Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave-ROR
The numbers for the Elise are also wrong, at least for US cars.
It comes down to what you want. You can get a better pure sports car for FT86 money, or a better GT car, etc but it's going to be used so you'll have maint expenses earlier, they can be harder to finance, etc.
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According to NADA, those numbers are correct for a 2005 Lotus Elise with 60,xxx miles. This includes the range between low retail and average retail; however, I purposefully excluded high retail, because it's atypical and unreasonable.
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f94/...53k-mi-104307/
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f94/...-cheap-103890/
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f94/...c-area-103218/
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f94/...ngeles-103053/
All under 60,xxx and 29,xxx$
Quote:
Originally Posted by WolfpackS2k
This thread is a good one, as for over a year I've been comparing the FT-86 in my head against used sports cars that are in the same price range. I abhor how heavy all cars are getting as the years go by so the FT-86 has me excited. But if they fail to make this car as light as they've promised then I won't have any interest in it at all (kind of like the Hyundai Genesis).
I currently own an S2000 and while it's a great car I need a fixed roof coupe. I'm not a huge fan of convertibles and they're a huge pain at track events since most clubs and tracks don't allow them to compete without aftermarket rollbars.
I plan on replacing my S2000 with the FT-86 (but only if it's a performance improvement) or Porsche 911 (996) or Porsche Cayman S. Being concerned about a used sports car's history is a valid concern, especially with the Japanese ones previously mentioned in this thread. However as you look at used cars that originally cost $60k + the odds that the previous owner abused the vehicle go down greatly. People that can afford cars that expensive generally take good care of them and are mature enough not to abuse them.
It would be nice to buy a new Toyota sports car instead of a used Porsche, as the maintenance of the Porsche will no doubt be higher. But if Toyota can't deliver where else can I turn for a 3000lb (or less) RWD coupe that is less than 10 years old?
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The 996 chassis is barely under that mark. Hahah.. Although, don't listen to me, the 911 is one of my favorite cars, so I'll talk it up whenever I can.
On the topic of managing or avoiding previous owners abuse:
Is it possible to look for indications of abuse through standard checks?
compression test
leakdown test
pulling turbochargers for abnormal amounts of shaft play
etc
What do you guys think?