Shopping for '98 V8, what should I look for

[ScottRUSA]

It's great to see a forum like this; here in the U.S. you're lucky if you can find out anything about the Esprit..... O.K. here's my story and I'm sticking to it. I've been considering buying a Porsche 930 Factory Slantnose for about a year now but recently (2 months ago) visited a friend who has a '99 Esprit. I thought to myself; "Hey that's pretty nice so I'll do some research". Long story short, it isn't easy because there's only about 20 really qualified service centers nationwide and with regards to parts, no one really offers them through the web. As I view the U.K. URLs there appears to many sites but non mention shipping to the U.S. Someone would be very smart to design their site to include U.S. Pricing and shipping costs, be sure to register it with Yahoo the most widely used search engine. Anyway enough rambling..... I'm about to look at a 1998 V8 selling for $45K, it's yellow and has 16K miles on it. Since I know nothing about the vehicles, is there anything BAD I should specifically lookout for? Would someone out there advocate that I buy a '99 instead because of parts availability, etc.? Since the Esprit is going out of production will Lotus still be producing spare parts? These are all questions I have not seem to get any ‘words of wisdom” during my 2 months of daily web research. Lastly I saw on the Lotusespritworld URL that there were (3) models built in '98, the V8-SE, V8-GT and V8. The descriptions were so close it's hard for me to really understand the differences. In short, I definitely feel like I’m brain dead and need spoon feeding. Are there any, what we (yanks) would call Motor Heads out there that possess the technical knowledge to answering my simplistic questions. CHEERS......and closing comment: Love that Boddington...many of them.

[ErnestM]

First of all - WELCOME!

with regards to parts, no one really offers them through the web.

Try Jeff Robinson at JAE Parts:
www.jaeparts.com (There are others)

As I view the U.K. URLs there appears to many sites but non mention shipping to the U.S. Someone would be very smart to design their site to include U.S. Pricing and shipping costs

I believe SJ Sportscars will do you a quote in USD and include shipping in the quote

Anyway enough rambling..... I'm about to look at a 1998 V8 selling for $45K, it's yellow and has 16K miles on it. Since I know nothing about the vehicles, is there anything BAD I should specifically lookout for?

First - get a service history. A Carfax will only give you certain things. If the current owner will allow, get the VIN and call it into Lotus Cars USA. They should give you any history they have on the car. The vehicle should have had at least 2 "A" service and a timing belt check by now (timing belt=free up to 100,000 miles)

Second - Have the car checked out by a certified Lotus mechanic. Check out engine/cam seals, timing belt and clutch wear. The latter can let you know if it has been abused.

Third - Check to see if the high torque ECU upgrade has been done. If not, do it. It makes the car easier to drive in traffic and is the best $ 500 plus labor that you will ever spend.

Would someone out there advocate that I buy a '99 instead because of parts availability, etc.?

Most V-8's are the same and parts are interchangeable over the years except for some minor cosmetic and wheel differences.

Since the Esprit is going out of production will Lotus still be producing spare parts?

They have to. I believe Federal law states for 10 years after the final model/year is withdrawn. And, since all V-8's share some common parts - see answer above...

Lastly I saw on the Lotusespritworld URL that there were (3) models built in '98, the V8-SE, V8-GT and V8. The descrptions were so close it's hard for me to really understand the differences.

The only model imported into the US in 98 was the Esprit V8, which is comparable (if I am not mistaken) to the Euro V8-SE (The top of the line model).

In short, I definitely feel like I’m brain dead and need spoon feeding. Are there any, what we (yanks) would call Motor Heads out there that possess the technical knowledge to answering my simplistic questions. CHEERS......and closing comment: Love that Boddington...many of them.

You have found it! Also try the Yahoo TurboEsprit group. I have some miscellaneous info on my web site:
http://online.ayrnet.com/lotus
and don't forget
www.espritfactfile.com

Cheers

ErnestM
1998 V8