Lotus Esprit as daily driver?

Lotus Esprit as daily driver?

Author
Discussion

TTmonkey

20,911 posts

246 months

Tuesday 23rd February 2016
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Perfect daily driver.


For a man that works from home.

kev b

2,708 posts

165 months

Tuesday 23rd February 2016
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OP - Are you handy with spanners?

I was a pro mechanic and ran a 6 year old Lotus Elite as a daily driver in the eighties. I spent at least one day per week keeping it fit for the road and ended up having to replace the chassis. A couple of friends had Esprits which were even more troublesome.

Whilst visibility was better than the Esprit it was still a wide, low car with large doors, making parking awkward, bumping a kerb even at parking speed would wreck the suspension geometry, fortunately it was quieter inside and cooler than the Esprit with a proper gearchange.as well.

If by "daily driver" you mean a car that would be available to drive every day then you may be disappointed, they were not that reliable when new and won't have improved over the years.

Rob-C

1,488 posts

248 months

Tuesday 23rd February 2016
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Conversely I ran an Excel (Esprit engine + Toyota gearbox) as a daily driver for four years, commuting 100-150 miles per day every day. It broke down once, when I hit a stone in the road and shook the fuel pump relay loose. It did eat tyres and burn a lot of fuel though. I'd say the overall cost of ownership was the same as a brand new average car.


Impasse

15,099 posts

240 months

Tuesday 23rd February 2016
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They were considered wide in their day, but they're somewhere between the width of a Focus or Mondeo.

As with all cars finding a good one is key. Esprits suffer terribly from bad previous owners who neglect to maintain them. As prices rise the effects of these owners are slowly being exorcised, but there have been generations of cars unfairly perpetuating the unreliability myth due to their owners either not understanding the cars or being reluctant to spend money on something that back then had a low secondhand value.

yellowtang

Original Poster:

1,772 posts

137 months

Tuesday 23rd February 2016
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Ok, I'm not remotely handy with a spanner - I'd need to find a good local specialist.

The car would need to be available every day. But occasional days without it due to breakdowns will not be a problem - I'm self-employed and work from home.

Surely the Esprit will cost me less to maintain than the £1000 a month depreciation I've lived with during the ownership of my last two 5Ltr XKRs?!

Yes, I am that naive wink

Oilchange

8,422 posts

259 months

Tuesday 23rd February 2016
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Without a doubt less, from experience.
pm'd you btw

996Type

685 posts

151 months

Tuesday 23rd February 2016
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Hi, at one point I needed to run an SE as my daily car for a few months, with an S2 as a back up.
The SE never let me down durning this time save it got a bit out of shape due to old tyres on one stretch of road before I got it back under control (at quite slow speeds) and promptly got them replaced! My inexperience with mid engined car on greasy road.

They were both second cars which I didn't really want to be putting daily miles on but had no choice for a while.
My main thoughts were inflicting bigger mileage via mundane journeys ( back in the day when sports cars used to depreciate, not something we hear of nowadays...). I do like to use my cars but exposing them for example to a grit bath on the motorway commute is painful if they been cherished weekend things up to that point. Buy one as a commuting appliance and accept the daily use and you'll be fine.

They were both OK for the task and the S2 was a great car in the snow! I expressed my concern to my local specialist garage and he pointed out these cars were probably dailies when new, it's just that technology has taken over and we have become less tolerant of older car foibles.

My advice would be choose a post 1990 car that had the GM 100K miles testing regime applied to the type.
I've owned a few Esprits and the difference between the pre and post GM stuff was large, like they had come from different manufacturers. A GT3 would be fine as a daily provided you follow the service interval and let the car idle at the end of the journey for a minute to circulate the hot oil out of the turbo. The switchgear got less crazy as the cars progressed which see,ed to help reliability.

You can probably find one for a years depreciation on the XK if you look hard enough so financially it makes sense for you more than it did for me in that respect. I may be biased but there is something lovely about an Esprit blasting up the motorway on a weekday or parked in the local tesco being used as a real car. Also imagine the pleasure you'd be giving to other road users with your impeccable taste!

Remember to amend your insurance to SDP + commute if you go down that route, shouldn't be too expensive.
Maybe paranoid but got pulled recently (in a different car) and was asked if I was on the way home from work (I wasn't).
Noticed on the screen the insurance details stated SDP so wondered if the police are interested in how the car was being used but a topic for another thread.

In rain, the water will sit on the sill as you enter / exit so beware! Rain on the manifold also hastens the demise but it can all be fixed.

They weren't perfect cars when new by any means and I wouldn't be brave enough to run a V8 as a daily having done loads of bigger jobs on my lesser cars in the past, but if you find a car with good S/H and evidence of cam belt / tensioner being done (or switch them after purchase if in doubt) you should be OK. Over the decade of my ownership there was little 'Lotus' that went wrong (most of the parts are actually someone else's after the body and chassis!) Also get a major service at a respected independent before you commence use and keep a couple of K back for incidentals and you'll be fine.

One thing I've become aware of is that all cars are better for (the correct type of ) use. This especially applies to the Esprit.
Go in with your eyes open and enjoy yourself! After your current car it will be like going back 50 years in refinement but the experience will be one you'll look back on fondly.






996Type

685 posts

151 months

Tuesday 23rd February 2016
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so called said:
I bought a TVR Tasmin as a daily a few years back.
I think the original Esprit and the Tasmin were both designed by Oliver Winterbottom.

Tasmin was great fun and never broke down. Lots of continental runs in it.
Do it or regret it.
Hi, Giugiaro was credited with the main design, if the badges ever fall off they cost a fortune!

so called

9,074 posts

208 months

Wednesday 24th February 2016
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996Type said:
so called said:
I bought a TVR Tasmin as a daily a few years back.
I think the original Esprit and the Tasmin were both designed by Oliver Winterbottom.

Tasmin was great fun and never broke down. Lots of continental runs in it.
Do it or regret it.
Hi, Giugiaro was credited with the main design, if the badges ever fall off they cost a fortune!
Oh OK, thanks for the correction.
I parked my Tasmin next to an early Esprit once we laughed as the front end designs and construction were almost identical.

yellowtang

Original Poster:

1,772 posts

137 months

Wednesday 24th February 2016
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Thanks, oilchange & 996type - some really useful info there thumbup



Edited by yellowtang on Wednesday 24th February 01:07

davidn

1,028 posts

258 months

Wednesday 24th February 2016
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I did and got away with it in a 1989 turbo when I was an estate agent (I know!) from 96 to 98. That consisted of a 15 mile round trip to work and then usually 50 to 60 miles a day out and about viewing houses and never missed a beat, granted the car was a low mileage 7 year old car at that time but it coped well.


yellowtang

Original Poster:

1,772 posts

137 months

Wednesday 24th February 2016
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Ha! Brilliant smile I loathe contemporary white cars but it looks fantastic on the Esprit.

I'd be very impressed indeed if an estate agent turned up in one these days mind.

Europa1

10,923 posts

187 months

Wednesday 24th February 2016
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One thing a Lotus dealer told me is that with the later ones, one of the sensors/warning lights (might be ABS?) can go, and spares currently aren't available - the problem being whatever sensor/part it is, not having it is an MOT failure.

james_gt3rs

4,816 posts

190 months

Wednesday 24th February 2016
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Oh dear this thread is putting silly ideas in my head of getting a yellow Esprit with a huge wing on the back...

Europa1

10,923 posts

187 months

Wednesday 24th February 2016
quotequote all
james_gt3rs said:
Oh dear this thread is putting silly ideas in my head of getting a yellow Esprit with a huge wing on the back...
I've come close in the past - nearly bought one when I was changing from my S1 Elise (went for the Europa S), then after I got rid of the Evora S (redundancy sucks) and was back in the market for a car, thought long and hard about an Esprit again. It's an itch that won't go away.

Late V8 with the round tail lights please, in Azure Blue...

RGambo

847 posts

168 months

Wednesday 24th February 2016
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My Brother has a sport V8 350. He loves it and has tried to use it as an everyday car. It was doing it, but little niggly things started to happen. Nothing catastrophic and it never let him down, but it constantly needed some form of attention. In the end he went back to his other car for every day and now just enjoys the Esprit on the right occasion, which is still quite often.

Impasse

15,099 posts

240 months

Wednesday 24th February 2016
quotequote all
Europa1 said:
One thing a Lotus dealer told me is that with the later ones, one of the sensors/warning lights (might be ABS?) can go, and spares currently aren't available - the problem being whatever sensor/part it is, not having it is an MOT failure.
That will be the pressure switch in the ABS gubbins of the cars fitted with the Delco Moraine system (pre 98my). Genuine parts are no longer available from your dealer, but asking the in the tech area of the website mentioned in the Evo article will provide access to a suitable alternative.

jgtv

2,125 posts

196 months

Wednesday 24th February 2016
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Nothing really useful to add other than I was sat behind a V6 in wet motorway traffic the other day and I had completely forgot how amazing they look.

For the sake of people like me having to put up with a family wagon I say do it.

oilydan

2,030 posts

270 months

Wednesday 24th February 2016
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I ran a 1985 Turbo Esprit as a daily, commuting from Faringdon in Oxfordshire to Reading, Berkshire for about 2 years in 2000.

Apart from routine servicing I did the spigot bearing, steering rack and clutch master cylinder. I made about 2k in 'appreciation'.

It was comfy (I'm 6ft2in), fast on the A/B roads, ecomomical when not thrashed, awesome fun when thrashed. Rumor had it that I could beat my mate in his S1 Exige between the 2 towns too smile

I would wholeheartedly recommend a Turbo Esprit (Giugiaro) for a daily commute of 30+ miles on A roads smile

Moulder

1,463 posts

211 months

Wednesday 24th February 2016
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In Metro (the paper) today there is an advert for one exactly on budget.