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I bought this a few weeks ago: I got a text from a buddy in February with a shoddy Craigslist ad showing a white 2006 Exige with 8K miles. I tried to play it cool and pretended like I wasn’t interested. After my kid had woken me up for the third time that night I starting thinking how it would actually work. Gotta convince the wife, find time to go out there, is this really a good time, etc. etc.     Of course the answer was yes to everything so I call the guy up and get the story on this car. His dad owned it but passed away about 7 years ago. In those 7 years he put ~400 miles on the car. Sounded like registration and insurance were too expensive to justify keeping around longer. I told him my story about having an Elise back in 2009, how I tracked it for 3+ years, and did most of the modifications myself (well, really Aeka 2.0). I think that helped my case as he didn’t want it to go to someone that was going to flip it. I couldn’t get a PPI on short notice so I had a friend come out with me to do a self-inspection. He was crazier than I was with his Exige S240 back in the day (custom turbo setup on the 2ZZ making 500whp) so between the two of us we could take a reasonable pass at it. Everything looked good and we made the drive back from San Diego back to Phoenix (even had to deal with snow/slush at one point along Hwy 8). Snow!  My first car with a wing  The rear clam has a crack in it with paint damage so that probably scared some people off. There are a couple decent paint chips in the passenger door, the star shield has completely yellowed, and the front splitter is cracked. I actually don't mind any of that; they're things I can get fixed in the future and it doesn't affect how the car drives so who cares. The tires were original A048s with a manufacture date of December 2005. The OEM steering wheel was put in a display case and they clipped the loving airbag wires to put in an aftermarket wheel so that will be an adventure to fix.  None of that matters though. It’s a loving Exige with 8K miles, I got a crazy deal on it, and it’s just fantastic. Everything on the road looks like an SUV or truck and I forgot how much I missed that. Of all the cars I’ve owned since the Elise, this one feels like home.  I would also like to note the seller tried to raise the price after we found an expensive intake and exhaust on the car that he didn’t know about. That was a fun moment.
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Mar 18, 2019 05:29
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Zoom Zoom, motherfuckers
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 10:33 |
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Seat Safety Switch posted:Gorgeous car. Can't understand the ghetto steering wheel install or the original tires juxtaposed with an expensive intake/exhaust upgrade. I'm told the original owner was a bigger guy and needed to remove the wheel for ingress/egress. The car was bought in 2006 and most of the mods were from that time period. I actually like the steering wheel but I'm not down with getting brained in an accident. Regarding the tires, I think the guy drove it less as he had health issues and the guy I bought it from certainly wasn't changing them. Olympic Mathlete posted:Awwwwwww yeah. So the clamshell on these is basically insurance write-off level stuff isn't it? I assume it can be repaired somehow in TYOOL 2019.... Definitely for Elises but I don't know about Exiges since they're worth a little more. Regardless, you replace it with aftermarket clams anyway. I think decent rear clams can be had for $3-4K + primer and paint. Any shop that does Corvette body repairs should be able to take a swing at a repair though.
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Mar 19, 2019 05:27
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I've done a couple minor tweaks to the car since I got it. First up was replacing two interior pieces I saved from my old Elise, Reverie shift knob and A/C surround: Before  After  I also have the tool bag and plastic battery cover from the Elise that I swapped over. The next project was replacing the tragic stock key fob:  I had the original Blackwatch Unikey but wanted to try one of the new ones on the market. Most are north of $200 so I set about finding all of the old parts to my Unikey. I was somehow able to find the pieces in various boxes that survived several moves but the one piece I was missing were the three M2-0.4 x 6mm screws. No one sells screws that small so I took the 10mm ones I had and got out the dremel. Just need a touch of paint on the screws but I'm otherwise happy with the outcome:  Finally, I replaced the OEM A048s with RE-71Rs. The shop was cool with me roasting the old tires in their parking lot and all the techs stopped what they were doing to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWAJDBPfApM I think this threw the alignment out of whack but I don't care, I'd do it again. Next up I have some rear window shrouds from an Elise on order that will allow me to install my old soft top (not a factory option on Exiges but 100% compatible). I couldn't bring myself to throw out all of these Elise parts and now I'm really glad I didn't.
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Mar 19, 2019 05:48
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kimbo305 posted:drat, how easy or hard was that? Actually not that bad. And drat if those A048s didn’t feel like they still had a ton of stick. They still felt incredible at low speed corners, the mechanical grip was impressive. Once we sustained highway speeds for a while and it didn’t seem like the tires were going to pop it was smooth sailing. Got 28mpg too, a good 10mpg better than my daily.
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Mar 19, 2019 23:15
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I fully support that notion. Hell for the first year I owned my Elise it was my only car.
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Mar 20, 2019 00:27
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Pibur posted:A lotus is the perfect car for New England Winters. It'll never rust! Subframe is steel hope that helps Residency Evil posted:Is this a joke about them never starting? Not much more than a 2019 Miata club with the brembo/seats package and tax.
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Mar 20, 2019 03:49
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(I kid)
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Turns out those burnouts may have hosed something in the front end of the car (no ragerts). After the tires were swapped, the steering now feels super light at highway speeds. Just feels floaty as hell now. I was hoping it was tire pressure, no dice. The lugs are at factory specs. I even had the car aligned. It was mildly better after the alignment but it still feels jacked. I’ll post the before/after specs when I get home tomorrow. I drove my friend’s Exige with the exact same tires (but different suspension and alignment) and it was better; good enough that it wouldn’t bother me. Still nothing like the car with A048s. The sensation is strange. On-center steering is vague at highway speeds. Feels like it has a lot of float. Turns feel much better. That’s why I was hoping the alignment would fix it. I did a visual inspection for things like bent arms, broken sway bar, or anything else that looked obviously wrong. The alignment tech did the same. Everything appears fine. Any ideas?
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May 11, 2019 14:09
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Here are the alignment specs. If anyone can correlate these numbers to my issue I'd really appreciate it. 
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May 13, 2019 17:57
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charliemonster42 posted:Those alignment numbers all look pretty good. They’re in the range of allowable, at least. The cross caster is at the limit, but that will just cause it to pull, not be light like you’re seeing. Looking at the alignment numbers again, is the front toe a problem? The left is within range and the right is way out of spec - negative toe reduces straight line stability, yes? Great suggestion on the tire direction. Unfortunately they were installed correctly. Air pressure was the first thing I checked - they were high from the tire shop but not that high. I was expecting/hoping they were 45 psi but they were only 5-6 psi high. Tried an older gauge and it showed lower by two psi, I definitely trust my main one as it's a higher quality unit. I also checked wheel lug torque. I'll suggest the idea of swapping wheels... it's a lot to ask of someone but definitely a good troubleshooting idea. angryrobots posted:See if the alignment shop is putting a weight in the seat before the alignment? I didn't know that was a thing for alignments? Thought that was only for corner balancing. Either way, the shop did not put a weight on there. When I had my friend drive it, I was in the car and he said it felt fine (though he could tell what I was talking about). I probably should have tried driving with him in the car to even me out and also let him drive without me in the car. Jomo posted:Steering rack bushes? Could be coincidence that they gave up at the same time but still worth checking. Only thing I can think of. Also congrats on buying the best possible British golf cart there is. Thanks! I had not gone down that path but it's looking more and more like I'll need to remove the front clam and check everything. That really chaps my rear end. The front clam is the one thing I never tackled on my Elise and it's full of "while you're in there" stuff like the oil line recall, radiator, A/C relay, fluids, SS brake lines and flush... yikes.
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May 15, 2019 06:16
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charliemonster42 posted:I’d assumed those were your before numbers. If you look at the second image, they seem to match the before column fairly closely. If those are in fact the as-left numbers, then yeah, it’s no wonder it drives weird. Putting weight in the drivers seat is definitely a thing for alignments, and probably absolutely necessary for an Elise given that even a skinny guy is 15% of the cars curb weight. See what the guys on lotustalk say. You’re right, the after numbers are good. drat. I really hate the idea of taking the front clam off looking for *things*. That’s one thing I managed to avoid doing on my Elise. I’ll ask the nerds on LT about the weight. I’m inclined to think it’s not a huge deal since this guy has done a lot of Elises/Exiges in the past but we’ll see. quote:On second thought; sounds like the car is more trouble than it’s worth. Best thing to do would be to sell it to me to save you from future heartache Everybody has a price...
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May 16, 2019 13:03
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Outside of the front end issue that I’ll probably be chasing down forever, I’m working on a list of things to do while avoiding any big-dollar upgrades. I kept the soft top from my Elise so I got a “kit” to install it on the Exige. It’s really just two grommets that will be installed in the rear upper interior fiberglass to allow the two composite soft top rods/braces to be installed. Looking forward to having a convertible again. I went out a couple weeks ago with the hard top off and it was a blast. Also got a wall mount kit for the garage to store the hard top when I'm not using it.  I ordered fluids for engine, transmission, and brake. The engine oil is at least 2 years old and transmission and brake are probably 8-10 years old. The front splitter has chips and chunks taken out. I’m not quite ready to replace it because I’m cheap so I’ll take a crack at filling it in and repainting. The shift mechanism needs some help - reinforcement, new cables, and stiffened engine/transaxle mounts. I thought my old Elise was stock but it most certainly was not - it was miles better than this car. Down the road I’d like to do a lightweight battery and Penske shocks and springs but that’s a ways off.
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May 16, 2019 14:16
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crazzy posted:I was under the impression that penske shocks were in the same camp as jrz/mcs/moton being a motorsport only product and being unreasonably harsh on the street. Yeah, Blackwatch Racing had a custom valve spec done for the 111 platform. https://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f91/best-all-worlds-bwr-non-adjustable-penske-shocks-intro-pricing-282889/#/topics/282889 I’ve read they’re worlds better than the base or LSS setup. Compliant around town and much better on the track. The fact that Frank at BWR was able to work with Penske directly and his knowledge of the platform (multiple auto cross championships) made a really compelling package. Here’s his thread buying an out-of-state Elise and stopping by their shop to install a set: https://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f3/blackwatch-racing-supercharged-drive-across-country-penske-shocks-266866/#/topics/266866
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May 16, 2019 18:15
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charliemonster42 posted:Any chance you could pull a wheel and snake a borescope in to look at the rack mounts to avoid having to pull the front clam? I also suffer from the “while you’re in theres”, so I understand the hesitation to do something that increases the opportunity to find something wrong. If you’re in the Bay Area, I could bring my scope down to take a look. Good idea on the borescope. I’m in Phoenix but thanks for the offer. Would something like this do the trick? https://www.amazon.com/Depstech-End...8-1-spons&psc=1 Seems like a good solution to save cost by using a phone or tablet as a display. The app might not be supported forever but for $35 you can’t have everything. The alignment guy had done all of the Lotus cars for the independent shop nearby (that just went under) so I was confident with his abilities. It’s hard to find people that have experience with them.
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May 16, 2019 18:25
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track day bro! posted:I have nothing to say apart from that on my last track day I bagged some passenger laps in someones S2 Elise, I think it was on Quantum suspension with R888R's and while it felt about as fast as my car in a straight line he was able to carry at least 15mph more speed through most corners. The Elise and Exige attract the best kind of car nerds. There’s a disproportionate amount of aftermarket engineering that was done on this platform relative to the number of cars sold. Lots of people track their cars despite rising values (in the case of the Exige) and it’s not seen as a negative by most buyers. We have fully built engines, TVS superchargers (before TVS blowers got popular with OEMs), tons of suspension options, aftermarket clams, entire shift mechanisms, built transmission internals, and aero bits. And the best part is, if you’re so inclined, you can get a 2ZZ/C64 from a junkyard Matrix, Corolla, or Celica mega cheap.
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May 19, 2019 17:38
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Haven't updated in a while. Just moved the car under its own power for the first time in over a month so now's as good a time as any. Things accomplished since last post: - Change engine oil - Change transmission oil - Flush brake/clutch lines - gently caress up flushing brake lines - Removed driver seat to take off expired Schroth harness - Removed two center console pieces and paint metallic black - Removed door cards - Started softtop install (measure 6x, cut none) - Re-flush brake lines - Ordered new battery and mount Engine oil and transmission oil went smoothly. There are so many 8mm bolts to remove for the diffuser and rear panel it would probably be a giant pain in the rear end for most but this was a blast from the past for me. Genuinely enjoyed doing that. There's something about this car that makes it so much fun to work on compared to others. Probably the simplicity? Oh! And I figured out the exhaust. It's the Jansport "Stage II" factory upgrade. I was surprised, didn't know they sounded this good. Lots of pops and crackles. Also, for the second time in owning a Lotus, I was pleasantly surprised when I did my first oil change to discover it has a Moroso baffled oil pan. In addition to the Reverie air intake, I'm happy with the parts that were installed on the car.   Had a massive gently caress-up changing the brake fluid. It had been 7 years since I'd bled brakes using the Motive power bleeder. I talked myself into filling the Motive unit with fluid first (instead of using it dry like I did before). I let it get too low and introduced a metric gently caress-ton of air into the front driver-side caliper. The Motive unit was no match, ended up having to get a buddy to do the two-person method. Two takeaways: The pressure you can generate at the brake pedal far exceeds that of the bleeder (at least beyond the 15psi they recommend as the max) and tapping the caliper to get out air bubbles really does work. All told it took 4 1/2 bottles of RBF 600 to do the brakes and clutch. Even beyond the air that was introduced, it took forever to get the old brake fluid out. Also, I really hate ATE superblue and I'm glad it's banned now. It stains every drat thing and even after two bottles of RBF I was still flushing out that old blue junk.  Note the stubborn "I don't need to buy a fancy bleeder bottle" DIY job All's well though, the pedal is now rock solid and feels way better than it did when I bought it. Reminds me of my Elise when I first bought it and that is a very, very good thing. Took it for a test drive around the block with the seat not bolted down, no seat belt, no shift knob, and poo poo everywhere in the interior. It was fun.  I wasn't sure what to expect in painting the plastic pieces but I'm really happy with how it turned out. Sanded the stock gray plastic pieces, washed, dried, and sprayed 3 coats of Rust-oleum metallic black and 4 coats of clear enamel. Before/after:   I'll finish up the door cards this weekend. Fun fact: the "teardrop" inserts on the door panel (black fabric portion) have these christmas tree plastic holders that are an absolute bastard to get off. It took me and another person pulling to pop them out. The last two just happened to slide out and it turns out we could have just shifted the whole teardrop piece to the side. gently caress.  The stock full size battery died so I ordered a Deka/Big Crank ETX15 AGM battery. It's 11 pounds and should save ~20 pounds compared to stock. Scored a used Sector 111 battery bracket as well. Now I just need to bolt everything together and enjoy the car for a few months. Life is short and I'll have plenty of time to chase down the steering issue when it's not 110 degrees outside. I did find something odd sticking out of the front right suspension...  Turns out my buddy's Exige has the same thing. No idea what it does but the spring starts under the suspension arm, goes to the middle part of the front clam toward the center, then goes into a hole toward the front. It's really weird.
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Jun 27, 2019 06:19
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kimbo305 posted:How much clearance does it have to the suspension arm. No clearance. Not completely smashed but I can’t pull it out.
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Jun 27, 2019 17:23
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NitroSpazzz posted:Is it a metal spring or a wire wrap type plastic tube? If the later I'd guess drainage but I'm not familiar enough with the cars to know what it would be draining. Metal spring. When I pulled on it, the could unraveled from where it was caught on the suspension. Again, strange, but my buddy’s Exige has it as well. We both had no idea it was there. His is better secured but doesn’t functionally look any different.
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Jun 27, 2019 17:25
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Yeah, just posted it on Lotustalk.
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Jun 27, 2019 21:44
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Apparently it’s a drain for rainwater or A/C condensation. Back to the drawing board.
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Jun 27, 2019 21:54
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It has been over four years since I've posted about the Exige! Time for an update. The steering issue I was chasing was all in my head. I had a couple friends that own 2006 Exiges drive my car and thought it was fine. I also had my former Lotus technician inspect it and drive it and he said it had zero steering issues. In hindsight it was probably moving from A048s to RE-1Rs. In the meantime I've been able to do a few fun drives: Hwy 88 up to Tortilla Flats:   (The side view mirror has been fixed. Had a temporary replacement thanks to a scooter incident. Track time at Wild Horse Pass / Firebird East:  This was a huge nostalgia rush back to my track days with my Elise (RIP). Best time was a 1:10, one second behind my best time in the Elise that was a bit more track-focused (A048s, +115hp/+60tq, suspension). And it was 3 seconds behind the time I did there in my GT350. Here's 1% of all Exige deliveries to North America in 2006:  Hwy 89 to Prescott:   Removed the factory paint protection film and had Xpel installed on the entire front clam:  The factory stuff is known to yellow over time and often takes paint off when people try to remove it. A lot of people just leave it on but unfortunately white is the one color that shows the yellowing. I spent 20+ hours getting this PPF off and got pretty lucky that it came off without too much fuss. They don't make PPF kits for the Exige so they had to do a full custom cut ($$$).  Finished product:  Recently replaced the rear suspension dampers:   That brings us to today. I'm nearly five years in with this Exige and I've put about 3k miles on it. It took a long time to admit this but I've realized I don't have room in my life right now for a two seater. Nearly all of my trips involve going somewhere with the kids or my 80lb dog. I worked from home during covid and have been hybrid since 2022 so my miles traveled dropped significantly and the opportunities to go for fun drives has just isn't there anymore. It's time to let it go. As much as I love this platform, if I'm not driving a car it needs to go. I have almost 10 years of Lotus ownership and I feel like I've done everything I wanted. I'll get another Elige when the kids are out of the house and I can go nuts with K24 swap. I'm about to do some major work to get it perfect. There's some paint that needs to be repaired on the rear quarter clam, a couple recalls that need to be performed, and new headliner installed. But... If anyone is interested in buying it before I do all this work, PM me. The paint issues never bothered me enough to fix and there might be someone out there willing to save a few bucks on an otherwise good condition 10k mile Exige.
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Dec 26, 2023 18:39
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I finally found a shop to quote the fiberglass and paint repair and it was an eye-watering amount. The fiberglass repair work alone was quoted at 58 hours of labor and it would cost more than buying another S2 Exige clam from Greg's Race Parts. I'm a little conflicted on where to go with it. I'm worried that if I post on LotusTalk asking for recommendations it would somehow come back to me when I try to sell. Maybe I need a burner account there? What do you all think? Should I repair and paint the OEM clamshell or buy an aftermarket clamshell and paint? Should I say gently caress it and list it on LotusTalk or Autotrader as-is? BlackMK4 posted:I'm local to you and have been casually shopping for an Elise/Exige to K swap as a second track car to my BRZ, but it seems like this is way too clean and low mileage for me. Thanks, we'll see how it goes. Comps are hard on cars like this; BAT results are all over the place. I don't regret buying this particular car (7300 miles at purchase) but I wish it was a "driver quality" car. I quickly realized I didn't want to cut this thing up or go crazy with mods. Not sure how local you are but I'll PM you to see if we can meet up sometime. Residency Evil posted:I see parts of myself in this post and I don't like it. Yep. It was a hard realization to make. You also gave me a hard dose of reality in the BMW thread when I talked about going back to doing my own oil changes. We're going to get busier and the cars will get more complex. I can change the oil on the Exige for $60 and sometimes it's fun to lift the car, remove the undertrays, etc. But I typically don't have time for that. On the Alfa? gently caress that, I'm not touching that thing.
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Dec 27, 2023 21:30
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I'm sure someone is going to scoop it up quick, it is beautiful. Market is loving nuts so you'll probably print too.
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kimbo305 posted:You mean like it’s a lose-lose to disclose who did the work despite it being a recommendation ABBA still having someone second guess it? I originally thought there wasn't anything on LT about the fiberglass/paint issue on the car so disclosing that while looking for advice could somehow affect the pricing. Turns out it was disclosed in the original FS ad so it's not really a big deal. I just assume some internet fucko will poo poo on any FS ad or auction and I was trying to avoid that. super nailgun posted:Maybe get an aftermarket clam finished and installed, and include the OEM one with the car as-is if the buyer is interested? Someone who really wants the originality gets the option to maintain that if they care to, but most people are going to be satisifed with aftermarket that looks and performs equivalent to OEM, with full disclosure of the extent of the damage that led to the replacement... Which providing the original part in usable condition handily satisfies, and implicitly lets interested parties know this wasn't a situation where the car was badly wrecked and rebuilt, it really was cosmetic damage that just happens to be expensive to deal with. That's not a bad idea. The likelihood of a buyer getting a spare clamshell home is low but it could be an option.
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Dec 28, 2023 06:43
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Interesting day to have an 06 Exige with under 11k miles… https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2006-lotus-exige-28 Absolute perfection. Red is just the right color on these. Put as many miles on it as you can.
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Feb 9, 2024 06:07
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 10:33 |
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Gol dang you don’t mess around. Rear panel delete, aggressive diffuser, nicer side mirror, looks like it’s caged. I assume it has upgraded end links with the slicks on there?
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Mar 8, 2024 02:54
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