Do I buy this Elise?

[Ji3m]

I'm considering buying a 2006 Elise with 90k miles on it. Otherwise, it seems pristine. No body damage, completely stock, drives nice (not that I'm a particularly good judge). Has both the Touring and Sport packages. No hardtop, however.

It's a two owner car. First owner drove it as a daily driver in Los Angeles. The second owner, who's owned for 4 years, put ~2500 miles on it per year.

Of course the 90k miles is worrisome. The ride did seem "harsher" than another 2006 that I've driven that only had 16k miles on it. Otherwise the cars seem drive the same.

I'm looking to use it as a daily driver (10k per year).

The questions I have: How well do these cars handle 90k miles? If I decide to move ahead on the car, I'll get a PPI done, but since a PPI does cost money, I don't want to waste it on a poor candidate.

So, looking for some feedback from you guys.

Thanks. Very much appreciated.

[RBH]

For me 90K is way too much but if the price is right then I would consider. Check the ECU. Also is the car well documented with service records?

[Drew09]

Link?

90k is high, but there are people out there with well over 100k. Price would have to be right.

[Ji3m]

Here's the link:

Lotus Elise

Private owner. Asking price is $25k, during discussion, price went down to $22k.

I'm looking at a similar car (16k miles)from a dealer that is currently being offered for $31k.

[me73]

The mileage is a great bargaining tool. If it's been well cared for and the PPI is done by a specialist in these cars and turns out clean (with a compression and leak down test), I don't see why not. Have them check the cam lobes in the PPI and go for it!

[Dylan]

Oil is changed monthly, every 30-40 miles??

[Ji3m]

That's what the ad said. I didn't explicitly discuss it with the owner though.

[Silver_Surfer]

You should try and get the $31k car talked down to $29k or so and go for it.


Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app

[CMP]

"Car is eligible for collector car insurance which is very cheap"

what does that entail? I am also in texas. interested for my own.

state farm says, "A motor vehicle ten or more years old, which is rare or of special historical interest because of exceptionally fine workmanship or limited production..."

is this an S1?

[RBH]

If it all checks then 25K is good. Try to get it for 23K,

[Drew09]

Originally Posted by Ji3m

Asking price is $25k, during discussion, price went down to $22k.

Originally Posted by RBH

If it all checks then 25K is good. Try to get it for 23K,

Ji3m are you still thinkin about the one at VW?

[me73]

Originally Posted by CMP

"Car is eligible for collector car insurance which is very cheap"

what does that entail? I am also in texas. interested for my own.

state farm says, "A motor vehicle ten or more years old, which is rare or of special historical interest because of exceptionally fine workmanship or limited production..."

is this an S1?

He's talking about exotic/collector insurance from a specialized company. Most of whom won't cover normal cars. In my case, my current insurance company, Traveler's wouldn't cover the Elise. Annoying because they had no problem with my Porsche.

It turned out to be a good thing because I got a really good price from Classic Underwriters Insurance. I also got to include my modified Rx7 at an agreed price, which Traveler's wouldn't do, for half of what I was paying.

[Michael Mann]

There are much better ones out there if you wait patiently for the price.

[Bryker7]

Id go with one with less miles, or talk the guy down alittle with the 90k mile one. I have travelers on my elise btw.

[me73]

Originally Posted by Bryker7

I have travelers on my elise btw.

Must go by state. I have other cars and houses insured with them and no claims so they have no reason to deny me coverage. In the end, they did me a favor anyway.

[Notorious]

I'd rather pay a little more for a lower mileage one that will last me longer especially if you are going to drive it a lot. But then again, that's just me being the opposite of most new buyers who don't care about the mileage as much and just want to get in the car.

As for collector's insurance, you have to sign an affidavit saying you will not daily the car and send in your daily car's insurance declaration showing you have another car.

[Ji3m]

Yes, I'm still considering the Elise from the VW dealer.

[tko211]

Wow... 90k on the clock and still worth 23-25k.

Mine has 60k on the clock and the couple times I had considered selling it I was thinking I would only get 20-22k. Interesting...

[Secret Chimp]

What do you mean by 'harsher ride'? Is it banging over smallish bumps? If yes, the car might need new dampers...and new dampers can be VERY expensive esp if the car has the Track Pack Adjustable Bilsteins.

[onETon]

90k for an ordinary 2006 car is already pushing it for me, let alone our cars. And by our cars, I am in no way saying they can't make it to or are degenerates at 90k. What I mean is that 90% of Elises out there average less than 2-3k a year in miles. Why save a few thousand on this one when you have a sea of them that are under 40k?

That few thousand you save isn't going to come in handy, IMO. Especially if you're not planning to keep it and will sell it in the future. Could you imagine the interest you're going to get when you hit 100k and everyone on the market is still hovering around 45k?

However, considering the seller dropped his asking 12% only after a brief discussion is great news for you. 22k is still steep. It's not in the landscape of the overinflated values that most of us (yes, I said it =P) come up with, but I bet you 22k is still not "market" value for that car. Or it would have been sold already. I'd offer south of 20k and still think twice.

There were a handful of really good ones that sold on LT recently for 26-29 with a good amount of useful and tasteful mods. I'd steer clear from the typical 30k+ dealer prices.