Gt3 / Esprit Turbo ..... prices fluctuating / reliability / where to buy

[Sparky]

Poor Path probably wonders what he's gotten into.

[pete]

And no mention of gin yet

[carspath]

Dan E .... thank you for the invite .

Gin is the one thing that I can do  🤗 🍸

Path

[jonwat]

On 29/11/2019 at 08:17, carspath said:

Thank you once again .... this time for putting the S4 and S4S on my radar.

Have you seen this S4s on ebay?

It looks nice & it's not green or blue. 😀

Edited December 1, 2019 by jonwat

[Barrykearley]

That’s an absolutely lovely looking car

[carspath]

Thank you , I’ve seen the red S4S for sometime now .

Looks like I’ll just have to wait for Sparky to trade up to an Evija 

Are there any Esprit meets coming up in the spring / summer ?  I was at the Beaulieu Supercar showdown but there were only a couple of Esprits there .

Also has anyone got/moved from an S2 Exige to an Esprit, or vice versa ..... how do the two compare ?

thank you

[Barrykearley]

Few folks have both Evora and Esprit. The Evora shows it’s 30plus years newness very obviously and the roadholding and handling is undoubtedly superior. Same would also undoubtedly be the case for the exige. 

Nothing is quite the occasion of driving an Esprit though

[jonwat]

Buy that S4s, look after it, keep the mileage down & it's value is going in one direction only. 

[Jeanvm]

It's interesting to read.

http://lotusespritworld.com/EBuying/EspritT-buyingGuide.html

[plumdeplakmuis]

One RHD GT3 in Germany is for sale for some time now, you should be able to get a good discount, 

https://www.autoscout24.com/offers/lotus-esprit-lotus-esprit-gt-3-sehr-gepflegt-mit-tuev-gasoline-black-d832bce3-0af6-5a39-e043-1250030a5f0a?cldtidx=3

[carspath]

Just to update , and to justify my previously mentioned discombobulation  :  the same orange GT3 car has now gone back to the original dealer in Kent , and the price has gone up to £32,000 

So within about a month the car has been at 2 specialist lotus dealers , gone to Brightwells Auction , and the price has varied as follows :    £32k... £25k.... £21.5k( Brightwells )..... £32k .

I can only presume that no significant work has been done on the car over the last month , but that’s a price variation fluttering between 25% and 33% ! 

Is this what is commonly called ‘ extracting the urinal downflow ‘ 🤭 ?

Edited December 10, 2019 by carspath

[sailorbob]

If it being a repaired Cat C doesn't bother you there's this in Sheffield for £20k.

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1158696

[carspath]

Thank you Sailorbob 

i actually contacted the owner about a month ago re the seats !!!! , but he wouldn’t part with them ( v understandably ) 

in your collective wisdom , what do you feel about buying  this CAT car , and also the defects that he has pointed out . 

 

I tend to to keep my cars for decades rather than years , so my initial feeling when I saw this advert last month was to give it a wide berth . 

It would need a full PPI at a classic lotus specialist aa a minimum , I would have thought .

Also as it is a 1997 car it will have the Delco braking system ...... how much of an issue is this ? , and how much would it cost to parade it please ? 

 

[Barrykearley]

I’d not worry about the cat marker. There’s not a lot of these cars about and a fairly decent percentage of them will have a previous insurance claim against them.

as for the delco conversion - easy done yourself and the stuff to do it is about £600

[carspath]

Thank you Barry 

How serious do the other issues sound to you , esp the oil pressure reading issue ?

Path

[Barrykearley]

Oil pressure readings on both S4 and S4s are random at best. Depends on the gauge and the switch - but they all read 3-4 when cold and then it’s 1 per 1000rpm I think it says in the service manual. 

[sailorbob]

The aircon not working could be a a cheap fix if it only needs a re-gas but it could be costlier if something more involved is the problem, like for example the compressor needs replacing. I doubt it's the simple re-gas fix as otherwise it would probably be already done.

I expect the oil pressure gauge will be the sender, gauge or wiring.

The power steering pressure cap is an easy fix.

The headlight won't be too much to fix as it's a common GM motor and faulty control modules are usually caused by  simple transistor being burnt out which is easy to replace.

The ABS will be the Kelsey Hayes 415 system or possibly the 430 system as 1997 is the changeover year for it.

[Barrykearley]

Ahh this is the gt3 that’s seen on eBay as a fraudulent listing with the metal plate riveted on the passenger side front wing 

[carspath]

Hi Barry .... thanks for that heads up .... I had just e mailed the seller ( apparently in Perth , Australia ) 

i shall be very careful 

The power of The  Lotus Forums !!

Thanks again 

[Barrykearley]

The guy in Oz is absolutely genuine - the car has been repaired and is back in one piece. The old pics appear on eBay almost daily - so have a look at the before images

[Barrykearley]

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/lotus/esprit/lotus-esprit-gt3-turbo-1997--fabulous-in-chrome-orange-with-matching-sports-seats/10082931

 

Previously sold at brightwells last sale 👍