Esprit or not esprit

[wardy]

I am debating whether or not to buy a 1987 lotus esprit s3 (with a 2,2 litre engine) but am new to Lotus'. I'm worried about being swept along by the whole dream of always owning a lotus, and am not being practical about my decision.
It's done c. 65,000 miles, has full lotus servicing etc. New cam belt.
Asking price £9,000.

Any advice, especially on anything I should be wary or aware of would be hugely appreciated.

[britten_mark]

That sounds a bit steep. Check out the Autotrader website, £6-8 for an absolute minter is more like it.
Is it a dealer?
Cheers
Mark

>> Edited by britten_mark on Monday 16th June 13:29

[Simonelite501]

£9000 is S3 turbo money, you sure it's not a turbo?

[southenddc]

I bout one from Autotrader a couple of weeks back an 86 S3 for £5500 (it was up for £6250). It suffers a bit on the paint but runs ok....i also think 9k is a bit steep, but then while i was looking ive seen much more expensive.....Ive seen an 82 Turbo for 13k!!

[LotusACBC]

I thought this was gonna be a rant on how people call the car an espIRIT instead of Esprit. I once had a model of an Esprit that actually said espIRIT on it by Monogram.

[PatHeald]

If you need to use it everyday and do not have a garage, then sod it and buy an MR2, which will be a lot less hassle for the same performance.

If you are handy with spanners and have somewhere to keep it, then go for it.

Mine has been off the road for a couple of months whilst I have done a few jobs. I have saved (literally) thousands in labour costs by doing simple jobs myself, such as changing the radiator, exhaust and gear linkage. I also have a cheap Oriental hatchback for the daily grind, so it is no problem to have it off the road for a few weeks.

You'll get lots of help on here, but if you can't use a spanner then you are in for a very expensive ride.

I paid over £14,000 in August 2002 for a 22,000 mile '87 Turbo with a full main dealer history, which was absolutely top whack and then some. I bought from a recognised Lotus specialist. I have since spent about £1000 sorting out minor problems.

£9000 ought to buy you a 1987 S3 HC N/A car which is in showroom condition and very low mileage.

You could buy a nearly mint Turbo for that money. The car you describe sounds rather expensive.

You really need to take someone with you who knows about Esprits. It took me 3 years to find one I thought was worth buying...

Good luck,

Pat

[G_Reaper]

I would say 9k could even get you into an HC engined Stevens X180 styled Esprit.

Regards Mike

[pomoz]

Gday

Prices for Esprits .... well i had seen and it is possibly still there ...
Unless you love them that much or a arab or just won the lottery .
Stratton motor company .. Lotus Dealers in Norfolk had

A 1987 Lotus S3 TURBO ......pearl white, dry stord.... all the usual goodies on a turbo ....including rad/cass

ex- KING hUSSEIN of Jordan's car

5000 miles on the clock

for ...........£29950-00

hows that for a price!!!!!!

regards
Alex

PS; i wonder how much they actually picked it up for.
What is the formula .. for the extra price do you
put on name?

[dictys]

If i remember this car was the last car from the production line for the G shape. I do not think it had any extras which would justify that price, orginally I remember seeing an advert in Classic Car and it was priced at £24,000.

Rgds
Dictys

[swedishsurgeon]

When I went to the UK last July for a Lotus tour, I saw the Kings car and could not get it out of my head!!!!! It was SUPER clean! Yes '87 was the last year for the G Esprit and I'm keeping the faith that these will be the most sought after Esprits on the market in years to come. Another thing, my Esprit does not have the six holes cut in the bonnet louvers neither did the Kings. Every Esprit I've seen has the six holes cut out which makes mine that much more special!

Cheers,
Robert
'87 Turbo Esprit hci