EVORA - Garaged vs Exposed to Weather

[Hedspan]

I have made an offer on a new house. Downsizing due to... well.... life.

The Garage on the floorplan was large enough for an EVORA... 450cm long, and that was where my heart was set. GT410 Sport.
The Surveyor has measured the garage and it is actually 427cm x 225cm inside.

So Garage storage is no longer an option. Does anyone have experience of long term ownership with an EVORA exposed to the elements?

Is water ingress and condensation a real concern?

Or are we really past those days by the EVORA?? (especially 400's onwards).

 

I need a little confidence boost before buying and expensive car that i feel i can't really home appropriately.

[madmax]

From my experience with Evora it very much depends on the individual car. My older Lotus cars tend to be kept in a barn but the Evora has stayed out for the past few years. I'm lucky in that it doesn't appear to suffer any water ingress despite everything our British summer has thrown at it - and it's survived well in the winter.

I tend to shy away from covering the car as I've had experience of paint blistering with all different types of cover so I just keep it will protected with a wax or ceramic coating and keep it clean. Even through winter it seems to shrug off the effects of continued damp weather.

Ideally I'd like to be able o keep it in a wooden garage but that luxury is saved for my older Lotus vehicles.

I'd be inclined very much to check how leak proof any prospective car is - When I bought mine it lived outside at the previous owners place and it was bone dry everywhere so I felt reasonably confident it was a 'good one'.

Great cars - love mine to the moon and back. Find a good one, maintain it well and drive it when you can - enjoy!

PS - My car is an early N/A car

[EGTE]

Blower-fan rheostats are known to suffer from water ingress.

Sail panels will be more likely to crack than if under cover, but not sure that means it's likely.

My starter motor failed to work recently; it was water ingress getting into the terminal, but I have the slotted tailgate so may not apply to you.

 

 

[jep]

I had an Evora for 5 years and it lived outside. No specific issues, no water ingress issues. 2010 car. 

It was used regularly, daily a lot of the time. 30,000 miles in that time.

I suspect ancillaries wore out sooner (rad, starter) but I cannot say they wouldn't have failed on age/usage in any event.  

Life is too short to worry about such stuff. Get your Evora and enjoy it. They are very special motor cars.

Justin 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Wouldn’t it be possible to park it in the garage with the garage door open, like a three sided car port? It would be 99% covered.

[Cdm2018]

My 2010 NA prob a Friday car has water issues notably boot now sorted but it was like a fish tank 

my car sat outside for last 6 years tried a cover but was sometimes flapping in high winds causing more issues? Now I leave it uncovered and was told by lotus/TVR body garage it best left uncovered unless you can use a carport? 
my issues at moment is tree sap from council trees , hard to shift unless you wash down, attracts wasps galore , soon will be covered in leaves ! 

[Bibs]

Can you not park it somewhere else?

[Cdm2018]

Unfortunately no so many cars on the estate all the kids now own their cars so it’s congested already just trying to park onto my own drive 🫤

council also refuses to trim back the trees as I guess it planted to absorb the emissions ? 

[jep]

I had water ingress to the boot....after B&C had the rear off for gearbox rebuild. Their error and easy fix...sorry, I don't know what mistakes they made but no Evora should leak to the boot if  everything is put together as designed.

Justin 

[TdM]

Mine has lived outside for most of it's life I believe, 2013 NA. It's absolutely fine. I do believe as above the starter motor is more prone to failure outside and the radiators will wear out sooner, but it's relatively small fry.

I've just moved and working on the garage so mine will eventually be tucked away, but after 11 years, the car has shrugged it all off and is in great condition. I wouldn't worry about it.

[Phaeton91]

On 30/08/2024 at 21:00, jep said:

I had an Evora for 5 years and it lived outside. No specific issues, no water ingress issues. 2010 car. 

It was used regularly, daily a lot of the time. 30,000 miles in that time.

I suspect ancillaries wore out sooner (rad, starter) but I cannot say they wouldn't have failed on age/usage in any event.  

Life is too short to worry about such stuff. Get your Evora and enjoy it. They are very special motor cars.

Justin 

I second this.  Mine lives outside. It doesn’t suffer problems with water ingress or reliability.  I give it a good coat of wax and keep it covered when not expecting to use it for a week or more.  No issues with paint blistering.

As Justin said, get your Evora and enjoy it.

[jep]

The only precaution I took was a sunscreen for the windscreen.  The sun will eventually damage the dash leather and may be the cause of airbag 'pop'. 

I had a bespoke one but they are hard to find (USA only?) and I used it all the time when car parked for more than, say, 30 mins. A towel may be good enough or a generic sunshade, cut to size. 

100% essential for Evora in my opinion to avoid dash top damage long-term. 

Justin 

[Cdm2018]

My dash unfortunately had suffered dash issues before my ownership however since I have covered the inside with a sunshade and it’s kept from going worse but I will need to have dash recovered at some stage

i guess all the above comments are useful reminders or aids to consider if you want to garage or leave out but if I had choice and facilities I get a nice car port ? 

[C8RKH]

I'm sure @tim_marra will have some photo's, but if you're leaving it outside I saw his GRP Windscreen shade when we were both at the IoM this year. It's both substantial, and fully tailored for the Evora. That would stop any issues with sun damage the dash, airbag covers etc and also stop the sun bleaching the interior.

[tim_marra]

Here's a link to the Evora screen shade, its a great fit and protects all of the leather dash. The price looks to have gone up since I got mine 2 years ago...

CoverCraft UVS100 Windshield Sunscreen for Evora/Evora S/400/410/Emira – GregsRaceParts.com

I can of course take some pics of mine and post here if you wish?

Edited September 1 by tim_marra
More detail added

[jep]

This is the one I had. Utterly brilliant and a must-have. 

I bought mine from a UK owner who sold it separately to his Evora. 

Covercraft I assume don't sell it direct but via GRP.

 

[Nelly]

I had my Evora outside under a car port with an external car cover for over 5 years, absolutely no issues on the car at all as s result.  I think the car port was key though.

[Cdm2018]

Not wanting to veer off topic wasn’t there a cover called Shower Cap which basically cover the windscreen and back window having straps that clipped to body or wheels ? 

[phil flash]

On 31/08/2024 at 11:28, Bibs said:

Can you not park it somewhere else?

What! No attempt to sell him one of your excellent Evora Covers Bibs? OK, I'll recommend it then.  Snow is the worst thing for an Evora parked outside and left uncovered..  it fills all the many vents! Not so under one of Bibs' covers..

 

[Phaeton91]

On 01/09/2024 at 06:23, jep said:

The only precaution I took was a sunscreen for the windscreen.  The sun will eventually damage the dash leather and may be the cause of airbag 'pop'. 

I had a bespoke one but they are hard to find (USA only?) and I used it all the time when car parked for more than, say, 30 mins. A towel may be good enough or a generic sunshade, cut to size. 

100% essential for Evora in my opinion to avoid dash top damage long-term. 

Justin 

I forgot to mention that.  I bought a cheap collapsible one from Amazon for £18 I think.  It’s the type with two wire circles that you expand out and it doesn’t interfere with dashcam.  Easy to then fold up and slip under the passenger seat,  Called Econour.  I use it religiously.  

[hyperviper]

Just a thought on your slightly too short garage..

If it was mine, i'd consider adding a "porch" to the front of it just to extend it about a foot / 18 inches.

Just get some timber and a bit of cladding for the sides - some felt for the top and relocate the door?

Might be worth considering (sorry for the late post!)

[Hedspan]

Unfortunately its a grade 2 listed building so no such luck. But thank you.

 

[EGTE]

If you make it a "temporary structure", the Listing won't stop it. If they don't like it, you take it down.

[madmax]

Then just attach some very short 'logs' to the doors so it just looks like a log store...................😃

Kind of Thunderbirds'ish

[madmax]

Like this: Just replace the beer fridge with your car 😎