Evora market watch, for discussion and to help those searching!

[Julian73]

On 22/01/2019 at 13:21, LotusFella said:

How difficult is the clutch to change?  Do you need special tools?  I have a 2 post lift in my garage. Is a DIY job possible?

This doesn't look like it got answered.  The issue is not the clutch itself, very typical setup and tools was normal manual trans. cars.  Why is time consuming and thus expansive is the requirement to remove (and thus reinstall and align) rear clam shell and engine.  This is because to pull transmission, engine must be removed and it only comes out the top of the car.

[LotusFella]

3 hours ago, Julian73 said:

This doesn't look like it got answered.  The issue is not the clutch itself, very typical setup and tools was normal manual trans. cars.  Why is time consuming and thus expansive is the requirement to remove (and thus reinstall and align) rear clam shell and engine.  This is because to pull transmission, engine must be removed and it only comes out the top of the car.

ok thx.  Assume the clam is attached in a similar way to an Elise S1?  I've done both front and rear on those.  Rivnuts get a bit rusted up though.

[Bibs]

I was recently told an experienced Lotus tech will have the clam off in an hour. 

[electro_boy]

From chatting to the techs in my garage, refitting the clam and getting the alignment and panel gaps correct can take a bit of thats where most the time and cost are.  Don't think anything is particularly difficult just a bit fiddly to get spot on.

[Hangar 111]

1 hour ago, Bibs said:

I was recently told an experienced Lotus tech will have the clam off in an hour.

Front is do-able, rear would be good going.  Also the cars are old enough to have rusty/seized fasteners now, so that can easily consume time.

Dave

[MJK 24]

22 hours ago, mg4lotus said:

I viewed this car in October. AU10 ECN Storm titanium Evora NA

If you do a search on this forum and the Internet in general you will discover that it was used in the soap Emmerdale. Do a search for its mot history on the government website and you will see that on it's first three years it had only done 8k miles, that's quite low and might be explained by it's TV usage.

There was no early documentation of it's history that Gareth could show me and he wasn't able to show me any stamps in the service book. In subsequent communications he has said there are 7 stamps in the service book. There may be a valid reason for this but I would advise any buyer to beware and check it out

Gareth has had the car a couple of years and has documentation to show the work he has done on it. He also showed me pictures of work he has done on his project car (Alpha Romeo 4C), he seems to be a competent home mechanic and in the bodyshop.

The bodywork and the paintwork look to be in really good condition. It has PPF on front, sides and back and that looks in good condition also.

I had a short test drive and didn't notice any faults but it wasn't long enough to form an opinion. If I was interested in the car after some consideration, I would have gone back for another test drive.

It has Sports pack but not Tech pack or Premium pack. Gareth has added a rear view camera and different head unit. There were some items of the Tech pack that I wanted and it didn't have them.

The drivers mud flap was loose. This sounds like a nothing job but there may be more work involved than you would think

There may be other things that I didn't spot.

I have already requested more info about this car on here but no one was able to give me any extra info so it has been off the radar for a while.

Value is a subjective thing. £25,000. Not for me.

You might also want to check out Gareth's previous Ebay history and as ever, buyer beware.

That’s for a detailed and useful post!

i wonder why he’s claiming 7 stamps in the book if the book is empty or missing?!  Strange behaviour.

He currently has a Citroen for sale too.  Does he trade in cars?

[LotusFella]

12 hours ago, Bibs said:

I was recently told an experienced Lotus tech will have the clam off in an hour. 

top man thanks.

 

[scotty435]

13 hours ago, Bibs said:

I was recently told an experienced Lotus tech will have the clam off in an hour. 

Thanks Bibs that great to know, as I am looking at having my front clam re painted.

[andyj007]

this..  thats the forth over 70k on original clutch..   

"Clutch: My 2012 Evora S had done 68K miles when I sold it, and the clutch still hasn't needed to be done 16 months later (so maybe another 6-12K miles on top).  The car was used for all kinds of driving, and honestly speaking it was showing no signs of wear."

[chip2257]

11 hours ago, MJK 24 said:

That’s for a detailed and useful post!

i wonder why he’s claiming 7 stamps in the book if the book is empty or missing?!  Strange behaviour.

He currently has a Citroen for sale too.  Does he trade in cars?

Morning all,

Went to view this car very recently, wanted to share my thoughts as to why I didn't buy it at 24.5k 

Similar to previous people, car seems fine to drive but didn't get chance to really test it. Given the tyres are as close to the legal limit as you can get it probably wasn't sensible to boot it either!

Exterior of car is very nice, couple of curbed wheels, rear light surrounds need painting are the only things of note we spotted (other than the tyres) Overall, really nice though

Interior is okay, seats have some wear and a few nicks in the leather. The top dash has been recovered but doesn't look professional to my eyes, the aircon vents didn't "clip in" to it so sat proud, for example. The whole interior is coated in a silicone dash shine type spray, appreciate that's not hard to remove but could hide anything, god knows why anyone would put that on their leather seats! 

Trip computer button doesn't work.

Electric windows have "quirks" not going up properly, the auto open/close being temperamental. He said this has been fixed under warranty before but they'd obviously not or the fault had returned. As he's garaged the car it's not an issue for him

Service history is odd, for a car of that age I'd expect more paperwork. 

Tyre pressure monitor wasn't working, couple of the tyres were missing valves, looks like this has been coded/mapped out

Service is due, MOT soon

The way I saw it, I'd be buying the car for 24.5k (He was not interested AT ALL in talking about price, its 24.5k firm) then having throw 1.5k on it, maybe more with the window issue. I'd rather spend a little more for one with better history

There were no red flags so to speak that didn't make me buy it, just an amber one. Something doesn't feel quite right imo

Gareth was really friendly and a good host, apologies this seems negative but when you're parting with best part of 25k it's good to be critical. This would be my daily driver so got to be right

Just about me... owned an Elise 111s, Exige S and Dads got a 1970 Elan. I love lotus and appreciate they're usual quirks/quality issues compared to other brands. 

 

Edited January 29, 2019 by chip2257

[mg4lotus]

14 hours ago, MJK 24 said:

That’s for a detailed and useful post!

i wonder why he’s claiming 7 stamps in the book if the book is empty or missing?!  Strange behaviour.

He currently has a Citroen for sale too.  Does he trade in cars?

When I viewed his sales history he has been selling quite a few (mostly Citroens) and quite a few of them were advertised as Cat C/D. I'm not saying the Evora is but I would definitely check it out before buying. He now seems to have blocked his history from my view.

[MJK 24]

10 minutes ago, mg4lotus said:

When I viewed his sales history he has been selling quite a few (mostly Citroens) and quite a few of them were advertised as Cat C/D. I'm not saying the Evora is but I would definitely check it out before buying. He now seems to have blocked his history from my view.

I actually had a look last night at his eBay feedback.  Selling a lot of damaged repaired Citroen and Alfa Romeo.  

Thanks everyone for your help.  I think this is one to leave at this price point.  

[Del Lardo]

Agreed sale of my Evora yesterday to a very nice Lotus enthusiast, more interest in last 3 days than whole of January so market definitely picking up.

 

I had a very nice call with a chap from Australia, Mark, who is looking to export an Evora.  I did wonder if it was a scam when he got in touch but after 30 minutes on the phone it certainly didn't smell like a scam and I would have been happy to try and work with him if I hadn't sold the car yesterday.  He's waiting for approval to join the forum so if he does get in touch with someone with a car for sale I'd suggest having a chat with him.

[C8RKH]

On 29/01/2019 at 08:18, chip2257 said:

Tyre pressure monitor wasn't working, couple of the tyres were missing valves, looks like this has been coded/mapped out

It doesn't have the tech pack so wont have the TPMS so this is not a fault surely?

Not sure why you needed to post that response - he probably thinks you're a tyre kicking time waster or a chancer to be honest.  

[chip2257]

29 minutes ago, C8RKH said:

It doesn't have the tech pack so wont have the TPMS so this is not a fault surely?

Not sure why you needed to post that response - he probably thinks you're a tyre kicking time waster or a chancer to be honest.  

I've asked for the post to be deleted

Simply sharing my experiences, might help someone else going in

The tyres had the valves for TPMS, odd! Not a big one but he told me it has it but was faulty otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned it

[Registered]

You are buying at the bottom end of the market.  You should expect some niggles.  For an early car without niggles you will be looking at £30k not £25k.

[Bruss]

12 hours ago, chip2257 said:

I've asked for the post to be deleted

Simply sharing my experiences, might help someone else going in

The tyres had the valves for TPMS, odd! Not a big one but he told me it has it but was faulty otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned it

I don't think your comments should be deleted. Your review is an honest one of what you found.

The opinions you formed are personal, and anyone who wamts to argue from a different viewpoint is fine, but they haven't seen the car and aren't spending their money.

My opinion on the same basis, is that it sounds like you get what you pay for. It's cheap for a reason, and if it doesn't feel right, then walk away.

[Bravo73]

3 hours ago, Bruss said:

I don't think your comments should be deleted.

The post in question hasn’t been deleted, just ‘hidden’. It can be reinstated at any time at the OP’s request. 

(FWIW, I also think that it should remain. It is certainly useful info for anyone who might be interested in the car). 

[chip2257]

5 minutes ago, Bravo73 said:

The post in question hasn’t been deleted, just ‘hidden’. It can be reinstated at any time at the OP’s request. 

(FWIW, I also think that it should remain. It is certainly useful info for anyone who might be interested in the car). 

I dont want to annoy anyone!

The info from my viewing should help anyone out going to see it

[Del Lardo]

On 03/03/2019 at 10:15, Bruss said:

I don't think your comments should be deleted. Your review is an honest one of what you found.

The opinions you formed are personal, and anyone who wamts to argue from a different viewpoint is fine, but they haven't seen the car and aren't spending their money.

My opinion on the same basis, is that it sounds like you get what you pay for. It's cheap for a reason, and if it doesn't feel right, then walk away.

Very much agreed.  Also helped from a sellers perspective to understand why a car that was up for sale for less money than mine and was on paper a good car was not selling.  To me it didn't sound like niggles, it sounded like there were some issues that would need money spending to sort out.

[C8RKH]

On 03/03/2019 at 14:10, Bravo73 said:

The post in question hasn’t been deleted, just ‘hidden’. It can be reinstated at any time at the OP’s request. 

(FWIW, I also think that it should remain. It is certainly useful info for anyone who might be interested in the car). 

To clarify the oringinal post was fine, I did not think the second post with the "messenger" content actually added anything and as I said if it was me who received it after the earlier visit and the time spent showing the poster around the car i would have thought "time wasting tyre kicker".  Just my view though but I do sometimes think less is more.

Also, not sure £30k is the benchmark anymore @Registered for a solid, well sorted early car. I think it has dipped a wee bit recently to £27k-£30k from probably £30-32k. maybe the time of the year? As the days stretch out I do think the prices will creep back. I do think an early, well sorted NA really is the pick of the bunch of the S1 cars to be honest.

[chip2257]

4 hours ago, C8RKH said:

To clarify the oringinal post was fine, I did not think the second post with the "messenger" content actually added anything and as I said if it was me who received it after the earlier visit and the time spent showing the poster around the car i would have thought "time wasting tyre kicker".  Just my view though but I do sometimes think less is more.

Also, not sure £30k is the benchmark anymore @Registered for a solid, well sorted early car. I think it has dipped a wee bit recently to £27k-£30k from probably £30-32k. maybe the time of the year? As the days stretch out I do think the prices will creep back. I do think an early, well sorted NA really is the pick of the bunch of the S1 cars to be honest.

Fair enough 

Didn't seem the harm in asking if he'd sorted the issues out as he was charging a higher price

either way, definitely not the car + seller for me 

agree on the 27kish being a good entry point for a solid car

the hunt continues....

[C8RKH]

Good luck with the hunt @chip2257. If you have a slightly higher budget there was/is someone on here with an absolutely mint LE that was possibly for sale. It is like factory fresh. But it would be starting with a first figure of a 3 I am sure.

[Cdm2018]

25 minutes ago, chip2257 said:

Fair enough 

Didn't seem the harm in asking if he'd sorted the issues out as he was charging a higher price

either way, definitely not the car + seller for me 

agree on the 27kish being a good entry point for a solid car

the hunt continues....

I purchased my NA this time last year and I had set my budget around £25-27k and I spent 6 + months looking around 

I prefer the Ardent Red but would liked the more brighter colours and to truly honest the sports pack but was also wanting reassurance of lotus dealer 

in the end that criteria pushed the budget to closer to £29k which in the end is what I paid  but not getting sports pack

be patient and hope luck is on your side and you will emerge with best car maybe not exact but best for your budget 

good luck 

[chip2257]

1 hour ago, C8RKH said:

Good luck with the hunt @chip2257. If you have a slightly higher budget there was/is someone on here with an absolutely mint LE that was possibly for sale. It is like factory fresh. But it would be starting with a first figure of a 3 I am sure.

Oh, I better hunt it down! Any clues...?

Edited March 5, 2019 by chip2257