Lotus Elise: time to buy?

I enjoyed mine for over a year until the little voices in the back of my head got to me(yes, the spouse) and I traded it for the '87 Carrera. You feel like a movie star driving it and it was fun to own but its fragile and expensive to repair nature scared me long term. The Porsche is like owning a Miata in comparison; lots of parts and info available to repair the common issues. The guy who bought my car kept it for less than 6 mos due to ingress/egress issues. Spent a lot of money trying to fix the AC issues but never could make it usable in East Tenn summers.

You just don't understand: England is a magic land where the ambient temp never gets outside of 40-75 degrees. I know this to be true because no English vehicle's climate control system will function properly outside of that temp range.

On a more serious note, there is a good thread on LotusTalk detailing how to fix the AC so that it will work even in Florida summers.

Never thought these things were fragile (mechanically...I can see how the body/interior stuff could be fragile). A Porsche being cheaper and less worrisome in comparison? That's a damning review...

GameboyRMH wrote: Never thought these things were fragile (mechanically...I can see how the body/interior stuff could be fragile). A Porsche being cheaper and less worrisome in comparison? That's a damning review...

It is the body -- both the front and rear are one piece fibreglass molds. No bumpers. One trailer hitch through the front and OUCH.

I never worried about the motor -- but I did install a larger, baffled oil pan because the engine has a tendency to be susceptible to oil starvation (I likely overestimated my abilities to corner that quickly, but better safe than sorry).

A terrific car, though -- that's why it is still my avatar. I wish my son could have driven it, but he couldn't see out of it to drive it last year . . .

Darn you people giving me terrible ideas! I just saw this guy on CL: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/3711657544.html

I would also add that they look great in any color, even pink: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/reader-rides/1408/

Beer Baron wrote: Darn you people giving me terrible ideas! I just saw this guy on CL: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/3711657544.html

I have a hard time paying $25K for a car with a salvage title... no matter how common or superficial the damage may have been...

Will wrote:

Hasbro wrote: In reply to David S. Wallens: That is probably the only fairly expensive car I'd LOVE to see you do a build project on.

What can you do to one that actually makes it better?

there's a guy that brought a supercharged honda K-series swapped exige to our bmw autocross, supposedly made around 400 whp. i cant say for sure it made it "better" but it was certainly faster, at least in a straight line. the car had stock sized tires though so it was vastly undertired.

Wilber,
If you see him again, tell him he spelled "Honduh" wrong. (Honduh bois have no sense of humor.)

Will wrote:

Hasbro wrote: In reply to David S. Wallens: That is probably the only fairly expensive car I'd LOVE to see you do a build project on.

What can you do to one that actually makes it better? I'll take mine in champagne, or whatever their name for that color is.

Tires. Tires. Tires. Mine hated R888s. It was transformed by Star Specs. Not sure what the original AD48s were like since when I bought the car they were worn beyond use. And it was staggering on Hankook C71s.

Yeah, I made all the Fla/Ariz changes to the AC system trying to make it survivable. Tinting the windshield had the biggest effect but you have to remember that you are sitting in an aluminum tub surrounded by oil and water lines that run thru the sidepods on each side. Otherwise you were sealing up the fresh air system to keep the coolish air inside and the warmer air out of the cockpit. To prevent a negative aero effect in the cockpit, the factory sealed off the recirculate system so you had to drill out the plates and live with the other things. It still never could handle the East Tenn summer humidity. Other than a rare nitetime run, the car was unusable during July and August.
I ran either 048s or 007s during my ownership and was amazed by the handling. The car's performance was never disappointing; it was owner comfort issues that broke me. In comparison, a 911 is a Buick. Parts are readily available and with a few exceptions, relatively cheap. The cost of a clam and the wait for its shipment from Britian was intimidating. Add the oil lines, oil starvation and lack of inventory by Lotus dealers and suddenly you could see the Elise taking up garage space for long periods of time.