Seriously considering an Esprit

[crash plague]

Hi there, I've been lurking on the board for a while now, but I'm ready to do some posting.

I'm a college student and I've been saving up for a new car for a while now, I'm at about 14k. I've been considering an v8 esprit in the future.

However, I'm leaning the sprit against a C5 corvette. An early year C5 would run me around $16,000 with 50k miles if I find a good deal. What can I expect regarding used esprit prices?

Also, how reliable is the esprit? Do any of you make use of them as DD's? And are there any interior upgrades, or members with modded interiors that look nice?

Thanks

[Bibs]

Hi and welcome.

What are you planning on spending on maintenance per annum?

[crash plague]

I'm not quite sure, I can set aside what is nessesary. How much would I be looking to pay?

[SE Owner :-D]

Daily drive of a 14k Esprit (prob SE, S4 although I know you could get a V8...) probably no more than 2k for a c-service and parts - although you may want tyres, upgrades, etc...

Edited June 28, 2009 by SE Owner :-D

[andydclements]

Keep in mind if you plan to use an Esprit as a daily drive (I do) you need a back-up car or need to not need the car each & every day. Servicing etc can be planned in and arrange a courtesy car (depending on who you use), but for break-downs, the garage time may not be instantly available (or not with some garage that's really up to the job) and parts may not be on the shelf, they may even have to be shipped in from the UK if they are an item which doesn't normally fail.

I'm not trying to put the idea down (as I stated, I use mine as a daily drive), but you would become very dis-heartened with a great car if you expected it to run faultlessly for 15,000 miles without having to have some attention.

Andy

[freshcut]

Certainly expect some high bills even for maintenance. Just recently had a timing belt replacement done to the tune of $2300, however a portion of that was covered under LotusUSA emissions warranty, so my portion was about $800. It did however leave me without the car for just over 2 weeks while waiting on parts. I was also quoted a $5800+tax bill for a clutch, which I've determined is not necessary at this time. General maintenance can be done yourself if you have a decent assortment of tools. The "A" service being the most simple can be done with about $150 in parts and materials.

Just keep in mind that although these are cars, and are meant to be driven, they aren't going to be as forgiving with lack of maintenance, or as cheap to maintain/repair as a Honda. Some have put the repair costs near those of BMW (out of warranty of course), however, in my experience I would have to disagree. They are however in some cases much easier to work on.

[rogerch]

Hi, I note you life in the US so I can't help with price or running cost. However if you have a reasonable set of spanners and a manual, an Esprit is not a daunting car.

I live in Australia, I can have parts on my doorstep from the UK in under a week (plug for SJ Sports Cars) and they're not that expensive. There's plenty of advice on known weaknesses on this site and LEW. If you don't abuse it will run reliably, they are a fabulous car, but you need to be realistic, good luck, the good think about Lotus's is it's usuallu easy to check the history.

Roger

[lotusvette]

hi, i have 63 vette, and 84 turbo, and plenty of mates here in uk with c5s new and older cars, but i think a c5 would be a easier car to live with for a daily driver, they are very quick and probably easier on the pocket, with parts and spares a go-go,steve

[TrapperJohn]

From a USA perspective...

Right now, the V8 Esprits don't go for much under $30k. If they do, there's something wrong with them, and that gets expensive.

In your price range, you can get an early 90's SE, they seem to be going in the $18k-20k range. S4/S4S seem to be in the low to mid 20's. Don't let the 4 cyl put you off, it's still a rocket ship, and easier to maintain. The V8 doesn't actually get you that much more power, what you really get is better midrange torque, not as peaky as the 4. Still, a well tuned SE can be downright scary at high RPM's, not many cars will punch you back in the seat going 100 mph.

Owning an Esprit... if you can't do any work yourself, I'd suggest you stay away. Esprits are not necessarily unreliable, but when they do have an issue, it can be difficult and expensive to find someone to remedy the problem. They are not a simple vehicle to work on, due to the tight fit, but it can be done. I recently completed a cam belt change. Cost was $400 for belt and hose set, most of that was the water hose set, cam belt was $50. And a lot of banged knuckles and muttering of colorful metaphors. But, once you've learned the sequence of events, it's not that hard - I could probably do it in a weekend with what I learned. I believe that if this had been a V8 Esprit, cam belt replacement would have been a bit more involved.

Little things can go wrong, and it really helps to be able to diagnose a simple problem. I lost some power on the way home last week. Noticed that it was showing no boost at all. Looked under the back, and the wastegate actuator arm had fallen off - the retaining pin had broken. (wastegate is designed to remain open if the actuator fails - wise design, as it prevents overboost and exploding engines) Hot metal part, to be expected. 0.50 worth of washer and cotter pin, and it's back to full power. However, this must be tempered with the knowledge of how often this sort of thing happens. I bought my SE in 2000, and it hasn't had a lot of trouble. Cam belt change, the chargecooler pump impeller came apart (known to happen, not hard to fix, an electric pump fixes it permanently), new tires, new hoses, lost one headlamp motor. Otherwise, it's been quite reliable.

Not really a good every day vehicle. Draws way too much attention, not a good car in heavy traffic due to rearward visibility and people zooming in close to get a look, and you get paranoid where you park it. Get a beater Corolla, and keep the rocket ship for when you really want to have fun. If you're concerned about image, drive the Esprit to work once a month. That's your way of showing that you don't need a flashy car to drive every day - you have an Esprit at home. A lot of people think my 1990 Esprit, 19 years old, is new.

Good news is most of the wearable parts on a SE are off the shelf GM or Toyota, so you can save a lot of money and time if you have a cross index list. Example: Right side headlamp motor is out on my SE. It's a Pontiac unit, same one that's used on a Fiero or Firebird headlamp. Fuel pump is from a Camaro. Taillights are from a late 80's Corolla. If one cracks, you can pick up a replacement at a junkyard for next to nothing. Try that with a Porsche, you'll be paying out the wazoo.

Compared to a Corvette? I have a 1970 LT1 Corvette, finest of the C3 smallblocks with 370bhp (more like 410). They are different vehicles. The Corvette doesn't have the Esprit's grace at higher speeds and in hard turns. Not as responsive, not as sensitive, and it's not as dramatic a driving experience. The Corvette, in it's own right, is fun, with it's rumbling exhaust and explosive power, but the Esprit is definitely more to my liking, holds the road better and is a much more unique vehicle. Also gets better mileage. Yes, I love the Esprit. It's a feisty little bandit. Plus, it's fun to stop next to a Corvette, and you're sitting quite a bit lower than they are.

One other suggestion - earlier USA Elises are going in the mid to high 20k range. They're not as cozy as an Esprit, not finished as nice on the inside, more a low speed bandit than a high speed road burner, but with the Toyota drivetrain, easier to get parts for.

Edited June 29, 2009 by TrapperJohn

[brucet]

Just to tack on to Trapper's comments, which I think are excellent: you should also consider where you live. If you're here in Southern California, you'd have an excellent mechanic right in Orange County (Harry Appleby). But if you're out in the boondocks, most mechanics will have no idea how to work on one of these cars, or where to get parts. In that case, the Corvette might be a better choice; its lack of exclusivity will work for you when it comes time to maintain or fix it.

If you ARE here in SoCal, there are a bunch of guys who can give you advice or assistance in your decision to buy or not.

Good luck in either case.

Bruce T

[jfitz981]

Hey John,

We have all been in your shoes. The best advice I got was to save as much as possible and buy the newest and best car you can afford. I am not sure what 14K would get you here, the good 4cyl cars are selling for a premium. I always budget $2K for maintenance each year. Overall reliability is great but depending on where you live it would probably not be a great choice for a daily driver...not that it cannot be done. Take a look at www.lotusespritworld.com for the list of models and do a little research and see what model you could get for 14K and then determine of that is the car you want. Good luck in your search.

Jason

[Paul C]

Owning an Esprit... if you can't do any work yourself, I'd suggest you stay away.

Not doing the work yourself has a massive impact on running cost. The 2k a year

mentioned is about right on average (eg one year 3k next year 1k etc) in my own

ten year esprit ownership.

I had over