911 - 996 PORSCHE OR LOTUS ELISE S2 your thoughts

[clemo]

As above ,
got an (early!) mid life crisis coming on..
do i go for a 911 or elise , got a 15k ish to spend on a toy...

not too fussed which way it falls.
but 911 longer service intervals and +2 seats (ish)
elise more rugged and smaller engine.

price wise they are about the same for similar year/reg.

your thoughts please ...

[muley]

Nice to be in this position.

Have you checked out servicing costs? My friend paid a lot for his 911 services (at an Indy). When he needed parts they seemed to include gold-plating!

On the other hand, the 911 does look very nice indeed.


Jim

[rip]

I'm not a Porsche fan, so it would be the Elise for me.
For some more hardcore fun, I would be looking at a 7. A friend at work has one of these & their community rivals that of Lotus. Chapman designed it too

[Andy_J]

Stick with the lotus brand go for the elise or if you really want 4 seats I would take Lotus Carlton over a prosche

[clemo]

Stick with the lotus brand go for the elise or if you really want 4 seats I would take Lotus Carlton over a prosche

i have been toying with the idea of a carlton for many years but now if feel they are a bit old for there top price money.

[Andy_J]

Stick with the lotus brand go for the elise or if you really want 4 seats I would take Lotus Carlton over a prosche

i have been toying with the idea of a carlton for many years but now if feel they are a bit old for there top price money.

They are getting on a bit now and good ones are hard to find, but they are still the bench mark to beat even 20 years on

[Gary1958]

I've had two s2 Elise's and just part exd a 911 996 for a V8 Vantage. If you need a 2+2 the Porsche is fast and in my view boring. S2 Elise cars are brilliant to drive and from 2003 onwards well built by Lotus standards. The Elise is cheaper to run, petrol and parts are cheap compared to the 911. You need to have a rainy day fund of £6k for the Porsche for engine bore scoring etc.
My old car is up for sale at £11.5k. PM me if you want more information
Gary

[tigerdog]

Rather like comparing apples and avocados. Really comes down to what you want from it. Porsche would be much more use day to day but much pricier to run and so extremely competent as to not be fun at any reasonable speed. Elise has nothing to do with practicality but will put a big grin on your face every time you squeeze your mid-life frame into it. In my little corner of paradise, Porsches are common to the point of non-remarkability but an Elise will turn heads wherever it goes (same with an M100 )

If you were buying a fun daily driver, the Porsche. If you're staving off the impending doom of age, go with the Lotus.

[steve matthews]

If you were buying a fun daily driver, the Porsche. If you're staving off the impending doom of age, go with the Lotus.[/quote]

What Tiger said above states my case.

Steve

[Gary1958]

Sorry, but i dis-agree the Porsche is not "fun". I never just went for a drive just for the fun of it as I did with my Elise.

You pay a lot of money just for the Porsche name and most of the parts used are from the Audi parts bin.

[Gary1958]

Sorry, but i dis-agree the Porsche is not "fun". I never just went for a drive just for the fun of it as I did with my Elise.

You pay a lot of money just for the Porsche name and most of the parts used are from the Audi parts bin.

[hatters]

I swapped my inferno red Elise for a Porsche 968 .It was a very nice well looked after Porsche but I have regretted it ever since I should have kept my Elise it was a super little car to drive. I have an M100 now but I may finish up with another Elise one day !!

[steve matthews]

Touche!

Steve

[abmunro]

I've been considering for weeks now, NSX or Carrera 4S convertible

Im trying to convince myself to keep the cash and hope that Evora's come down in price lol.

[clemo]

I've been considering for weeks now, NSX or Carrera 4S convertible

Im trying to convince myself to keep the cash and hope that Evora's come down in price lol.

dilema ...

[Gary1958]

I drove the Evora and liked it. Depreciation is the main concern for most people and they will settle around £25k, in my opinion. For the same monthly payments and deposit I bought the AM. You only live twice

[Bolsom]

I would think for both fun and practicality a boxter/cayman might be a good compromise. It would be my choice.

[JonT]

I would think for both fun and practicality a boxter/cayman might be a good compromise. It would be my choice.

Not sure Cayman is down to £15k yet.

Wild card would be Z3M coupe or for a proper mid life crisis a TVR.

[Gazza]

TVR Tuscan/Tamora or T350t

[tigerdog]

TVR Tuscan/Tamora or T350t

Will there be enough cash left over for the requisite gold chain and chest hair wig?