Original owner or used car buyer?

[darkSol]

New 2005 Elise.

Ordered February 2004 @ Chicago Auto Show (FVMC)
Selected options January 2005
Car built May 2005
Picked up Aug 26th 2005
31170 miles, 2664 days

[cornbeef]

new '06 leftover, purchased in 07 and owned since

[Notorious]

Owned my Elise for about 16 months before selling it.

[Dylan]

Assuming 10% of LT membership is dormant, that gives about 29,000 active members. For a confidence interval of +/-10%, a sample size of 96 would be sufficient for a 95% confidence level. So, this sample is valid within those parameters and shows that only 29% of the LT membership bought their cars new.

I realize that in 2005 it would have been 100%, but we're talking 2013 and beyond, in terms of new products. This might explain in part why we don't see a lot of new product info for the US.

[addertooth]

Dylan,
Had the Elise evolved more significantly over the period of 2005 to 2011 you might have seen more new purchasers. Most people didn't want to pay the new price premium for LED tail-lights and drive by wire. I am one of the people who actually prefers throttle by cable over throttle by wire. Had the car evolved with greater perks (which were not matched or actually improved on with aftermarket parts), I would have been inclined to buy new. The lack of innovation is what reduced the urge to buy new. Had there been a 2010 model with a V6, you would have seen many people sell their older Elise and Exige models to get a V6 Elige. Perhaps an Elige with "IPS" would have sold a few models as well, but I am old school, I like a stick shifter. Most people on the street cannot tell the difference between a well cared for 2005 and a brand new 2011 Elise. I tend to pay for a difference and not a calendar date.

[Notorious]

Given that there is no new product per se since 2011, and only maybe a grand total of 8k units, 6,500 Elise and 1,500 Exige imported... versus the number of members here, plus all the older models like the Esprit or Elan or Elite... and you are maybe talking about less than half of your total population here which then has to be again discounted for the fact that a forum may only capture about 10% of the owners and the rest being enthusiasts or aspiring owners, and you really don't get a big swath of actual owners, much less owners who bought new.

[Notorious]

Originally Posted by addertooth

Dylan,
Had the Elise evolved more significantly over the period of 2005 to 2011 you might have seen more new purchasers. Most people didn't want to pay the new price premium for LED tail-lights and drive by wire. I am one of the people who actually prefers throttle by cable over throttle by wire. Had the car evolved with greater perks (which were not matched or actually improved on with aftermarket parts), I would have been inclined to buy new. The lack of innovation is what reduced the urge to buy new. Had there been a 2010 model with a V6, you would have seen many people sell their older Elise and Exige models to get a V6 Elige. Perhaps an Elige with "IPS" would have sold a few models as well, but I am old school, I like a stick shifter. Most people on the street cannot tell the difference between a well cared for 2005 and a brand new 2011 Elise. I tend to pay for a difference and not a calendar date.

That's what I see reflected in the WTB posts, and also that a lot of aspiring buyers are younger ones who want to spend under $30k for a high mileage 05/06 just to get in the club. They can't and/or want to spend that extra few grand for the newer ones.

I went the other way and spent the extra money to buy a low mileage (4k) 09 with all the upgrades even if they are not apparent to the casual observer because I like having the latest and greatest if it is within reason.

[jbs986]

Bought my 2006 in 2010 used, it had 7,500 miles on it.

[scapamouche]

Ordered mine in Oct 04, with expected delivery in Dec 05.

Walked into the dealer in Mar 05, and was offered one of 2 SY cars that had been canceled orders. I asked for and got the MB Elise I have they had just started using as the test car (94mi when I got it...)

30000 mi later, I'm finally going for S/C...

[philethier]

Originally Posted by andy7777

Thread revival. I was thinking of this too, and wondering how many original '05 owners still have their cars 8 years later. Anyone?

My buddy still has his new 2005. Dunno that he visits this forum.

[WileECoyote]

Bought my new 2006 Elise in August 2006.

[Bluefang08]

Got my 2005 earlier this year (2012) and I am currently the 3rd owner.

[driftwood]

bought my 05 used (spring of 2012) with about 27k miles... i also believe i am the 5th owner if i did my homework right

[407Driver]

Ordered AR in Dec. 04 and bought a SY in June of 05, someone backed out of. Glad I did SY it is the signature color. 75k mls. later still loving it.

[AndrewS]

Bought my 2005 Elise earlier in 2012 with 11k miles. Looks almost brand new. Had to replace radiator and install embellisher rings and a new battery & is now perfect ,( except upcoming oil line recall&#128532.

Andrew


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