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2010 Lotus Elise SC |
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VIN : SCCLHHAC7BHA12388
This is how it all started...............
September 4, 2010
My son asked me to take him out so we could look for his first car. I was not totally ready for this let alone ready to buy a car. It was a nice day so we decided to drive around and look at different dealerships. He was telling me all about tuner cars and how he can modify them. After driving around for a bit, we came across a Porsche 944. The car had seen better days....many of them mind you. The dealer opened the door to show us the interior and you could smell the gas fume together with other unfamiliar odors. My son wanted me to take him for a spin. I told him that there "is no way I was going to buy that car or even get in it." He was showing me the roll-bar and the 5 point seatbelts and so on. I asked the dealer to take him for a spin. After they came back, my son told me that "this car can really go :-) ." We popped the hood and I noticed that all kinds of welding had been done and the front end was damaged. Anyway, I told my son that it may have all the track pack safety, but it was missing my standards.
My son wanted to see
more second-hand cars, but I told him that I had always wanted to check
out the Smart car. We went a few streets down and there they were. They
had a convertible sitting out front. We went in and after looking around
for a bit we decided to take the convertible for a ride. I was impressed
with the construction of the car and the small engine compartment
located right below
the trunk. The car had decent pick-up between first and second (nothing
like the Elise SC), but third was a choker. We started to drive around
and then we got stuck behind a car
in the left lane and as we were trying to merge into the right lane, a
much bigger car pulled to our side and the guy behind the wheel said to
my son, “aren’t you guys a bit too big for that car?” – we both laughed.
September 5, 2010
I was to meet my daughter at her
University for lunch. The night before we were looking at some websites
and saw some different models of Lotus for sale. Before I left, my wife
mentioned that there was a dealership not too far and they may decide to go there.
My son wanted for my wife to test drive the Smart car. He just
wanted a car. After my visit with may daughter, I was heading
back home when I received an email from my wife asking me to stop over
at the Lotus dealership. I managed getting there by about 3 pm.
They had an Elise 190 in white. We decided
to test drive it. I
was a bit hesitant, I was not sure if this was right, so I
asked my wife to take the first ride. The dealer took her, as she was
not comfortable with the manual transmission. As they were pulling back
into the dealership I saw my wife's face, mind you she really
disliked the Smart car. When they got back I could see her face from the small
passenger side window. She had the biggest smile ever with two thumbs
up. I was not too happy with the way the car looked.
Although this was a new car it had been sitting out in the open for a long time and
birds of all kinds had a go at it. Also, the L was missing from
the back of the car. I decided to take it for a spin. I have
driven some fast sports cars (Lamborghini, Twin turbo Maserati, SL 500, and
other similar cars), but not a race car. The car was small, but felt like
a bullet leaving the chamber. It felt nice being in it. So the
idea was sold, but not the actual car. We still had to wheel and deal. We found out that the dealer was giving up his Lotus dealership.
He stated that it was conflicting with his GM cars. It was past 5 o'clock and
they wanted to close for the day. I had asked them to give me a
call the next day so we could look at the car one more time. They said
that they would have it ready and cleaned.
September 6, 2010
We went back to the dealership. The
car looked cleaner but the L was still missing and now you could see
bird dropping damage to the body. We took it for a spin and it
felt even better than it did on Sunday. The dealer was more
interested to sell a GM car than a Lotus. I told him the price that I was
willing to pay for the car and he said that he will check with his
manager and call me the next day.
September 7, 2010
My son and I spent some time on the internet looking for Lotus cars. The dealer never called us back. I was not very happy with the white car. I was looking for something special. We located a 2008 Exige 240 with a 1 year warranty remaining for the same price. It was loaded with all kinds of extras. I called the dealership and asked them to email me more pictures. Everything looked good so I decided to get an airplane ticket and fly to NY first thing the next morning.
September 8, 2010
Before I left for NY I emailed my son and told him not to get his hopes too high. I mentioned that this is a second hand car and it may have some issues. I think he thought for sure that I was going to be coming back with that car. He said good luck and to let him know how things pan out via email.
I arrived in NY and the sales rep met me at the airport. We drove to the dealership (Autosport Designs Inc.) and I must say that I was impressed. So many nice cars. After some coffee and chitchat he took me to the side showroom to see the car. The car looked great. They took it out of the showroom so I could test drive it. After the test drive I was a bit concerned about the rear view visibility (none). I was not sure if that was going to be very safe for my son. I looked around the car and noticed that the muffler was an aftermarket one and I was not sure if it was going to be an issue with our DMV. The car was nice but it looked like it was made for driving on a track and not totally street legal. It had all the parts and looks.
Meanwhile I was getting email from my son asking, how is the car? I replied - not sure. I thought this would be a good time to pull his leg a bit and I should have some fun with it. He was clearly anxious. He was asking me what's wrong with the car? I replied, it goes to the left. He said it needs alignment. I replied - I am asking them to put it on the lift. By then it was about noon. He was at school and not being with me to see the car was getting to him :-) I emailed him - there are some oil spots. I think this car has some issues. I am not sure if we should get this one.
On the other hand, I was trying to finalize the paperwork so I could start driving it back. It was going to be a 5-6 hour drive and I was trying to miss the rush hour. We were almost finished and then they told me that they would not be able to release the title, as they have to payoff the car. The car was on consignment. Also, most of the paperwork for the car was missing. I wanted to be sure that everything about my son's first car was perfect in hope that my son keeps the car forever. When I was his age I always wanted to buy a nice first car and keep it. My first car was a 1961 VW bug (rust bucket).
At this stage I asked to see the owner. I sat with him and chatted. I told him that I was not pleased to come all the way here and then not be able to pick up the car with title and all the rest of the paperwork. I explained that this was to be for my son and I wanted everything to be perfect. He said that the Elise would be a better car for my son since it has rear view visibility, soft top, and also, if we ever wanted to take it to the track, we still could take this and have fun with it. He had several cars, but one was a brand new 2010 supercharged with no modifications or worries. A silver car with red interior.
It was a bit expensive but after some wheeling and dealing it was a done deal. We did the paperwork. Then I had to wait for them to do their pre-delivery inspection. The mechanic went over the car for 2 hours to be sure everything was adjusted and ready to go. I was quite impressed with that. The other dealers usually just clean the car and they are done. This was not the case with them. The car was in the showroom, so it was clean. They actually took the car out and drove it and made sure that everything was tuned.
In the meantime my son was all worried. I had told my son that I was waiting for a taxi to take me back to the airport. He was trying to call me to get more info but I emailed him and I told him my cell phone was running out of battery and I can only do emails. I wanted for him to be surprised. He was wondering if I was fooling with him. I am very sure that his hopes were running very thin. I told him that the taxi driver got lost and this trip was a hell of a trip. Nothing but a waste of time and to go all the way to NY and be disappointed was not the kind of day I had planned.
They finished with the car at about 4:30 PM. They handed me the car key as they went over a few things and I was more than ready to go. I place the key in the ignition. Turned the key and pressed the "start the engine" button - nothing happened. I said to myself - what now? I went in and looked for the mechanic and asked him - how do you start this car? Nobody had mentioned that there is a security button on the key and how that worked. Well by the time I made it to the highway it was rush hour and bumper to bumper cars.
Eventually I was getting closer to NY and 95 South .... then I received an email from my wife asking me to stop at my daughter's school. I was so tired and I just wanted to drive back home and the traffic was not helping. It was getting late. Then my daughter called me and insisted for me to do a pit stop and she was bribing me with a sandwich and a cold drink. I had no option but to go and see her. I arrived in Baltimore and parked the car in front of her dorm. A group of students passed by and one of them said look at that bat mobile. The sandwich was great. It was my first meal since the night before. I took my daughter for a spin. She real liked it and now she wants one. I dropped her back at the dorm and started to drive towards home. It took me about an hour to get home. It was a nice long exhilarating drive. I almost got 3 speeding tickets. It was almost midnight by the time I arrived at home. I parked the car in such a way so that it was not visible from any of the windows.
September 9, 2010
I woke up before my son, so I could draw down the shades. During breakfast he was asking me what happened? I told him - Son that was a waste of a trip. That car had scratches, oil leak, and the windshield was cracked. I am just too tired and I have to go to work. Let's talk about it later. I told him to go and get his back pack and swimming bag so we could get going to his school. He asked me which car (SUV) are we going to take? I told him the ML.
I wished I could have taken his picture. He looked like a lost poppy. It was very hard for me to hold it together but I somehow managed it. He walked out with his bags, dragging himself, but trying to be brave. I slowly followed him. As he went around the corner the car became visible. His reaction was a big massive smile and then he looked at me and said "I knew it". He repeated "I knew it" .... I told him sure you did....... :-) I took him to school.
September 12, 2010
I took my son to the back of his school to teach him how to drive a stick shift. Of course, as all teenagers know, XBOX make you a super driver. On the way to the parking lot I was trying to explain how the clutch works and so on. He was all ears, but I knew that he was telling himself this is going to be easy. To make it short after driving about 65 min he was sweating it. He realized that driving an automatic car does not take much of an effort and you also do not get a real feeling of the car or what you are doing. He started to appreciate the responsibility of what it takes to drive a car. All and all it was a fun day. He managed to go to second gear with a max speed of 15 MPH.
September 17, 2010
Ordered the hardtop, outdoor car cover and the service notes.
September 22, 2010
Ordered a Lotus Front License Plate Mount. And took it for a spin....
October 16, 2010
From Sector 111 ordered Carpet Buttons, LID bone, Rubbertite Floor Mats Floor Mats, Red Folding Front Tow Hook
October 24, 2010
Installed the gas tank protector.
October 28, 2010
Ordered F-103 Regular Valve http://www.quickoildrainvalve.com
October 2, 2010
Received everything from Sector 111 and installed the parts.
October 9, 2010
Purchased a silver SYLVANIA Dot-It Silver LED Battery for the trunk.
October 23, 2010
Finally located Forced Fed front lip spoiler and ordered it from modacar.com
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November 2, 2010
Forced Fed front lip spoiler by Modacar.com arrived by UPS.
November 6, 2010
I installed the Forced Fed front lip spoiler by Modacar.com. The back portion was a bit to too short to reach the middle rear existing holes to utilize the hex head bolts. It looks great and fits like a glove.
November 11, 2010
Finally the hardtop arrived. It took a bit of time as we had to get in and out of the car many times. We installed the hardtop and the car looks great. It looks like a totally different car.
November 13, 2010
We changed the oil for the first time - 1045 miles. Used Castrol SYNTEC 5W-40 Full-Synthetic and an oil filter from Lotus. Installed F-103 Regular Valve. Next time it will be much faster to change the oil. Original oil filter was hard to unscrew.
November 20, 2010
It was early Saturday morning. I knew that the streets were going to be quiet. We left the house at about 7:15 am. Drove to and around Luray, VA
December 4, 2010
My son went to Summit Point Motorsports Park with his sister to watch a drift event.
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April 17, 2011
I have not had a chance to update this page for a while but unfortunately this will be the last entry for Elise. Someone barrowed the car and well to make it short - it is totaled. I am not going to post any pictures but let's say that the driver was very lucky to make it alive.
