[PolskaCK19]

Hello everyone!

I want to find all the right information before purchasing, for personal use, a 2003 Lotus Elise.

I live in Adelaide and have found the car I want located in the UK. I have been doing quite a lot of research but the information is quite confusing and what says on one website says differently on another.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks heaps!
Caroline

[theintelligent1]

uhh why would you bother?...........an elise of that year here is what a 30k car at best?............they are 10kGBP before you even look at importing costs/legality/hassle..........

[PolskaCK19]

Well that is why i want to find out if there is anyone who has imported before and is knowledgeable to costs etc involved. As i am clueless.

The ones that i have been looking at here are going for about $35-40k and have found one with less mileage and younger model for about 12,000 pounds.

[amgsl55]

Well that is why i want to find out if there is anyone who has imported before and is knowledgeable to costs etc involved. As i am clueless.

The ones that i have been looking at here are going for about $35-40k and have found one with less mileage and younger model for about 12,000 pounds.

There are plenty of posts about the (lack of) value in importing a car.  But as theintelligent1 said - why?

[NBTBRV8]

Have you checked to see if there is a RAW that can comply it seeing you don't qualify for a personal import?

[PolskaCK19]

Well if i can get one negotiated down to around $11,000 pounds (around $18,500AUD) that has less mileage and is a younger model than those which are going for around 35,000 - 40,000 k here in Australia and have to pay around $5,000 AUD in fees etc, still puts me in a much better position than purchasing one here.

[amgsl55]

Well if i can get one negotiated down to around $11,000 pounds (around $18,500AUD) that has less mileage and is a younger model than those which are going for around 35,000 - 40,000 k here in Australia and have to pay around $5,000 AUD in fees etc, still puts me in a much better position than purchasing one here.

Will the savings ( if any) be worth it for a car of unknown mechanical worth?

[PolskaCK19]

I am looking at a couple who are at respected dealers with full lotus service history...

[amgsl55]

http://bit.ly/1hgFQqH

[S4Simon]

Elises are driven all year round in the UK, as such they will all have high corrosion - like any other UK car.  Lotus tend to use qwik rust nuts and bolts to hold everything together.  12k Sterling is about right for a 2003 model.  You'll have to add another $10k Aust for shipping , compliancing, stamp duty etc..

Because you're not going down the personal import route there's going to be a lot of extra hurt (money) involved.

Rule 7 of buying from a dealership - Don't.

I bought mine from a Lotus dealership in the UK.  They took out the engine warning lamp to hide all the engine issues. Plus drove 250 miles in the days before I picked the car up.