'm thinking a shower cap will be a must, just to stop the water getting in while standing idle on the drive. Plus some of that renovo restorer to improve waterproofing

I had a triumph spitfire and full car cover from classic additions - it wasn't too great though - always moisture on the surface. However lots of loose material as it wasn't tailored, so maybe this was the issue. The elan's fibreglass body and galvanised chassis is definitely a benefit here too!!

Unfortunately a carcoon is not a viable option for me, living right next to the road, and I'm sure the urge for some to use it as a bouncy castle on a stumble home from the pub would be just too great!

So you've done a good job of not putting me off the elan... well done. Now to go for some viewings/test drives....

[bobbrown]

If we knew where you were based I'm sure there would be someone who could provide some help and some pointers, also if you are interested in one that is not in your area I'm sure some one on the forum who is close would be happy to take a look on your behalf to at least give you an independant idea of it's condition. Do not forget there is a for sale section on the forum and a guide in the WikiLEC.

Happy hunting

Bob

[s.512]

If we knew where you were based I'm sure there would be someone who could provide some help and some pointers, also if you are interested in one that is not in your area I'm sure some one on the forum who is close would be happy to take a look on your behalf to at least give you an independant idea of it's condition. Do not forget there is a for sale section on the forum and a guide in the WikiLEC.

Happy hunting

Bob

That's great, cheers Bob. I'm in Berkshire... near Reading way, so I'll have to post when i see something I like!

I'm looking more towards the cheaper end, but obviously don't want a dog of a car. However something I can put some money into restoring rather than going top end to start with. Even considered this elan on ebay - but perhaps this one is a bit too much of a risk?!

Though if it goes for even 1.7k, still a bargain I think - respray for around 1.5k. New hood around 500? Few hundred for any other misc repairs/tidying up = around 4k (that's the theory anyway!)

Thanks,
Sam

[JonT]

I'm looking more towards the cheaper end, but obviously don't want a dog of a car. However something I can put some money into restoring rather than going top end to start with. Even considered this elan on ebay - but perhaps this one is a bit too much of a risk?!

Though if it goes for even 1.7k, still a bargain I think - respray for around 1.5k. New hood around 500? Few hundred for any other misc repairs/tidying up = around 4k (that's the theory anyway!)

Unless you're prepared to do a fair bit of prep work, £1500 seems optimistic for a respray. If you want a full new hood replacement including seals, I think they're more like £1k from M100 Hoods. You'd be better off looking at Dave's (dapinky) car if you want something solid for just over £4k.

[nyssa7]

That's great, cheers Bob. I'm in Berkshire... near Reading way, so I'll have to post when i see something I like!

I'm looking more towards the cheaper end, but obviously don't want a dog of a car. However something I can put some money into restoring rather than going top end to start with. Even considered this elan on ebay - but perhaps this one is a bit too much of a risk?!

Though if it goes for even 1.7k, still a bargain I think - respray for around 1.5k. New hood around 500? Few hundred for any other misc repairs/tidying up = around 4k (that's the theory anyway!)

Thanks,
Sam

Hi Sam

Like you, I was veering towards the bottom end of the market, wasn't fussed about cosmetics but did want a decent service history. You may be optimistic at £1700 for that one, unless you shoot round and buy it off eBay or course. Been watching pretty well every Elan for past couple of months to get a feel for the market - seen some pretty rough looking ones reaching £2k+, whether they actually sold when the buyer turned up is another matter of course. I'm not sure it's as little work as the buyer suggests, in the first instance it needs a fair bit doing just to get an MOT so you can drive round in it THIS summer

Having said that, also seen a couple that have been priced around the £4k mark that still needed a fair amount of little things doing. And you're probably going to need to travel a bit, Elans seen to be very sparsely spread out. Got a 200 mile retun trip to pick up mine on Sunday!

Good luck in your quest, but go in with your eyes wide open as has been suggested by others. And if you get one and need a roof cover, mine apparently has one I won't be using

Cheers

Trevor

[s.512]

Unless you're prepared to do a fair bit of prep work, £1500 seems optimistic for a respray. If you want a full new hood replacement including seals, I think they're more like £1k from M100 Hoods. You'd be better off looking at Dave's (dapinky) car if you want something solid for just over £4k.

Ahh is this still available? Looks a very nice car indeed, and definitely always good to buy off such an enthusiast. Unfortunately I'm not in the place to buy just yet, and can imagine now the sun occasionally makes an appearance, it won't be available for long.... but will certainly keep an eye on it.

Hi Sam

Like you, I was veering towards the bottom end of the market, wasn't fussed about cosmetics but did want a decent service history. You may be optimistic at £1700 for that one, unless you shoot round and buy it off eBay or course. Been watching pretty well every Elan for past couple of months to get a feel for the market - seen some pretty rough looking ones reaching £2k+, whether they actually sold when the buyer turned up is another matter of course. I'm not sure it's as little work as the buyer suggests, in the first instance it needs a fair bit doing just to get an MOT so you can drive round in it THIS summer

Having said that, also seen a couple that have been priced around the £4k mark that still needed a fair amount of little things doing. And you're probably going to need to travel a bit, Elans seen to be very sparsely spread out. Got a 200 mile retun trip to pick up mine on Sunday!

Good luck in your quest, but go in with your eyes wide open as has been suggested by others. And if you get one and need a roof cover, mine apparently has one I won't be using

Cheers

Trevor

Thanks Trevor, much appreciated.

Very true, they're certainly not round every corner and will probably have to travel quite some distance to find one I'm interested in. I imagine I'll be looking around the 4k mark; don't mind having things to work on - in fact I'll consider it as a plus to have things to improve, something to aim for!

Thanks,
Sam

[bobbrown]

If you have not done so already here's a link to Dave's car and as he has up for sale for a while now (assuming it is not already sold) so may be you can come to an arrangement, always worth asking as the worse answer you can get is no.

Bob

[dapinky]

Just to confirm, it is still availlable - as for an arrangement, well, everything is believed to be negotiable, but that said, anyone who knows me also knows that I haven't exactly been desperate to sell, or even advertise it, and it doesn't appear anywhere except this site (and a couple of people on SELOC who have mentioned it!)....

...if it doesn't sell, it'll get MOT'd again when needed this summer, and put back where it is now (unless we take that one to France instead of the blue one, who knows!), I ain't in any huge rush to get rid of it, it will find itself a suitable owner at some point, and i'd rather it went to someone who wants it for what it is, rather than take it as 'second best' for what they really want....

.....it costs me only £30 extra to cover 2 elans on one policy than a single car, and at £35 for an MOT it ain't actually costing me a lot to keep it

[s.512]

Just to confirm, it is still availlable - as for an arrangement, well, everything is believed to be negotiable, but that said, anyone who knows me also knows that I haven't exactly been desperate to sell, or even advertise it, and it doesn't appear anywhere except this site (and a couple of people on SELOC who have mentioned it!)....

...if it doesn't sell, it'll get MOT'd again when needed this summer, and put back where it is now (unless we take that one to France instead of the blue one, who knows!), I ain't in any huge rush to get rid of it, it will find itself a suitable owner at some point, and i'd rather it went to someone who wants it for what it is, rather than take it as 'second best' for what they really want....

.....it costs me only £30 extra to cover 2 elans on one policy than a single car, and at £35 for an MOT it ain't actually costing me a lot to keep it

Hi Dave, it certainly is a great looking Elan you've got there and I'm definitely interested. Unfortunately, as I mentioned before, I'm not in a position to buy at this point which is such a shame.

If it does happen to still be around when I'm ready to seriously start looking I will be in touch!!!

Sam

[dapinky]

No worries, Sam - as I say, I'm not really pusing it - when it goes, it goes, otherwise It stays!

When you want to get one, it's difficult to visualise until you have seen a few, which is why the meetings at Donington etc are worthwhile, just to get a feel for the cars, and to see a few together.

With the summer approaching, I'd encourage you to try and get to one of the featured events as it is really the best place to see and compare cars close up (the good, the bad and the ugly) and chat to owners.

Not all are show-winners, but they all have their own character, and got there under their own steam (unless it's an orange one on a breakdown truck). Also, you will hear endless arguments about "upgrades", with everyone having their own opinion on what is really "necessary" - these get-togthers are a great way to see if they actually make a difference, if you like them, can live with/without them and then help you in a search for 'your' car.