In reply to Region_Rat :
Re egress: your first couple times won't be too graceful, but it'll come with practice. I still feel like a newborn deer when getting out of the passenger side, but I can hop in and out of the driver side no problem. Of course, build plays a role. I have known 6'+ owners who were just happy to get the process over with. Once you're in, it isn't roomy, but it is better than you'd expect from the outside.
You want one. They're a very special car. I regret selling mine. Personally I thought they were surprisingly practical. You have to be very careful around curbs and highway debris. Unfortunately easy to total them out.
There is nothing else like them. PITA to get in and out of, lovely mid-engined maintenance, tiny battery needs a float charger if it is parked for any amount of time, then you drive it, and you couldn't careless about all of that stuff.
Odd sized wheels and tires can be a pain in the butt. Everyone will want to touch it, sit in it, and otherwise challenge the already "flimsy" build quality. Hard to do an HPDE and bring much with you to the track.
Great car. I don't miss mine though. I couldn't stop worrying about its fragility when I used it as a car around town.
In reply to ZOO (Forum Supporter) :
That's a solid point. Being eye level with the lug nuts of every truck and SUV definitely gives you pause. I was also paranoid about being rear ended/run over by every lifted truck when I was stopped at a red light.
Loved mine. I had an 05. 05s also have a cable throttle instead of drive by wire. Mine was one of a very few with a factory LSD for that year. Oil cooler fittings can fail, there's a recall. My rad went bad, plastic end tanks crack. For track work, upgrade the toe links. I totaled mine in a light off road excursion, mainly cosmetic damage. The body shop was like, it could go either way, there was a wrinkle or 2 in the aluminum floor pan, and I was just like, total it. I had owned it 8 years at that point and was thinking of trying something new. I got a Caterham after that, and it was just a bit too much, and my wife hated being in it. With a daily like you have, can't think of much of a downside. Trunk is small, but usable. Cabin is tight, but I'm 6' 230 lbs, and once I wiggled in there , was comfortable. Definitely not the quickest car around, especially off of the big lift cam. But from a pure joy to drive aspect, hard to beat. I had a C5, NA Miata, SW20 MR2, the Caterham, and the Elise was definitely a whole other level of communication. I made about 5k over what I paid when the car was totaled, but to rebuy now what I got 3 ish years ago would be another 10k probably.
fatallightning said:I totaled mine in a light off road excursion, mainly cosmetic damage. The body shop was like, it could go either way, there was a wrinkle or 2 in the aluminum floor pan, and I was just like, total it.
Buddy of mine who had one for years said they're easily totaled because of clamshell damage, so don't be too afraid of a salvage or rebuilt title. Still do your homework.
In reply to fatallightning :
Love the pic and sorry about the crash but it sounds like you had a lot of fun in the car. Appreciate everyone's comments and definitely going to move forward with looking at one this Friday and we'll see where it goes from there.
I'm 6'0, 190 lbs, size 14 shoes. When I sat in my friend's Elise I felt like one of those bears riding a unicycle at the circus. There is no way I could have been comfortable in that car for an hour or more. I own an ND Miata which gives me 95% of what I wanted from an Elise, but is far more comfortable and practical.
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