C2S to Exige S

[nsm3]

My C2S spends a lot of time in the garage as I can't really use it every day for work (sends out the - they must charge too much signals!).

Anyway, considering chopping it for an Elise/Exige so the depreciation hit on my hardly used toy is a little lighter.

The local dealer has a nice Exige S which if I could net £20k out of, may be of interest?

Point is, I know little about Lotus car ownership and wondered if any of you enlightened gents could point me in the right direction - best thing you'll ever do OR don't touch it with a bargepole type thing

I was at the Ring last week on my Ducati and although I have done probably about 100 laps on a bike, I took the Audi A3 2.0TDi tow car round in the rain for the first time and loved it - got to thinking about whizzing the Porker over. BUT, watching the number of smacked up GT3's getting towed off the track, led me to think something a little less weighty, powerful and costly might make more sense?

This is a copy of my post from another forum - so apologies in advance as I am not sure if this is a good place to get a balanced view on the subject?

 

[Geoff_Fields]

Remember this old one?
LOTUS stands for:- Loads Of Trouble Usually Serious
I hope they are more reliable now than the ones I owned many years ago.

 

[pmjt]

You'll love the sharpness on turning in, be amazed at the 'on rails' handling through corners and the Exige responds so well to mid corner throttle inputs but be grossly disappointed by the lack of braking, the ride will take your fillings out and the c0ckpit will make you feel like you've been squeezed into a sausage!

I had an Elise 135R then an Exige as fun toys - a 911 they ain't [] If you want to do a load of track work, there's no question the Exige is a wonderful machine that will start to show up the 'comfort' focus of a standard C2S - but a long journey that would have been a pleasure in the 911 will be a nightmare in an Exige.

If you're over 6' there's no easy way in and out of them and the build quality is nowhere near anything Porsche have ever made.

There's a reason why there's £20k difference - if you can live with the shortcomings then go for it - but I found the love affair with the Exige ended when it started raining!

HTH

Philip

 

[okellyt]

You couldn't get much diffrent from C2S - Exiuge is purely a plaything - no real practicality by Porsche standards, so you won't enjoy the long journey's any where enar as much as in the Porker.

Build quality is a world apart howevr much we bitch ont his forum. You will spend quite some time in a different kind of garage, running costs will be quite high

But is you want a track day special, hardly use your own car and don't mind when you use it being dictated by when the car wants to work as opposed when you want to play go fo it - it's a fab exprience. []

An exige S on the Nurburg ring though - you see the remains of the GT3's cause Porsche is well built - plenty of Exige's crash and their isn't anything left of them or their driver.....[] Just keep within your and your cars limits as always.

 

[robert997]

NSM3, I don't think depreciation alone would justify the Elise/Exige. My wife works within the trade, and yesterday I decided to check OPC stock on 997's, how much they were paying versus retailing. A typical OPC has a 6k margin on a second hand 997, out of which they pay the approved-used checks, pre-sales prep and any overallowance on PX etc.

However I was gobsmacked at how much they were buying early C2S and C2's for - no more than mid-forties and as low as 41k for a low-spec 05 C2S with full main dealer history and 23k on the clock. The interest rate rises have seen a lot of people trying to get out of expensive cars just lately, and with another 0.25% forecast next week it's going to stay this way for a while.

Therefore, given these cars have lost 1k per month on average over their first 24 months, it's got to be worth keeping the 997 as they can't fall much further than that in value.

However, if you fancy a change, and there's no doubt the Elise/Exige is more of an 'event' to drive on normal roads, then you may as well go for it

 

[Alan Woods]

Mmmm, speaking of depreciation, does this one look for real?:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2005-PORSCHE-911-977-CARRERA-2-S-GT-SILVER_W0QQitemZ190127668336QQihZ009QQcategoryZ9860QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
or did I miss something?
I thought 2S's were still in the high 40's.

 

[nsm3]

Blimey, my pal just traded his C4S '02 with 44k miles on it for £38k and I have had an indicated £48k waved under my nose for mine. I am really looking/hoping for £50k minimum?

 

[Guest]

I owned an Elise. Lovely - but only as a third car. It was great to play with, but awful for travelling.

Keep to a Porsche and buy an 8 year old diesel Espace for when you want to be incognito.

Spizz

 

[cueman]

Have you consdered an M3 CSL ?

 

[Jamie Garside]

ORIGINAL: Spizz Oil

I owned an Elise. Lovely - but only as a third car. It was great to play with, but awful for travelling.

Keep to a Porsche and buy an 8 year old diesel Espace for when you want to be incognito.

Spizz

Spizz,

Any advice on appropriate colour combo for the 8 year old Espace?

 

[Guest]

Pensioner blue with a bi-focal windscreen.

 

[SteveW14]

Spent a bit of time pondering buying a VX220 turbo (essentially a Vauxhall version of an Elise) in the past before I saw the light. The acceleration is fantastic due to the low weight and the handling is amazingly sharp, I am sure an Exige S (even faster and more focussed) would make an excellent track day car.

However for day to day use it pretty much unfeasible:

• if you are over 6" you would find yourself on very friendly terms with your chiropracter as getting in an out is pretty difficult due to the width of the sills
• The ride is unforgiving to say the least
• The noise levels would make any type of motorway cruise uncomfortable

The main thing that put me off though is seeing the front end of one completely obliterated as a result of a 40mph collision.

 

[nsm3]

ORIGINAL: cueman

Have you consdered an M3 CSL ?

Wish I had done that after my M3 and before the C2S - but now I think they are looking too dated and it would seem a backwards step. My thinking with the Exige is that it is such a departure that comparisons with the C2S would be irrelevant?

Am in a bit of a quandry now as the more I look the more I want (would look like a mini Le Mans race car in the garage) and I am sure that it would encourage me to take up track days?

BUT, I have great concerns regards reliability, flighty nature on a dark, wet country road and the susceptibility to falling apart in a minor impact? Not too bothered about ease of access, comfort and everyday useability as it will only do 5k miles/year.

Don't know which way to jump, but thankfully the local dealer is a few thou' adrift on my desired deal, so I am keeping my powder dry and not jumping in with both feet.

Nice position to be in - I suppose []

 

[Jamie Garside]

ORIGINAL: Spizz Oil

Pensioner blue with a bi-focal windscreen.

Touche!

 

[johnag007]

Springs + suspension alterations + remap + eaxhaust will make a world of difference, much cheaper than buying a new car (£4500 at Parr with Cargraphics parts)

 

[mbrands]

How about a 964 RS ? They are supposed to be fantastic to drive. A good one probably costs around £40k, but depreciation isn't an issue, because they only seem to be going up in value every year

 

[davidcross]

i could be totally wrong here and maybe talking my own book a bit but given the market for a 993 c2s i wud have thought that in a few years the 997 c2s will hold its value in the same way. whilst i appreciate that the 993 was the last of the air cooled these cars in good order will always be desirable is my thought. am i talking rubbish??