Buying a Stolen/Recovered Elise

[MattyB]

There's an Elise on Autotrader only 10 miles away from me.

 

2002, 51 Reg, Blue base S2. Stolen/Recovered "hence price" £15,750

 

Sounds damn cheap - thats almost £10k off list price. Unless of course a few thousand of those miles were put on by the crooks!

 

Are these something I should be avoiding? It is a dealer selling it.

[jez_s]

Matty,

Difficult one mate, I think once a car has been declared Stolen/recovered it stays that way for it's life ( i think!) best thing to do is go and have a look at her and then speak to an insurance broker and get their take on it.

It might be cheap now but it'll be even cheaper when/if you sell it!

jez

[MattyB]

Oh yeah its gonna be a buy cheap, sell cheap...might be worth phoning and asking. I just wasn't sure if it'd be something that would be impossible to sell, should I want to

[jez_s]

I had a look at a VX220 that was CAT D listed (Not sure what that means in insurance terms) it looked immaculate. But it's still in Autotrader and the price is dropping!

I should think you'd sell it...eventually!!

[GCCK]

Matty

Do you know your way around the different insurance classes?

 

Avoid Cat A & B, they should have been crushed or broken for spares. Cat C & D are write-off's. Cat C's a bit iffy but there are some bargain Cat D's around if you don't mind the stigma (but you don't have to go around telling everyone you meet).

 

Cat C's are beyond economic repair so are insurance write-off's. Cat D's are economic write-off's: they may be repairable economically but other factors lead to the writing off, e.g. providing a hire car for several weeks while an Elise gets a new chassis and all its bits reattached. Hence, if you're prepared to go through the pain, there are profits to be made by rebuilding wrecks, or more to the point, the RIGHT wreck.

 

The first Elise I ever looked at was a bargain Cat D and I should have bought it - great condition, meticulous rebuild, loads of provenance + photos of the rebuild process. But Mrs was scared off by the uncertainty. Next time, I'd rope in an expert, get it checked and go for it - provided the evidence was all there. The footnote here was the guy was asking too much for it. He showed me all the receipts for the rebuild which looked real enough but I think he'd fundamentally overpaid for the wreck in the first place.

 

Most people buy a Lotus as some realisation of a boyhood dream (don't we?) and that dream doesn't usually leave room for "seconds", so not many take the plunge, so expect to pay 25-30% less for a Cat D. The car, if geo'ed right may even be in better nick than before it was crashed, so you're getting a bargain. Just expect to sell it for the same discount - the stigma never goes away.

[MattyB]

The only thing I really know is to avoid everything but the CatD, and then be ultra careful!

 

I've been told by others to avoid...I don't know anyone who knows there way around one, and I don't think I'm prepared for the hassle of getting it professionally checked out.

 

I think I'm going to look at a Black Sport 160 at Paul Matty's tomorrow instead. My ideal spec, shame about the price though!

[GCCK]

CD Bramall had a black S160 when I popped in on Wedneasday. £18K I think.

[MattyB]

Yeah they've had that a while now, IIRC.

 

Stupidly expensive - £18k for a 2000/W with £36k miles???

 

The one I was meant to have been picking up tomorrow was that same, but only £16k, at the one at Paul Matty's is the same but 11k miles and is £19k!

[malbon]

Mattyb - are you taking the piss or sumfin

 

Theoretically my car was stolen/recovered but I don't think or hope that it will turn up on the hpi. It was obviously stolen to ring or to order cos the dumb bstard kept it in his garage. It got drove 15 miles and then got stored in a nice warm garage, only for me to make a phonecall and it get recovered a few hours later.

 

Personally wouldn't touch a Category A,B,C or anything with an elise. maybe with another car but if you drive like I do, you need 100% or at least as much trust as you can in the car.

[Ladders]

Jono

 

Did the theif put in in his own garage then?

 

How about organising a run from all the BBS's. We all meet up, drive to Nott's, and 100+ Elise owners could kick the fcuk out of the theiving B@stard!

[Kris H]

Reason I bought mine new was because I didn't know with any second hand ones how they'd been driven or treated in general. Graeme's point does seem a good one though - if you're paying a bargain price and sell/trade in for a bargain price at the other end, you'll not have lost anything and saved a bit on financing, if you're going down that route. Having said that, my mate bought a fairly low mileage S2 for about £18k of about the same age a few months back - and no 'stolen/recovered' stigma. I guess the previous owner could have thrashed it senseless around a track or whatever every weekend though....

 

Is it worth ringing a few other garages and asking what they'd give you trade in for a stolen/recovered with the details you supplied against a new elise? If they wouldn't touch it with a barge pole, that's probably a pretty clear indicator.

 

Incidentally, do any insurance claims show on an HPI check? Would mine, which was no where near being a write off show up?

 

Kristian

[Kris H]

Forgot to say - I wouldn't buy it - too nervous about the history. Agree with Graham about the car being your pride and joy etc...

[GCCK]

Jon

Surely something gets marked stolen/recovered if it is the subject of an insurance claim, not just if it got stolen & recovered. In your case, IIRC the car was undamaged, you made no claim and hence not of any interest to the insurance company.

 

Furthermore, stolen/recovered applies to cars which were recovered after a significant time. After a while, the insurer will pay out, so if the car turns up subsequently, it is owned by the insurer, not the original owner. They would want to sell that car on ASAP. Stolen/recovered is a reason for sale, not an indication of condition.

 

I guess (and I am guessing), if the car was significantly damaged when recovered, the Cat A-D rules would apply concerning resale.

 

Presumably the stolen/recovered flag drops off once it is in the hands of a new owner, but I'm guessing again.

 

Does anyone know more?

 

Graeme

[malbon]

Ladders - Don't know whose garage it got put in. Police have been fcukcing useless and not even called us back since that day for aany kind of update. I had to ring the station and get him to read the notes off the database about finding my car.

 

The dealer said it was covered in fingerprint sh1t but no real damage. Don't know if it'll feel the same driving

 

Might be swopping it for a 160 anyway - discussion in the pipeline

[Scott_Mac]

I think i would avoid it, especially given what the car is etc...

 

I found mine by trawling through the Pistonheads ads - amongst others - and emailing everyone. I eventually bought one off a girl who was desparate to sell and i got it "cheap" to say the least... ok its had a few niggles, but i was prepared for them and as a result I got a perfect car for far less than I expected.

 

The summer hasn't been good for Elises and the prices are low - or rather the advertised prices are still high, but there are very few buyers, so don't be afraid to be a ruthless buyer! I thought you were still looking at a runabout Matt? Sell the Lupo (its lardy anyway ) and then start looking at privvy sales!