I’m back...

[jack.pe]

Some of you may know me already from the Esprit section on here..More or less 16 months ago I jumped in and bought my boyhood dream.. a Lotus Esprit Turbo S3! This was part of my YouTube series ‘12 cars I always wanted to own’. Trying to get through them in 2 years. I ended up keeping the Esprit for 12 months. Way longer than the 3 I planned. Would have kept it but I could not. Loved it though and became a bit hooked on Lotus. So now I’m up to car number 9 and again looking at a Lotus. An Evora to be precise. Drove one yesterday and adored it! Am considering an red 2011S from Bell and Colvill (Jamie there who I dealt with is a great guy) and a white one advertised privately. Do you guys know of any others on the market that maybe aren’t advertised? My top budget is £35k..

Here is the link to the original Esprit thread..

 

[silverfrost]

Awesome news Jack,  And glad to see you looking to get back in the fold,  Watched your series with blue turbo and really pleased you enjoyed the Esprit experiance and gave a very good image of the Esprit and going against the usual grain of the usual lots of trouble .......  you know the rest lol. 

Good luck on finding an Evora and hope you get one soon,  looking forward to the youtube video when you finally find one. 

[Cdm2018]

Hello Jack

i am due to get my first lotus today an Evora 10 plate NA 

I saw the B&C red car before Xmas but there wasn’t and pics posted on their website but in the end I couldn’t stretch my budget shame but that’s life!

the white one have no knowledge however being a first lotus I stuck to assurance of a lotus dealership omitting two non franchised cars.

good luck on your search 

[Bravo73]

5 hours ago, jack.pe said:

Do you guys know of any others on the market that maybe aren’t advertised? My top budget is £35k..

Welcome to Evoraland. 

 

This thread is worth keeping an eye on:

Otherwise, posting a thread in the Evora Wanted section might also bear fruit:

https://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/forum/211-wanted/

[Trevsked]

Good luck with the search Jack, I'm sure you'll love the Evora whenever you get it. Only advice I'd give is to make it your 12th and you won't have to move it on then :-)

 

Trevor.

[pete]

hi jack it`s Peter who gave you your first drive in an esprit,good to see you back. I no longer have the esprit but still have a lotus, an exige now. We have breakfast meet this sunday why not come along and have a chat to some evora owners and others.

[jack.pe]

Chaps, thank you all very much! Particularly Trevor and Peter.. both there when the Lotus thing started for me! Always really likes the guys on this forum too so it’s good to be back!

Quick question you may be able to help with. One of the cars im looking at has airbag cover lift (the window side is flat but opposite side has lifted about hld

and inch) so there is now a visible step. I’ve been told it’s a very expensive fix, requiring the whole dashtop being replaced. I’ve seen some guides from guys in the US fixing theirs but that seemed to be broken plastic clips. Jamie at B&C who are selling this one seemed to think it was due to shrinking leather and that the only cure is a whole new dash top. Any input on this at all? I could easily do the work myself but parts alone would apparlely run into the high hundreds..

 

[Bravo73]

My understanding of the ‘passenger airbag cover’ issue is that the parts are cheap (a few clips) but the labour can be quite expensive (the dash needs to be removed). 

If you paid a specialist to do it, it would cost you in the region of £300. However, if you’re reasonably handy and don’t mind spending the time, removing the dash isn’t too tricky, just a bit time consuming (apparently). 

FWIW, my airbag cover has lifted but it doesn’t bother me enough to feel that I need to sort it out. 

[pete]

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/lotus/evora/lotus-evora-122-v6-s-4------------------2011/8336184

[jack.pe]

4 hours ago, pete said:

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/lotus/evora/lotus-evora-122-v6-s-4------------------2011/8336184

Good spot Pete.. I got quite excited as it has a 380 sticker on the back!! But I can have the red B&C car for £34k and that has half the mileage.. or a white car with even less miles privately for £32k... but thanks for keeping a look out for me!

6 hours ago, Bravo73 said:

My understanding of the ‘passenger airbag cover’ issue is that the parts are cheap (a few clips) but the labour can be quite expensive (the dash needs to be removed). 

If you paid a specialist to do it, it would cost you in the region of £300. However, if you’re reasonably handy and don’t mind spending the time, removing the dash isn’t too tricky, just a bit time consuming (apparently). 

FWIW, my airbag cover has lifted but it doesn’t bother me enough to feel that I need to sort it out. 

That’s what my research indicates as well but B&C should know and seem to think it’s not fixable without a whole new dash top as the leather has shrunk and pulls the front of the cover back.. I’ll talk to them again tomorrow and find out more 

[Bravo73]

5 hours ago, jack.pe said:

 it has a 380 sticker on the back!!

Hmmm, there is no mention of any power mods in the reasonably comprehensive description so is this a case of a ‘go faster’ sticker?

 

5 hours ago, jack.pe said:

That’s what my research indicates as well but B&C should know and seem to think it’s not fixable without a whole new dash top as the leather has shrunk and pulls the front of the cover back..

That might well be a specific issue with that particular car. If B&C aren’t willing to sort the problem out pre-sale, I’d walk away. 

[jack.pe]

47 minutes ago, Bravo73 said:

Hmmm, there is no mention of any power mods in the reasonably comprehensive description so is this a case of a ‘go faster’ sticker?

 

That might well be a specific issue with that particular car. If B&C aren’t willing to sort the problem out pre-sale, I’d walk away. 

yes..just a sticker!

B&C have already offered a decent discount over sticker price of £36K, trade cost to them to get this fixed is apparently close to £1K, the dash top alone is about £600. So they won't just swallow that on top of the discount already offered. The question is whether it is possible to get this fixed cheaper with just the clips, I could take the dash out myself. Some have been fixed that way for sure, question is whether this one can be too. I'm working to find out.

Thing is price wise and spec wise this is pretty much a good deal for me seeing what else is around, the white car is I think a really good buy but I prefer the red colour wise and spec wise too.. so am trying to decide between the two. Jamie is due to call me today so I'll talk about it further with him. I would have liked a 2012 but they seem to start out at £38-40K from what I've seen and that is generally cars with 40-60k miles on them...

[jack.pe]

not a Lotus dealer but seriously considering this too.. the only downside is wheels are not as nice as on the red car.. and it's not at a lotus dealer but with full yearly Lotus dealer history and I could get a PPi done by Lotus Edinburgh..

Less miles than red car but no rear seats and crapper wheels.. and no dash lift issue. I prefer the red cooer but blue is not bad.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201801082544451?make=LOTUS&sort=year-desc&model=EVORA&advertising-location=at_cars&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&radius=1500&postcode=sw156ep&page=3

Edited February 8, 2018 by jack.pe

[Del Lardo]

Unless you plan to put small children or a dog in the back then 2+0 is fine as they are useless for adults unless you are talking about a 5 minute lift back from the pub after 5 pints.  2+2 was a selling point to SWMBO for me as it meant our dog/niece/nephew could go in the back but otherwise I just use them for luggage. 

[jack.pe]

52 minutes ago, Del Lardo said:

Unless you plan to put small children or a dog in the back then 2+0 is fine as they are useless for adults unless you are talking about a 5 minute lift back from the pub after 5 pints.  2+2 was a selling point to SWMBO for me as it meant our dog/niece/nephew could go in the back but otherwise I just use them for luggage. 

Yes totally not bothered personally, was just thinking it would be better to have for resale

[pete]

Personally Jack I would pay b and c 35000 for the car and let them do the repair

[Del Lardo]

43 minutes ago, jack.pe said:

Yes totally not bothered personally, was just thinking it would be better to have for resale

I'm not sure if that is really the case, you get a 2+0 cheaper than a 2+2 now and sell it for cheaper than a 2+2 in the future.

The B&C one does look very nice though, mine has the same airbag lift, I was intent on getting it fixed when I bought the car but I quickly stopped caring.

[Bravo73]

2 hours ago, jack.pe said:

not a Lotus dealer but seriously considering this too.. the only downside is wheels are not as nice as on the red car.. and it's not at a lotus dealer but with full yearly Lotus dealer history and I could get a PPi done by Lotus Edinburgh..

Less miles than red car but no rear seats and crapper wheels.. and no dash lift issue. I prefer the red cooer but blue is not bad.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201801082544451?make=LOTUS&sort=year-desc&model=EVORA&advertising-location=at_cars&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&radius=1500&postcode=sw156ep&page=3

That car used to belong to @The Lotus Position. He mentions it in the ‘Evora market watch thread’ (which, incidentally, is really worth reading for someone in your position). 

[jack.pe]

37 minutes ago, Bravo73 said:

That car used to belong to @The Lotus Position. He mentions it in the ‘Evora market watch thread’ (which, incidentally, is really worth reading for someone in your position). 

Thanks.. had a read. Useful thread..

[andyj007]

no rear seats is better for luggage and dogs that with  the rear seats...   the space with the divider is brilliant...  unless you got small kids, they sound better than they actually are  reality.. not a lot of space back there...  im 6ft 1 and no one can sit behind me without the drivers position being undriveable..being so close to steering wheel its undriveable...     with an auto it would be do able though as you dont need the clutch /steering wheel clearance

 

that blue one, the road tax os £520 my god are  the S versions that price to tax? robbin godfathers

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 8, 2018 by andyj007

[The Lotus Position]

2 hours ago, Bravo73 said:

That car used to belong to @The Lotus Position. He mentions it in the ‘Evora market watch thread’ (which, incidentally, is really worth reading for someone in your position). 

Yes, that's my old car.  Lovely car with all the packs and the highly desirable Stealth Grey 18/19 alloys 

Fire me a PM if you want to know anything else about it

[jack.pe]

Had a good chat with @The Lotus Position. Car sounds good. CMG are going to go and take a quick initial look today and if all seems ok will get them to the PPi and the service. Craig's got such a good rep that I think it's better than going through Murrays. So far the guys at GTi world have been great and very accommodating. Lets hope it all works out.

Jamie at B&C was fantastic but at the end of the day the blue car is just a better car for me, as long as it all checks out. watch this space..

[jack.pe]

Paul from CMC cars popped down to take a look yesterday. Confirmed car seems good. Next step is CMC will PPi and service the car, rectify any niggles.. and then if all goes well am going to go and pick it up. Possibly a road trip with @JayEmm if we can work out the logistics.

[johnpwalsh]

Good luck with the hunt. Where did you get the pic in your original post. Thats my old S3 N/A.

 

[jack.pe]

16 minutes ago, johnpwalsh said:

Good luck with the hunt. Where did you get the pic in your original post. Thats my old S3 N/A.

 

Was weird that, all I’d did was put in a link to my original Esprit post and it came up like that. So don’t know why it is showing it. Possibly your car was mentioned in that thread.. gutted to have missed it when you were selling.