My new S4s has let me down!

[Vanya]

It sucks, but if its any comfort I've probably spent as much on my Turbo SE - and I've still got a suspension rebuild and respray to get out of the way. It's no joke that there's no such thing as a cheap Esprit.

On the other hand, sometimes buying even a top-end car can yield unwelcome surprises. If you're not a wizard at DIY like some on here, that's a lot expenses right there, and even if you are, parts aren't free. I know a guy who bought a pretty nice Turbo SE for probably 16-17,000 GBP not too long ago. It turned out to have leaking petrol tanks (rusted through as usual), and now the sump has revealed the car was mixing oil and water prior to engine removal with the cause and consequence yet to be assessed.  

The owner quoted a figure (thus far) that isn't quite up where you're at Stimpy, but not all too far off either considering the initial cost of the car. And that's a Turbo SE (cheaper and more available than the S4s).

 

Does the S4s make you happy? If yes, enjoy. 

Does it give you a heart problem and anxiety when you need to work on it? If so, sell it and don't regret it.

 

Oh and another Silver lining: 

The more you learn about the 910 engine and the Esprit, the less hassle it will be should you ever dump this example and find yourself a sorted car (after all, you'll REALLY know what to look for in the future, right?)

[davevr6car]

only £9k, I'd be happy with that. I bought my S4s in 2006, put about 2,000 miles on it and its been off the road since 2012 for an engine rebuild, I've sunk at £22k into it and its still not on the road. I do all my own work. LOTUS should mean lots of thousands usually several.

[Andy Esprit SE]

If its any consolation i got fed up with a leaking garage roof, it lead to demolishing it, parcial rebuild and knock down again ( #@%%*^ building control bloke) and whilst rebuilding ive destroyed the driveway and part of the back garden, im 8 grand in and not looked at my car for 9 months, im hoping when i fire him back up i dont get any bother for a while st least. Its the love of a car thats caused it all (and the mrs is still waiting for us to get married)

[Barrykearley]

Will you guys give it a rest...........

I'm blissfully in love with mine - only slighty pizzed the one light pod stays up occassionally..........

Please don't spoil my ignorance - it's truly blissful

[lrg_machine]

I bought my S4s in 2006, put about 2,000 miles on it and its been off the road since 2012 for an engine rebuild, I've sunk at £22k into it and its still not on the road. I do all my own work. 

 

really? 3 years off the road, you've had 2000 miles out of it and 22 grand? 20 grand plus another 2 grand? sorry! something seriously wrong here.. push it down the road and set fire to it................

 

Mines not the tidiest S4s, the wheels need re-doing, and it needs a re-spray, which will be done at some point, but I drive it most days.

Edited May 7, 2015 by lrg_machine

[OwenGT3]

 

I fell in love with my new toy but now I've fallen out with it - and I'm NOT happy.  :-(

 

Do these symptoms mean anything to anyone?

 

In hope.....

Steve

 

This symptom is common, I have had it frequently and always involves a threat to the car that I will sell, but it always ends happy once the problem is fixed. I can't see me ever carrying it through, it's an empty threat! ;-)

Edited May 7, 2015 by OwenGT3

[Stimpy]

1  It sucks, but if its any comfort I've probably spent as much on my Turbo SE - and I've still got a suspension rebuild and respray to get out of the way. It's no joke that there's no such thing as a cheap Esprit.

 

2 Does the S4s make you happy? If yes, enjoy. 

 

3 Oh and another Silver lining: 

The more you learn about the 910 engine and the Esprit, the less hassle it will be should you ever dump this example and find yourself a sorted car (after all, you'll REALLY know what to look for in the future, right?)

 

1) You reminded me - I need a new 'bumper protector (you know, that bit underneath the front of the cat)

2) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

(I think thats 'yes')

3) I do a lot of DIY on the rest of my 'fleet' but with the Esprit?  I get  bit scared!  Also replacing the major gearbox removal stuff is beyond me.

The first 'new' clutch was absolute crap (PM for more) and now I have an S4 clutch which is like silk

only £9k, I'd be happy with that. I bought my S4s in 2006, put about 2,000 miles on it and its been off the road since 2012 for an engine rebuild, I've sunk at £22k into it and its still not on the road. I do all my own work. LOTUS should mean lots of thousands usually several.

 

Wow! You've just become my second 'silver lining' - that figure is VERY scary !  I count myself as luckier than I thought

If its any consolation i got fed up with a leaking garage roof, it lead to demolishing it, parcial rebuild and knock down again ( #@%%*^ building control bloke) and whilst rebuilding ive destroyed the driveway and part of the back garden, im 8 grand in and not looked at my car for 9 months, im hoping when i fire him back up i dont get any bother for a while st least. Its the love of a car thats caused it all (and the mrs is still waiting for us to get married)

 

....and there's another silver lining 

[Stimpy]

This symptom is common, I have had it frequently and always involves a threat to the car that I will sell, but it always ends happy once the problem is fixed. I can't see me ever carrying it through, it's an empty threat! ;-)

 

You touched on something there.

I find the esprit is like a girlfriend/wife (or girlfriend and wife).  You hate the damn thing when there is a major disagreement - but when the whole thing is resolved you go back to married bliss - I mean addictively  fun to ride.  Erm.....Ok - better stop digging

[Chillidoggy]

I've yet to add up what I've spent, but I suspect it will be somewhere in the same range, Steve. In my view it's what happens when owners simply get in, turn the key, and drive, without doing regular maintenance, checking the condition of the components, and replacing what needs replacing. Eventually the full horror story of the previous neglect reveals itself, leaving the latest owner with a complete shed. Lack of available funds and poor access to pretty much everything on the car are the main reasons, I suspect. And the reason why Esprit's are so cheap, with a poor reputation for reliability. I speak from bitter (and expensive) experience.

I'll stick my neck out and say that I reckon a budget of a couple of grand a year should be sufficient to keep my Esprit in good order, any less and I'll be heading for unreliability.

[Mike6]

My old banger has let me down again and an auto electrician spent 8 hours at my house trying to diagnose it without success. The most likely scenario is failure of a new part under load which you dont initially suspect. It means I am going to miss taking the car to the national meet tomorrow at Brooklands which feels worse than throwing £20k at it!!.

[Whirlybird]

I'm feeling really lucky at the moment reading the above. I bought mine from Paul Mattey and have only had two problems, one was a leaking radiator fixed under warranty without issue and one which turned out to be a faulty relay.

I service it each year.

I do know it had been well looked after in the past.

[Barrykearley]

Ian.

I think you are bang on with that assessment of yearly running / maintenance budget.

Once you get it up to a decent standard - it tapers down a bit - but not by much......

Gotta be safer than a drug habit.......

A porker of the same age - that's about the same on running costs - all the parts are much more.....

[ChrisJ]

Barry & Ian.

 

In my experience, the costs haven't changed much over the years, as my maintenance budget in the 1980s & 90s for my Esprit was £2k a year, same as now. It was slightly less for my Excel in the 90s, and I'm expecting similar for my new one once I have got it up to the correct level.

 

Chris

[Chillidoggy]

Indeed Chris.

I also think it's important to note that when my S4s was new in 1995, it cost £52,000. That means it has £52,000 service and maintenance bills.

[ChrisJ]

Mine was basically off the road while I was abroad (1994-2005) and then I had other priorities, house, family, job etc, when I returned to the UK, and only put it back on the road in 2012 - so I saved myself £2000 x 18 for that period. Cost me £8-9k to put back on the road, so financially cheaper than if I had kept running the car all the way through 

 

But I am so glad I made the decision to recommission my Esprit, and have enjoyed (almost) every minute of the last 2 1/2 years of it being back on the road.

[Stimpy]

ChrisJ - your bang-on-the-money (no pun intended).  I had an s4s in 1999/2000 but had to sell.

 

roll forward to 2014 I have 1 again.  there is no car in between (including a caterham and an XKR) that has the same effect on me as the esprit. Apart from being a wolf in wolves' clothing, it is a stunning car that is amazing to look at.  I'm sure I'm not the first person who has been approached in - for example - a petrol station to get some info on the car.

 

Today - on picking up my son - I passed an Elan (the first sort) and got the obligatory wave !

 

Even the lollypop lady loves it!

You can apply the above on the Stag.

 

They've both been washed and waxed and look superb.  I have too much time on my hands recently   :-(

[Stimpy]

Hello all,

It's been a while (again) but I'm after some advice

Can someone recommend someone/ a garage  in the south east to fix my Esprit so I can start enjoying it again, please?

It's with Steve Williams (Maidenhead) for the moment but for various reasons he won't be able to commit to it for the foreseeable.  It's not his fault.

It's got various issues the main one being coolant getting into the engine.  The clutch slips too and the CEL is an issue but the former is the real problem.

It looks like a head gasket or cracked liner.

Preferably it would be good to have someone near the bucks/berks/west london area but with a trailer I guess that matters less.

Any advice would be EXTREMELY valuable.

And the moral of the whole story is - never buy a Lotus from a certain dealer in  Southampton!

 

 

[TAR]

calling @Sparky who may be able to help? 

🙂

[Sparky]

With the greatest of respect, Stimpy, you and I have discussed this to death.  You need to commit once and for all to fixing it or selling it as a non-runner.  Either way you'll be down a princely sum.

[Barrykearley]

Either way - that sounds like it’s gonna be an absolute money pit.

Engine will almost certainly need to come out - any garage Labour is probably gonna end up being in the £3-5k region and that’s without parts.

[Bibs]

1 hour ago, Stimpy said:

And the moral of the whole story is - never buy a Lotus from a certain dealer in  Southampton!

It's just a car. Use money to fix it or sell it and save your (and our) sanity. 

PS There's meant to be coolant in the engine, it overheats otherwise.

[Gibbie]

Hi Stimpy

sorry to hear of your troubles.

Have you considered Geoff at Esprit engineering in Downton?

Very knowledgable and Straight guy.

just a thought.

kind Regards

Paul G

[Chillidoggy]

I was very interested in buying this S4s when it was at Snow's, but got beaten to the draw, thereby inadvertently dodging a bullet.

Stimpy, I owe you a pint.

[Stimpy]

Thanks to the positive responses who can actually read - LOL

Just to repeat what I said "Can someone recommend someone/ a garage  in the south east to fix my Esprit so I can start enjoying it again, please?".  It's quite funny here - I'm a member of several car forums (eg mini, stag) and only this one is hostile to people asking quite a simple question just asking for advice which gets totally misread 🙂.  I get it! I'm not as clever technically! LOL 

Thanks - Gibbie - thats very handy I'll check it out

Chillidog - you owe me an entire pub 😄    Seriously though - I won't shock you with the things they did.  And they're a dealer. Just wow.

 

Edited July 4, 2020 by Stimpy

[Sparky]

I take offence to that.  You have done nothing but prevaricate for years. You have asked this same question time and time again and done nothing about it.  Why has the car been at Steve's for so long without a fix?