LOTUS Turbo

[NotbadSTi]

Question,

I always love Lotus, since they have good name as Porsche and even Ferrari and Lamboghini, and somehow, their used cars prices are much lower .. and from what I read, they are very fast, those 4 cyclinder Turbo Lotus Esprit can do 0-60mph in 4.7 second !

Anyway, any member know about them ? I did some research, 94 and up are good buy, however, are they realiable ? and which shop will fix them ? are they very expensive to keep ? hard to get parts ?

this is what I found:

http://www.zrauto.ca/modules/mod_car...arDetailID=190

$50K sound like a good deal ! and it looks awesome ! I don't think any car look better for $50k ! and compare to Ferrari, a 1979 for $50K too !

Thank you.

[NotbadSTi]

no one can help me ..

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by NotbadSTi
Anyway, any member know about them ? I did some research, 94 and up are good buy, however, are they realiable ? and which shop will fix them ? are they very expensive to keep ? hard to get parts ?

No question, this is a gorgeous rare car! I don't recall any beyond member owning one of these so you might have to post your questions on a Lotus forum.

I suspect the Esprit is expensive to upkeep, whether you drive it a lot or a little. There are some shops in Calgary that work on Lotuses; not sure about Red Deer.

I've heard the seating position is best suited for people with long legs and a short torso. So you really should go to ZR for a test drive to see if it fits you!

[Weapon_R]

I too have been a longtime fan of the Lotus Esprit - absolutely beautiful cars.

Although not in the 50k league anytime soon, I did do a little research on this exact car (the one at ZR). It's a fantastic vehicle with a lot of speed and incredible handling, but it does have several serious drawbacks.

Reliability is pretty poor with these vehicles. Even though this car has low low kms, Lotus has always been plagued with poor reliability for the Esprit (until recently).

The maintanence on this car is especially difficult, because it is expensive and hard to find a place around Calgary competant enough to trust with a car of this caliber.

[MR.TWO]

Hey i know of a great mechanic that knows alot about exotics its called alesandro motors its on edmoton trail look it up. their was an f-40 in there 2 month ago i wish i could aford

[NotbadSTi]

Thx Guys !

Any one know any Canada/US Lotus Forum site?

At least, if I go ahead for the car, I know where and how to get "reasonable" price parts.


I was looking for Boxster or Z3 3.0, however, a 7 yr old boxster with low kms and good cond, still $40K + same as late model Z3 ... and they are nice and sexy, but damn slow.

That is why this Lotus caught my eyes ! and even it parks next to all nice Ferrari ! it is still not bad !

[rogue]

i am sure there is a speciatly mechanice as i went to a british car entusiasts show a couple years back and there were like 10 of these bad boys s4s and s8s. I cuz had one on his lot back in the day and yea reliablility isnt there but it is FAST and one of the more attainable exotics for sure but then again WHAT exotic is that reliable? Porche but the only porche you really see out there is a boxter and BLAHHHH, I think the Lotus Esprit turbo would be a great investment and is one of the nicer looking performers. take the good with the bad man you would still love teh car just dont use it as you primary mode of transportation.

[NotbadSTi]

Thx again ! however, if I take the lotus, it will replace the STi .. so, it will be my daily driving car, I don't want the car sitting in shop half the time ! and most likely, will get a cheap used car for winter....

[CokerRat]

Originally posted by NotbadSTi
Thx again ! however, if I take the lotus, it will replace the STi .. so, it will be my daily driving car

It's already been said that Esprits are considered at the bottom end of the reliability scale, and repairs will be extremely expensive. Check out some Lotus owers' sites and maybe do some reserach by contacting shops that can service Esprits and ask for some quotes on common maintenance and failures. At least you won't be blindsided when the time comes. Also, it says on your msg you're living in Red Deer... so factor in transport of the car to another city for service and transportation for yourself back home, then back to pick it up. OTOH maybe you're a decent shadetree mechanic and could get your hands on a shop manual.

If you can handle big repair bills, inconvenience in getting the work done, and have backup transportation when the car breaks, then it's a beautiful and fast exotic. Good luck!

[Weapon_R]

The one thing in favour of this car is that it's a 1994, which means that the design is not that complicated when compared to vehicles today. The engine reminds me a lot of any early 1990s GM engine (which it is) so it can't be too tough to work on.

This site is the tell-all, end-all resource for the Lotus Esprit - an absolutely detailed site with FAQs, links, and best of all, good videos that will help you see what this car can do

http://www.espritfactfile.com/

[CokerRat]

Originally posted by Weapon_R
The one thing in favour of this car is that it's a 1994, which means that the design is not that complicated when compared to vehicles today. The engine reminds me a lot of any early 1990s GM engine (which it is) so it can't be too tough to work on.

Excellent link! However your comment about the engines being reasonable to work on is IMO questionable.... this is right in the FAQ under maintenance:

"Esprits, as with most supercars, are built mostly for performance, not reliability. It takes patience and very deep pockets to keep one of these machines running properly. Do not be fooled by the low price you can buy a used Esprit for. If you can't afford to maintain it, you can't afford to own it. The purchase price is only half the story. I won't lie to you: parts are very expensive. "

Even if the engine itself is not too complicated, the compact mid-mounted engine bay makes for difficult access and parts are imported and expensive. Maintenance for jobs like clutch replacements are 12 hrs labour plus parts -- easily reaching Cdn$2500-3000 which is comparable to other mid engine / rear drive cars.

Not that any of this is a killer, just something to be aware of in owning this particular exotic. Sounds like reliability improved in 1995, maybe it would be worth shooting for a 1995 for that reason alone?

[Alpine Autowerks]

you would need a stable of 6 or more of these garage queens to have a daily driver, and you would need the cash flow of a crack dealer keep it running. the parts prices are horrific ( this is just an opinion of a guy used to porsche parts prices) and difficult to aquire. the parts are often "borrowed" from cars no longer made or never sold in NA. ie citroen, renault, vauxhaul etc.

[Redlyne_mr2]

Originally posted by Alpine Autowerks
you would need a stable of 6 or more of these garage queens to have a daily driver, and you would need the cash flow of a crack dealer keep it running. the parts prices are horrific ( this is just an opinion of a guy used to porsche parts prices) and difficult to aquire. the parts are often "borrowed" from cars no longer made or never sold in NA. ie citroen, renault, vauxhaul etc.

So thats why the cars are always parked? People are to scared to drive them and break something. I too am a huge esprit fan, ZR had a nice 88 esprit last winter for $39K .Its too bad theyre so unreliable, such a gorgeous car

[NotbadSTi]

Um .. how about a used VIPER ?

http://www.canadatrader.com/trader/r...=1&vid=1412611
It is a bit more then the Lotus, but no GST, so..it is still within my budget...
I know for sure if I want a reliable nice sports car, I should look at a BMW .. I saw this one on the weekend, so nice ! as brand new ! and I couldn't believe it is so cheap too !

:


http://www.canadatrader.com/trader/r...=1&vid=1478528


For look, and style, I really love the Lotus ..but
I probaby will sell the STi to my co-worker...

[h22aseller]

just as a thought, as your daily driver you will be trading an STi, which is fast, has AWD and may even handle decently in the winter with a good set of tires for either a lotus or viper that are sketchy when it rains?

[NotbadSTi]

STi is a great car ! I love to drive it, however, it is not a special car, at the end of the day, it is still one of the asian car, I like it a lots, and it is good value too, for $50k plus tax, probaby this the the fastest car ! and I just want something different, more special.

I think the Lotus is very rare, probaby only few in town, Viper is probaby rare too, and I dont think I will go for one, M roadster is just looking so nice ! and they are very reliable too, good for daily driving in summer !

And I still like RWD more.

[FiveFreshFish]

How about an M Coupe? This is even rarer than the M Roadster and handles better because of its fixed roof. But it's a car that you either love or hate. Unlike the M Roadster, the M Coupe can fit a couple set of golf clubs or a hockey bag.