I have experienced many of the issues here. When i first was looking to bid on an S15 the going rate was about Y1.1m for a good example. Now you are much closer to Y1.7m for practically the same car! A disaster with a hot water tank stopped me about a year ago....very costly in the end (lol, and in real terms the car would have been a year newer)
The model report is a pain too, about ?400 dearer than common imports model reports.
For my SVA, there was 4 S15's going for testing, none of which had the downpipe from the model report which meant another few weeks waiting for that to arrive...
Still, all done and dusted and the car is due for delivery in 2 days...plates are in the post...v55/5 collected tomorrow...mot/service on Thursday....driving soon as the v55/5 is logged....cant wait :-D
Tho next time....i think i'll buy something ready too roll...there are far too many costly variables in taking on the SVA on your own on what is essentially a very rare car in the UK.
Luckily the holders of the model report SVA S15's for about ?600 if they are fairly standard....stray from them and I have been quoted ?1200-?1800 for the SVA!