Used Car of the Day: 2005 Lotus Elise

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

Want to own a low-mileage Lotus? Now you can. This 2005 Lotus Elise has just 19K miles on the clock.


It has Bemani supercharger, though the supercharger is apparently inoperable at the moment. The car runs and drives, the supercharger is just being bypassed.

There are minor cosmetic flaws and the hardtop is missing the headliner.

Modifications include a harness bar and race harnesses, XXR wheels, carbon-fiber wing, carbon-fiber cooling duct with scoop, upgraded cam, custom titanium intake, custom stainless steel exhaust headers, detachable steering wheel, and more.

The ask is $32,000.

Click here for more.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

More by Tim Healey

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  • Analoggrotto Analoggrotto on Dec 06, 2023

    So when the toyota 2ZZ engine is mounted in the Fwd Celica GT-S the YAMAHA casting on the head is prominent but it becomes hidden in the MR configuration on the Lotus cars. You have to pull out the passenger's side rear fender liner to see it.

  • Sobro Sobro on Dec 06, 2023

    My guess is it's just a plain scam.


    Very few pictures? Check


    Price too good to be true? Check


    Enough "real car" info to convince the gullible it's a real car? Check


    Weird story as to its provenance and location? Check



  • Lostboy If you can stay home when it's bad out in winter, then maybe your 3 season tire WILL be an "ALL-SEASON" tire as your just not going to get winters and make do? I guess tire rotations and alignments just because a whole lot more important!
  • Mike My wife has a ‘20 Mazda3 w/the Premium Package; before that she had a ‘15 Mazda3 i GT; before THAT she had an ‘06 Mazda Tribute S V6, ie: Ford Escape with a Mazda-tuned suspension. (I’ve also had two Miata NAs, a ‘94 & a ‘97M, but that’s another story.) We’ve gotten excellent service out of them all. Her 2020, like the others before it, is our road trip car - gets 38mpg highway, it’s been from NC to Florida, Texas, Newfoundland, & many places in between. Comfortable, sporty, well-appointed, spacious, & reliable. Sure, we’d look at a Mazda hybrid, but not anytime soon.😎
  • MaintenanceCosts Something that Mercedes would never do, but that would be an extremely revealing experiment: sell both a "CLE 63" with the V8 in a ~500 hp state of tune and a "CLE 65" with the four-cylinder mega-hybrid powertrain at the 671 hp or higher level. Charge the same for them, sell both on custom order only, and see which sells more.I'm positive the V8 would outsell the four by five to one or more.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Agreed, or get the Lexus LC500 with the awesome 5.0L V8. Instead of the EV/PHEV, turbocharged V4-V6 nonsense.
  • SCE to AUX I like the Crown, but it would have to be a lower trim (like the XLE) to make sense.Despite having a Toyota dealer very near me, I don't see many Crowns on the road.
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