Hi Mike, excellent advice. I've hpi'd the titanium s2 above and am due to make the 4 he trip to see it on Sunday afternoon. Is there anything I should be looking for outside of the obvious, ie discs,fluid conditions and levels, etc. Anything that these cars always have as weak spots?

The car is an s2 111s if that helps.

 

A bit above the £15k budget still ?

 

Looks a nice car that Colin

Hardtop for extra Win points!

Best advice is to be found on SELOC - there are really informative buying guides on there that I couldnt do justice too - www.seloc.org

Key things to check off the top of my head

- Timing belt can be a problem on the K series so make sure that has been tightened as part of service
- Heater Matrix is a pain on these cars and make sure the heater works when you test drive to make sure tha matrix doesn't need replacing - if it does it's a clam off job and will be expensive
- The cooling system/radiators is also a weak link on the Lotus. Mine went recently. Let the car idle for a while and check the temp. Shouldn't go over 100 idling if it does could be signs of a coolant/radiator issue. Also check the inside of the oil cap for any white residue which again could be a sign of coolant/engine issues.
- Make sure your happy with the size of the dent on the car that the ad mentions - The lotus isn't like a normal cars where you think 'i'll get that sorted after buying'. There are very few people who specialise in glass fibre and any 'ding' is expensive to get reparired - again it's a clam off job and it's expensive! Also worth bearing in mind is it's one whole clam on the front and one on the back - no panels at all to simply replace!
- Make sure the car has both keys. Sounds stupid but if your used to a keyless car it's incredibly annoying to find you've left your keys in the boot and not being able to open it again! (I've done it a few times. Without the spare set I would have been locked out a few times
- GearLinkage - These can get quite sloppy over time without proper maintenance and replacing various bushes so check the linkage is in good working order. It's no S gearbox but it should engage gears directly

Apart from that job's a good one and look forward to a Lotus outing sometime soon!!

Mike

 

As a frame of reference i paid for a couple of 5-10cm long cracks/tears in the front wing of a friends S1 elise to be repaired after i put it in the tyre wall at Anglesey . It didn't require a clam off or anything like that.

The paint and repair cost ~£300 at a normal bodyshop that had experience of fibreglass repairs on Elises.

 

There is a fantastic kit out there:

 

I'm tempted to get one of those kits. It's so hard to work on the engine without one. Maybe we could get a group buy?

 

That looks smart.

 

Tilt limited by a piece of string?

It does look very practical, though. Especially if constant fiddling of Rover Ks is required.

 

Appropriate ?

 

I'm driving stupid miles to see this car on Sunday:



(Really very excited)