I would never buy a press car. These guys are not known for taking care of their equipment.

 

if they just drove it hard, whats the big deal?
check it over like u would any other car. i was on a sponsored drive last fall and one guy had a zo6 vette, c6. he was a journalist and chevy gave him the car for the drive.
he drove it like a grandma.

 

I just realized this car matches the description of the one road and track tested in 2004. An 8000 RPM clutch drop was used to achieve the best acceleration times - ouch!

http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=3&article_id=1419

 

What are some of the questions I should be asking and things I should be looking at on the car when I go look at it?

What should you be looking at? A different car...

 

how long is the warranty, how much is the saving, how long will you keep it, and is it what you want?

IMHO there is a certain cool factor in having an ex-press car, as you get loads of cool pix of your car in all the great mags. Sure it has been thrashed, but if you're going tracking that's what's in it's future anyway, at least like this you're getting full disclosure!!

 

Press car??? given the choice, I'd rather buy a rental car......
I've seen how these cars are treated to achieve the performance numbers they publish in the mags and ...it an't pretty!!

 

I'd only consider if it is 1/2 the price of a new one. Then spend the rest of the money on new wheel, tires, track suspension, rebuild the motor and slap Jay's turbo kit.

 

How does the price compare with other used 05s?

 

for what it's worth.. the press cars are broken in first before being given to the press. so while they *are* beaten on.. at least it's after the first 1k miles.

 

I don't get it, I am probably niaive - but if they did not over rev the engine, then you are left with accelerated wear on some of the parts... notably the clutch, the brakes and the tires.... I would value the car with the likely earlier replacement time of those items in mind. These days, couldn't you ask for the print out of all the time spent in different rev ranges and standing starts etc from the engine mangement system to see if there is something there to worry about?

... so there ought to be a way to get comfortable with the price - and if its right, I would buy it - and then put the magazine articles up on the walls of the garage

 

In Australia there is a race series with the Exige - they get thrashed by professional drivers then used as "corporate entertainment" when not racing (thrashed by non-professionals). These cars are designed to be driven!

All that said you should be able to negotiate a good price!

 

hehe press cars, speaking of which a local journalist had the new m5 to play with a few days.. took it to a local car meet and gave a few enthusiasts "fun drives" all night..

 

If you can get the car for low 30s, it's probably a good buy. Then you can expect a clutch replacement soon. How about getting the clutch for free as part of the purchase? That way the dealer is on the hook for it!

Keep in mind that there are similar mileage cars without the abuse available for 35-37K. Mine will be at the low end of that, but I have more miles.

 

Here's a couple press cars caught in the act.....

 

if you can get a good price, a new courtesy clutch, and decent rubber on the wheels - anything else should be under warranty if it goes south - could be a fair deal, but it should be cheaper, and you should get a "free" new clutch...

 

Thanks for all the input. I plan on at least checking out the car and trying it out to see how it feels and of course seeing what kind of price I can get on it. I will keep you updated on how that goes.

 

"Press Car"

I'm familiar with this particular car. It is not the Road & Track car. The R&T is still on the west coast and is a pre-production car. This particular car was used more as a promotional car than a press car. It's been used more as a display car than road test car. I doubt it's ever had a standing start over 3,000 rpm.

 

Thanks for emphasizing the point that I was about to make, Matt. The fact is that unless you buy a new car you are taking the chance of any used car being abused. I would not assume that a press car was abused anymore than any other used car. If the car comes with a 3 year 41,000 mile warranty, then you are one up on any other used car. Not to mention the resale value is usually a little better on a sports car if it is "one owner." Regardless, at the end of the day, it's about the price.

 

I'm familiar with this particular car. It is not the Road & Track car. The R&T is still on the west coast and is a pre-production car. This particular car was used more as a promotional car than a press car. It's been used more as a display car than road test car. I doubt it's ever had a standing start over 3,000 rpm.

Thanks for the info. Is there any way to tell from the ECU dump if it has seen high RPM starts? I think I remember reading something about this on here before...

 

The ECU has probably been wiped clean to hide the evidence!

 

Send a PM to mopho...he probably has some interesting stories.

 

When I bought my car from the previous owner, I knew it had been tracked, gone off the track, had damage repaired, etc. It was tracked hard, but I didn't care - that's what it was made to do and I got a great price. The Elise isn't a show car, it's a driving car. I don't care if there are little imperfections here and there when I'm driving it. The car is too much fun. Just enjoy.

 

I know that car. If you look at the intro Elise story in Motor Trend (Green Elise), that's me behind the wheel. I tried to purchase that particular car but was told that is was being sent back to the UK - possibly to be crushed. I tested the car in May of 2004 and it was pretty ratty inside but everything else seemed fine.

I ran it hard. Very hard. Then the test driver drove it even harder. It went through the equivalent of a track day in the week that we had it. The typical tests, accel. braking, skidpad, figure 8.

I was desperate to get my hands on an Elise since the dealer said it would be another year until I get mine. I am glad I found another one and did not buy the press car. As good as the Elise is, it is not a hearty car and it develops a lot of creaks and rattles. If I were you, I'd pass.

 

At first I thought no way, but then....

You know, there is a part of me that thinks it would be fun to have the R&T Elise. Keep a copy of the mag (even better if signed by one of the people that tested the car or the author of the artical).

You might want to ask if the clutch has been swapped. Maybe ask for a discount that would take in some part of the clutch replacement. It is one of the cars that introduced the Elise to the USA. It would be very sad to see anything happen to the car (I have heard that test cars are often crushed).
John

 

This is not the Road & Track Car

The Road & Track car is still at Newport European. It is a pre-production car and cannot be sold. The early press cars were all pre-production cars and had '04 VINs. This CO car is an east coast promotion car. It was a spare car at the Exige event at VIR and was barely driven.