Saleofcar.com :Lotus

Lotus Other Elan M100 SE (1991)
for sale

Price: US $10,000.00

Description:

I have owned this car for 8 1/2 years, and it kills me to sell it, but my wife passed away last month and I need the money to pay funeral expenses. I will get back into Lotus ownership later, but that's another thing. Once you drive a Lotus, you will always want to have one. Because of my situation, I am willing to take a hit on price and accept less than I normally would, so don't be shy and make your offer. The Buy-it-now price is already well below value. I have included the NADA book valuation in the pictures.
The Autocheck History Report shows an accident in 2009 with slight damage. Although is says it was a collision with another vehicle, it was not. There is a small Japanese Maple tree just behind the turnaround in our driveway. One night I was pulling out and forgot it was there. I bumped into it on the left rear bumper and corner of the spoiler, causing slight damage to the paint only. I had a small deductible on my insurance, so I had it repaired at a local shop. That's why it was reported. I have no idea why it was reported as a collision with another vehicle, and there is no trace whatsoever of the damage or the repair.
There are a couple of things you will want to take care of (I would, but I don't have time) to make this car near-perfect. As it is, I have been using it as my daily driver, and taking it to British car shows. I would not hesitate to hop in and drive the car coast-to-coast right now. I have included a screenshot from SJ Sportscars' website parts ordering page which shows all the parts needed to make everything perfect (prices are in GBP), and those parts are all available (shipping isn't included in that image). Because I need to sell quickly and because there are the things I am listing that are still needed to make the car near perfect, my BIN price is $4, 000 lower than I would otherwise ask. My loss is your gain.
Remember, this is a 25 year old, hand-built exotic sports car. There were only a total of 559 of these cars imported, and only the 1991 model year. You will probably never see another one on any road you're on. Why drive a dime-a-dozen MX5, or Boxster, when you can drive something that really turns heads? It will not be perfect, and a blast to drive. The things I'm telling you the car needs fixed are to make it near-perfect. It is 100% reliable and extremely drivable as-is. It is, to this day, the best handling FWD production car ever built.
I have included a lot of pictures. There is only one blemish on the body that I know of, which is in the center of the front bumper, in the groove. It is only visible very close up, and included in the pictures. I don't know what happened to the car there, because it was that way when I bought it. My guess is that a previous owner bumped into something at low speed (probably parking) and cracked the paint. It looks like it was a DIY repair, but like I said, you have to get down on your knees and get very close to see it. Personally, if I were keeping the car, and really wanted it to be perfect, I might take it to a body shop and get the front bumper repainted, but from ten feet away, you can't even see it.
There is some rust on the right lower rear wishbone (pictured). I had intended to replace both rear wishbones on several occasions with stainless steel ones that were being custom made for LotusElanCentral group buys, most recently this past Summer, but those group buys fell through each time.
Shortly after I bought the car I inspected the shift cables, based on advice from reading on LotusElanCentral. The OEM cables had plastic fittings and, sure enough, one of them was cracked and wasn't going to hold much longer. I bought a set of AB cables through LEC. They weren't a perfect fit, but all I had at that point. (There are others available now through LEC that are better, and SJ Sportscars has a very affordable replacement/upgrade set available too) With those cables installed, the automatic centering feature of the shifter went away and never came back. It made the shifting a bit rougher (It was very smooth before the cable change), and made finding the right gear something that takes a few days of driving the car to get used to. Once I was used to it, it almost never bothered me again. The only part that ever really bugged me is that sometimes it takes a few tries to get it into reverse. I think/hope replacing the cables will correct that. It's actually possible that I got the cables twisted around each other in the tunnel, and untwisting them may clear it all up. I just haven't ever had the spare time to try it, and now I really don't have time.
Like all M100s, when it rains, you will get a little wet. However, I am including a complete set of new roof seals, minus the header rail seal (available from SJ Sportscars - see picture - or from Dave Bean Engineering), which should completely fix the problem, once they're installed and the windows are adjusted for the new seals. Speaking of the windows, two things there. First, the outer glass seals need to be replaced (SJ Sportscars, not expensive). Second, both windows need the sliders lubricated. (I am also including in the sale enough new sliders and clips to replace any that may need replacing.) Until that is done, the driver's window is a little slow moving and sometimes gets a little crooked when closing, which causes it to stick. All you have to do is grab it and straighten it out to unstick it. These things were never an emergency for me to fix, since I have almost never driven it on rainy days in the last three years.
If you aren't familiar with the M100 Elan, check out the Wikipedia page for basic information: here
There is a wonderful resource for everything you could ever need to know, and all the help/information you could ever need: here
I have always done service/oil changes at more frequent intervals than listed in the owners' manual, and always used Mobil1 synthetic oil. The most recent service was done in April 2015 (see below).
I love this car more than any car I've ever owned, and I will miss it. I hope whoever buys it loves it as much as I have.
Please don't hesitate to ask questions.
Here's a little extra. Click the youtube link to listen to the exhaust note. This car has a really nice, deep sound, even at Idle. (the little bit of squeaking in the background is the AC belt. It squeaks a little when it's wet). here
April 2015:
Timing Belt, Transmission Service, Oil/Fliter, New Spark Plugs/Leads, Right Lower Control Arm, Right Upper/Lower Balljoints, CV Boots
May 2015:
Interior Re-trim, Upgraded Front Brakes Saab/Vectra modification. (calipers off of a Saab 9-3 and front discs from a Subaru Outback), Everest chip.
Other Modifications/Upgrades:
AB Shift Cables.
High performance injectors made by RC Engineering in California.
Custom Metal Monkey dial faces and LED lighting
Alpine iDA-001 head unit (no CD player, iPod connection in glovebox) directly controls iPod.--Requires older iPod. iPod Touch 2nd Edition is included.
Alpine 5-channel AMP in the trunk.
8 Subwoofer in the hood stowage area behind seats.
Shower cape will go with the car.
Hankook Ventus tires mounted in December 2013 and have less than 8, 000 miles on them, are perfect.
TOMTOM One GPS is hardwired and will go with the car. Maps current 2014.
Everything stock I ever removed, I still have and it will go with the car.
Spares/Parts that will go with the car:
New A-pillar seals, New Falling pillar seals, New Intermediate seals, New Butterfly clips and sliders for windows
Parts/Repairs Needed:
Header Rail seal (about $400 from Dave Bean or SJ Sportscars)
R/H Lower Rear Wishbone has some rust. (See Picture) It looks worse in the picture because most of the hole you see was a mounting hole for that little white plastic clip you see on the brake line.
Shifting needs to be cleaned up. May just be cables.
Windows need sliders installed and lubed (All parts included)

_{update: 2015-12-09}