LOTUS ELITE S1 1980

[ebay]

£3,850.00 End Date: Thursday May-10-2012 11:12:46 BSTAdd to watch list

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[esprit s2]

Think I've seen this one for sale before. Looks nice.

No radio though.

[Loose Cannon]

Is it Liams from this forum? Not keen on the rear belts but the rest looks great! If it is the same car he has spent quite a bit of money on it.

[esprit s2]

It does look great. Reminds me I need my head lining done....

[eliteman]

Hi chaps, yes it is mine and she hasnt been for sale for a good few years! I think to date she owes me about 6-7k! So a good buy for someone with a bit of know how. I havent really seen a decent one for sale for a while, a few Eclats but not Elites. We are due a new baby boy in July and a relocation to a bigger house for Baby, i will be parting with the garage so I am considering letting her go to someone that will continue the love affair. I have just bought the wife a new mini cooper, I am getting a new TDi car to cover a lot of miles so something has to give which is a shame. I will miss the famous Lotus smell that you get when you sit in one, you guys know the one.... Anyways, I will let you know how we get on as I am still not 100% sure it is the right thing to to. Other option is to consider selling a kidney or perhaps an eyeball. Take care guys, talk soon. Liam

[esprit s2]

Shame it has to go Liam, looks lovely.

Congrats on the upcoming baby though!

[Emmerg]

Yep, looks lovely. Congrats on the baby front

[USAndretti42]

I will miss the famous Lotus smell that you get when you sit in one, you guys know the one....

Is that the fuel smell, the hot engine smell or the crankcase fumes smell?

Congratulations on the family front.

[eliteman]

Ha-ha. The car is due to be collected on Tues. £3500 which is fair enough. Think I have spent about £7k on her over the years, but you cant put a price on the fun I have had out of the car! Price on the tears? Yes, about £7k! Will keep you posted.....

[USAndretti42]

Congratulations on the sale. Someone has got a bargain. Will they be appearing on here?

[Elite7]

i like the following eliteman´s statement from the advert:

"No nasty after market sunroof which is rare!"

[eliteman]

Swine turned up today to collect and tried to kick the arse out of the price! Sure I am willing to come down a bit but £1500 off! Not even the next sale offers that much off! Back to the drawing board!

[Loose Cannon]

Try a 2nd chance to the next bidder? I saw it was up again and wondered what the the story was, what a jerk.

[eliteman]

I know. No more overseas bidders! I now understand why people exclude non uk bidders from e bay. I think I have had about 20+ e mails from Germany, France, hong kong etc. I am going to relist next week on an auction with a fair reserve. We can transport the car to Scotland if we have to the money isn't really important to us it's just the time concerned in moving her about and I just won't have the same time anymore to keep up the maintenance. Mind you I was saying to mrs eliteman last night I think I would rather keep her in the drive in Scotland than sell her to some cheeky sod who doesn't fully understand how lucky he is to own such a little British gem.....

[Loose Cannon]

So this bloke came all the way from Germany to chip the price down?

[eliteman]

France mate. I think he had a few cars to look at. (dealer?) I wouldn't let him drive it as he had no insurance and thought he could drive it on my insurance! He said £2500 so I just walked away. He was very angry he couldn't drive it buy I said no money no drivey! I may stick her on auction with a decent reserve but for the moment I am going to have a bit of e bay time out! There are a lot of strange people out there and I am lacking in the patience department! Lol

[Elite7]

sorry to intervent: if a car is for sale to a price which is on the upper level for such a car, the buyer (especially non-uk residents) have an extereme high demand on the condition and work carried out.

i think the car did not reflect the condition expected for that price, thats why the deal was cancelled.

see it the other way round:

somebody was travelling over from france (on his charge) , so he already did some effort. it was not the typical email scam from nigeria or hongkong. considering he was travelling back without any car he wasted around 400,-€. did he arrive with a trailer?

also dont forget: non-uk buyers (e.g. from germany, france, netherlands) are the buyers which normally pay higher prices than the typical uk-buyer.

so, if your car would have been well priced for a potential uk-buyer you would have had more enquiries from uk-residents.

Edited May 12, 2012 by Elite7

[Loose Cannon]

Don't agree Ax, it's an auction. If it was a proper affair like Bonhams and you tried to negotiate a price after entering a legally binding bidding process you would most likely be speaking with a solicitor.

It's up to the bidder to satisfy himself of condition etc beforehand, if he is abroad, either tough luck, or don't bid, it's that simple. People accept LOWER selling prices in auctions for a quick sale.

Ebay is a poor selling medium, as well as bidders who just think the high bid gives them first "dibs" an the car and then start negotiating, my other pet hate is sellers who state "advertised elsewhere reserve right to withdraw" which also isn't in the spirit of the affair.

[Elite7]

it wasnt an auction...it was an advert with the option to make an offer.

let this car being sold by a genuine ebay auction (genuinie means that nobody else besides potential buyers bid...no price pushing from relatives, mates , 2nd or 3rd ebay accounts which is common nowadays). i bet the car wont reach more than 2500,-

anyway, somebody phoned me tonite telling me that, on a closer view, the car more or less needs a full respray. i guess that was one reason that the last buyer didnt take the car after having it seen in the flesh.

as we all know, car selling means always price negotiation. unfortunately most people accept the auction price with bonhams or other well known auctioneers, but with ebay they think they can discuss about the price.

the problem here is: at bonhams you are dealing with bonhams. at ebay you make the deal directly with the seller in a private athmospere. even both are auctions people dis-respect the ebay auction.

Edited May 12, 2012 by Elite7

[eliteman]

Are we talking about my car here? Needing a full respray? Just the wing tops, nose cone and bumpers really. Like Mark kindly mentioned, I held the car for someone I sent over 20 pics to even a video movie! People thinking that they can offer a price online, then expect the owner to hold it for them untill they come is unfair. This dude agreed to a price. I told 3 people the car was sold then the dude turned up expecting an uninsured joy ride! When I rightly said no, the price fell. I have learned a lesson here - no deposit and the car will not be held. I would of sold it cheaper to someone I felt would of looked after the car or was even just polite about the whole thing. Maybe £2500 to the right person? Its not really all about the money with this car. Guys turning up with poor attitude can do one. Anyways the S1 is going back to lotus bits for a fresh mot and a few little jobs next week so I will just see how it goes for the moment. It's not often a 56,000 mile example comes up whatever people say, trust me I have seen a load of these old girls over the years and EHT 322W is a goodie!

[Elite7]

the final sales prices have always to do with the attidude of the potential buyer..but now you are already saying " Maybe £2500 to the right person"...so we are more or less at the price which this french guy offered you.

to make a cut: often its the attitude...but finally its the price...i dont care if i sell the same item fo 2.5k to an assh...or to a genuine buyer....the only thing which finally counts is.....the money in my pocket!!! the sooner the better.

and if somebody outside UK says to me" it needs a full repsray"...now your are stating "some parts need a respray" this exactly matches the different points of view, which finally confirms that this potential buyer from france has had its reasons to discuss about the price.

unfortunatley those cars have not a big value...all investments done to keep it on the road or even improve it will be never returned during a sale. this must be clearvfrom the beginning, owing such a car!!!

[mat grant]

Interesting thread this, strangely enough I've seen a lot of this car - I bought an excel chassis off a guy called Barry a few years ago, and he owned it, he was fitting a cosworth v6. It looked quite well done but there was a lot of chopping from the chassis. I saw it get sold on ebay, then the next time I saw it was at Lotus bits, they were removing the cosworth v6 and modded chassis - Mike Tayor said it was scrap! The bonnet had a massive cut out in the middle. I saw the car when Lotus bits had finished it with the replacement standard chassis and engine fitted and it looked good. Up close there were some chips but I don't think the paint was bad. The bad bits seemed to be on the body round the engine bay from what I remember, but it was a couple of years ago.

For me though, the ebay rules are you bid, you buy. The time to look at the car is before bidding. (Which is why ebay is a crap medium for buying vehicles). If you're not satisfied that you fully understand the condition of what you're buying then don't bid. As long as when you see it, it is as described, there is no excuse to try to change the price.

Mat.

[Loose Cannon]

Checking the ad again, my mistake it was a price/offer situation, but the paint issues were clearly stated and even with small pictures a blind man on a galloping horse could see white undercoat and paint chips at the front. Mr Frenchman was pulling a fast one, plain and simple.

[eliteman]

I agree Mark. We are keeping her now anyway.....

[mat grant]

Good move - you know all the work that's gone into it....

Mat.