The seller of today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Lotus says NOT to buy it if you’re married and weak willed. That’s because he suggests you will get propositioned in it unceasingly. Let’s find out if you’ll have no problem saying no to this little troublemaker’s price.
Yesterday’s 1988 Pontiac Fiero GT was the ultimate expression of America’s mid-enginer for the common man, at least in stock form. It was also low mileage and in seemingly excellent and complete shape. In the end however, it was just a Fiero and while those cars have their defenders, few of them stood up to defend the price of that one and it fell in a hefty 70% Crack Pipe loss.
Now, you might have noticed a can’t-quite-put-my-finger-on-it similarity between yesterday’s Fiero and today’s 2005 Lotus Elise. Perhaps it’s the red paint and massive rear spoiler both cars share. Or maybe, its each car’s mid-engine layout. Of course the big difference that proves them not to be totally simpatico is that the Fiero is from a brand that’s gone out of business while the Elise is from a brand that only constantly seems like it’s going out of business.
A company’s tenuous financial stability might make you think twice about buying one of their older models filled with proprietary parts, especially one that, for all intents and purposes, is glued together. Once you drive an Elise however, that is if you can fit in it, you will probably not care if you can’t ever replace that broken fan knob on the dash again.
This one comes to us from the great state of Texas and with 63,000 miles on the clock. Now, for some reason there seem to be an inordinate number of Elises (Elisi?) up for grabs with salvage titles these days. This one is said to have a clean title but it makes you wonder what is going on with the cars if so many of them are getting written off.
What’s apparently gone on with this one most recently is a spate of maintenance work, including new fluids, rotors and pads, plugs and a serpentine belt, along with inspections of its working bits. The 189-bhp Toyota four and six speed gearbox are both known commodities and the car is said to have had the oil cooler recall work already done so no worries there.
Aesthetically there are a few issues. First off is the need for a new splitter in front. Next is the other work that’s needed on the nose. That was apparently the result of hitting an armadillo, which is the most Texas thing you could possibly hit while on the road.
Other issues include a recalcitrant window regulator, some additional boogers in the paint, missing grille work in back, and that crazy big wing which pretty much telegraphs your Brah-ness from a mile away.
Perhaps another issue is the seller’s assertion that he’s driven the car at the Nurburgring “F1” track at 140+ miles per hour. Yes that’s impressive, as is the 150 to 160 mph he boasts of doing across multiple drives, but does it bode well for a potential new owner knowing the car has been wrung out in such a fashion?
Maybe they’ll be overcome by the unexpected luxury of this Elise’s cabin. This car has the Touring package, an option box that when checked imbued the car with leather seats, door panels, and additional sound deadening beyond the single ply Charmin used in the non-Touring equipped cars.
Or maybe they’ll just be thinking about the price. That’s $25,500 which is on the low end for an Elise that isn’t tainted by a salvage title. We’ll still need to determine if that’s a deal, however.
What do you think, could this Elise command $25,500 as it’s presented in its blurry-photo rich ad? Or, is that too much for this Lotus, even if it promises questionable action?
You decide!
San Antonio TX Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to CaptainSlower for the hookup!
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