S3 for £17,500 - scam?

[JonB]

What do you all think of this?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166932189242

Seems a bit cheap to me... and I am surprised it's not been sold.

[rgh0]

S3 with S4 tail lights. Something has happened over the years which may explain the price???

[alanr]

All prices are gradually falling in the uk. ..Not just the various Elan models and +2, but all classic cars generally. Nothing is worth now what is was two years ago.


Alan

[draenog]

Classic Car Weekly has a cover story this week saying that dealers are struggling to shift cars and that prices need to be cut by up to 25%.

[billwill]

Presumably a consequence of the incentive to switch to electric cars or other non-oil variants.

[Andy8421]

Presumably a consequence of the incentive to switch to electric cars or other non-oil variants.

Yes, undeniably a factor, but we are all getting old, and there is a tendency to buy cars that were 'cool' when we were young.

None of us on this forum are getting any younger, and as we age, the number of buyers diminish.

The speculative bubble in a number of manufacturers products is clearly deflating, which is probably a good thing, so it will be interesting to see where this all ends up.

[smo17003]

One thing that isn't dropping is the cost of a restoration. We might soon see more of what was once sold as a "project", now being broken up for spares. That £17500 would easily become £30k/35k for a car that's worth maybe £25k at the end of the day.

[alan.barker]

the price i can see on the above link is £21,000 not 17,500 or have i missed something.
Alan

[types26/36]

Well it looks like £17500 to me

[pharriso]

If you go to ebay.fr it is listed for £21,000:

Brexit vengeance?

[elans3]

It's not a scam, I've been in touch with the man some 6 weeks ago + to discuss. The S4 rear lights bothered me more than anything, not impossible to correct, but with S3 lights currently being advertised for £1000 per pair (yes, some on Ebay last week), no history of an engine rebuild or anything else in the drivetrain, needing a complete respray with also some correct badging & steering wheel to be bought, you'd be into almost 30k without doing anything mechanical, that's if you want a respray that will last. Also it was previously blue, and strangely on the DVLA MOT enquiry website, it is listed as a Lotus Elan DHC Sprint, but curiously not on the main "enquiry" screen, so there's another anomaly to overcome & be sure about..
At the time I enquired, (13th July, advertised on Ebay), it was priced at £18950, but has been reduced since. It's right up my street as a very late S3, and I'm sure you could make it into a very good example, but will need too much expense I'm afraid, ending up with more money in it than it's worth..
It's pointless looking at the prices of top class cars, most are way overpriced in today's market, and most have been for sale for months if not over a year in quite a few cases. Today's value's are not anything like 2 years ago, but a lot of vendors are hanging on to 2 year old prices because a). they've got too much money in the car in stock, or b). they're hoping the market will come back to the levels of 2 years ago.
I'm looking to get back into an Elan again, but haven't yet seen anything that I think is worth the asking price so far.
If the engine is tired, add another £5500 / 6000, then there's the gearbox, then maybe the diff, etc etc.

[gjz30075]

And the taillight panel would need to be changed to accomodate the S3 lights. Or re-work the
panel fiberglass.

[shynsy]

Presumably a consequence of the incentive to switch to electric cars or other non-oil variants.

Bill, not quite sure that makes too much sense. We are a long way from a petrol free world.
Tim

[mark030358]

Presumably a consequence of the incentive to switch to electric cars or other non-oil variants.

Yes, undeniably a factor, but we are all getting old, and there is a tendency to buy cars that were 'cool' when we were young.

None of us on this forum are getting any younger, and as we age, the number of buyers diminish.

The speculative bubble in a number of manufacturers products is clearly deflating, which is probably a good thing, so it will be interesting to see where this all ends up.

101% this...

If you have a fast Ford times are good; just watched a YouTube clip of an Escort Cossie go for £80K.... mental.

thanks
Mark

[JonB]

It's not a scam, I've been in touch with the man some 6 weeks ago + to discuss.

That's good news.

I'm looking to get back into an Elan again, but haven't yet seen anything that I think is worth the asking price so far.
If the engine is tired, add another £5500 / 6000, then there's the gearbox, then maybe the diff, etc etc.

I think it's cheap for a running car. I agree with your point about overpriced restos sitting in dealers; I think that's always been the case. However this isn't like that. You could buy it and just run it for now and save the resto for later. I mean, it's not going to rust is it? As to the engine, well in one of the pictures it is clearly running albeit with a high tickover of 1500-odd RPM, and we can see the oil pressure at ~60 PSI which I think is a good indicator of engine health. Obviously we can't hear how it sounds or check the exhaust for blue smoke but I think it's promising. When I bought my S4 a while back it was the cheapest car on the market at £16500 and a non runner. So in comparison this would have been a better deal (if we ignore the non original aspects of this car, as mine is virtually untouched since leaving Hethel). Both cars need a respray and a body off restoration, but at least with this one you could drive it for a while, just to get a feel for it. I had no chance with mine, because the brake calipers were in the boot and the manifold rusted out. As I found out when I managed to start it... my poor ears..