[JSC]

Hey folks,

I found an elise for sale near Denver that looks good so far but I'm in Tampa and would appreciate advise on a good place to have it inspected.

Is the ferrari masarati lotus of Denver dealer a good place for a ppi? Anyone or anywhere else recommended? Its Hard to do this remotely and only rely on pictures!

Thanks, Jeff

 

[lotus90]

I had a PPI done by denver and they are ok. I would say 75% of what i wanted. but mine has alot of mods. if it is a stock car i would say they are a good choice.
get ecu dump

 

[Gunpilot]

Are you buying the car from another LT member? Its a small community and we often know each other in certain areas and can vouch for the persons ethics.

Post pictures, we may know the car or have pre owned it and can give you some background.

To be honest, a dealer is a good idea but find somebody here willing to go look at it and test drive it for you. A Lotus owners eye is going to be much more critical than a dealers. I did this with both my cars, using fellow LT members, paid them $100 and was quite happy with the outcome.

I know Ross Calson is in Ft. Collins but know he has been busy lately and have not seen him much lately. You can try to PM him.

 

[lotus90]

if it is Colorado springs i can look at it for you.

 

[LostPawn]

I am also in Denver and can take a look but I understand wanting a dealer to insect it.

 

[JSC]

Wow you guys are great, thanks for the quick responses! Been searching for a couple months now and looking for really clean low mileage known quantity stock car for the weekends, not planning on tracking or anything. That's good to know about the dealer for the PPI, and would sure appreciate any feedback if you know this car or the previous owner, or if anyone has a chance for a once over that would be awesome.
It's a blue (not sure if laser or magnetic) 05 with about 8.5k miles on it, appears to have the touring package, its at autonationnissan104 (website link below, please don't steal it!) From the carfax it appears its been with the same owner for almost its entire life, about 8 years. I'm waiting for the dealer to clean it up and send me some updated pics and any maintenance history and condition they can gather, they have no info so far in this regard. One odd thing the salesman told me today is the rear window is busted out and they are ordering a new one, I'm hoping it wasn't broken into....how does the rear window get messed up anyways!?
Here's the web page link:
Used 2005 Lotus Elise (Blue Car) | Serving Denver, Westminster & Federal Heights Colorado | AutoNation Nissan 104th

ps. Amazingly enough I see that Denver lotus dealer just listed a supercharged 2006 titanium grey elise!
thanks, Jeff

 

[Andy811]

I used Ferrari of Denver for my PPI and was happy with the thoroughness of their inspection. Also, the previous owner took the car there for all the maintenance so they were already pretty familiar with the car.

 

[JSC]

Good to know Andy, hopefully they've done service for this car also and know something about it, waiting to hear if the oil line recall's been done, will call the vin in myself on monday.

Did you have your car remotely inspected and shipped back to Ohio or drive it back yourself?

thanks, Jeff

 

[Gunpilot]

Remember to choose a shipper wisely if this goes thru!

 

[Andy811]

Good to know Andy, hopefully they've done service for this car also and know something about it, waiting to hear if the oil line recall's been done, will call the vin in myself on monday.

Did you have your car remotely inspected and shipped back to Ohio or drive it back yourself?

thanks, Jeff

I flew out there to look over the car and test drive it, sign all the purchasing documents, etc. The purchase was conditional on the independent PPI which it passed with flying colors two days later. Then I had the car shipped back to Ohio in an enclosed trailer. I used Intercity Lines and they were fantastic. Picked up the car on time, great communication during transit (even gave me the drivers cell phone number) and it arrived at my house on time. Overall a great experience.

 

[Vulcan Grey]

I actually live just down the road from that Nissan dealer where the blue car is.

 

[JSC]

No point looking at it yet, 2 weeks later I can't get this auto nation to just wash the bugs and dirt off this Elise and take some closeup pics of the front and underneath the front bumper with a $99 digital camera!