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16 Posts
***SOLD***
I am selling my 2008 Lotus Elise California Edition (saffron yellow). I bought the car in early 2013, when it had about 1,300 miles on the clock. It now has 5,XXX miles (about 300 miles per month). My wife is no longer able to comfortably get in and out of the car, and although she rarely drives it (maybe 5 times during my ownership), I do not like the idea of having a car my wife cannot operate.
I have worked diligently to keep this car in original condition. It has no real performance mods (e.g. SC, suspension mods, etc.), has never been tracked, and is garaged every night.
Pros:
- No accidents, no stories, clean title in hand
- Oil line recall done
- OEM Stage II exhaust (installed just before I bought it)
- New battery
- New radiator (aluminum single-pass)
- New radiator hoses (clam was off anyway)
- Stainless steel brake lines
- New spark plugs
- New horn (louder than stock, but not ridiculous)
- Transmission fluid was changed a few months after purchase
- Last oil change was done about two months ago (Royal Purple)
- New Dunlop Direzza Z102 tires (less than 400 miles on them)
- Hard-top, soft-top, tool kit, owner's manual
- Locking fuel cap (still have the original in the trunk)
- I am not aware of any significant mechanical defects
Cons:
- The front passenger wheel has a 2.5 cm by 2 mm section of curb rash. It is not obvious and the tire does not lose pressure. It was there when I bought the car.
- The driver's side window rattles at idle when it is down about 2 mm. It does not rattle in any other position.
- Like most Elises, this car gets a lot of attention. Sometimes this is good, but sometimes one just really wants to keep moving forward with their work day. For example, some would prefer not to have 10 minutes of Lotus-related conversation every time they fuel.
- Keeping this car, or any exotic, in near-perfect condition is a lot of work (washing, storage, parking space selection, driving only in good weather). If you have experience with exotics, you already know this. If you do not, you may wish to consider how you will care for a rare car (less than 25 yellow California Editions are left now).
- This car is not always necessarily fun. If you buy it, you can do whatever you want with it (e.g. track, autox, performance mods) and have all the fun you want. I chose a different route, which is why the car is in such good condition. I do enjoy driving it, but I am always aware of its fragility and the potential consequences of even the smallest collision.
Price: It is difficult to find a good price comparison data set when a car is rare. The most recent California Editions have been listed from $45K to over $50K. I intended to price it at $47K and negotiate as low as $45.5K, but because my administrative assistant will be handing the details of the sale (if a sale occurs), I have set the price at $44K firm. I do not want her to have to negotiate a car sale. It is not part of her job. Plus, I feel that $44K would be fair to both parties.
My assistant can be reached at [email protected]. She will promptly respond to inquiries. I would like to sell this car before the end of September of 2014. The car is located in Delaware.
The pictures feature the car with the original tires (AO48s), which have been disposed of in favor of the Z102s. I will try to get a few more recent pictures up soon.
I am selling my 2008 Lotus Elise California Edition (saffron yellow). I bought the car in early 2013, when it had about 1,300 miles on the clock. It now has 5,XXX miles (about 300 miles per month). My wife is no longer able to comfortably get in and out of the car, and although she rarely drives it (maybe 5 times during my ownership), I do not like the idea of having a car my wife cannot operate.
I have worked diligently to keep this car in original condition. It has no real performance mods (e.g. SC, suspension mods, etc.), has never been tracked, and is garaged every night.
Pros:
- No accidents, no stories, clean title in hand
- Oil line recall done
- OEM Stage II exhaust (installed just before I bought it)
- New battery
- New radiator (aluminum single-pass)
- New radiator hoses (clam was off anyway)
- Stainless steel brake lines
- New spark plugs
- New horn (louder than stock, but not ridiculous)
- Transmission fluid was changed a few months after purchase
- Last oil change was done about two months ago (Royal Purple)
- New Dunlop Direzza Z102 tires (less than 400 miles on them)
- Hard-top, soft-top, tool kit, owner's manual
- Locking fuel cap (still have the original in the trunk)
- I am not aware of any significant mechanical defects
Cons:
- The front passenger wheel has a 2.5 cm by 2 mm section of curb rash. It is not obvious and the tire does not lose pressure. It was there when I bought the car.
- The driver's side window rattles at idle when it is down about 2 mm. It does not rattle in any other position.
- Like most Elises, this car gets a lot of attention. Sometimes this is good, but sometimes one just really wants to keep moving forward with their work day. For example, some would prefer not to have 10 minutes of Lotus-related conversation every time they fuel.
- Keeping this car, or any exotic, in near-perfect condition is a lot of work (washing, storage, parking space selection, driving only in good weather). If you have experience with exotics, you already know this. If you do not, you may wish to consider how you will care for a rare car (less than 25 yellow California Editions are left now).
- This car is not always necessarily fun. If you buy it, you can do whatever you want with it (e.g. track, autox, performance mods) and have all the fun you want. I chose a different route, which is why the car is in such good condition. I do enjoy driving it, but I am always aware of its fragility and the potential consequences of even the smallest collision.
Price: It is difficult to find a good price comparison data set when a car is rare. The most recent California Editions have been listed from $45K to over $50K. I intended to price it at $47K and negotiate as low as $45.5K, but because my administrative assistant will be handing the details of the sale (if a sale occurs), I have set the price at $44K firm. I do not want her to have to negotiate a car sale. It is not part of her job. Plus, I feel that $44K would be fair to both parties.
My assistant can be reached at [email protected]. She will promptly respond to inquiries. I would like to sell this car before the end of September of 2014. The car is located in Delaware.
The pictures feature the car with the original tires (AO48s), which have been disposed of in favor of the Z102s. I will try to get a few more recent pictures up soon.
