How many people drive there Esprit everyday!!
Discussion
I suppose that would depend on where one lives and traffic conditions. I do not drive mine on a daily basis for general transportation. There is no thrill in driving in traffic. I do occasionally take it to work but I drive the Esprit when the journey is more important that the destination. Excluding LOG of course.
Calvin 90 SE
Calvin 90 SE
I would like to know how many people out there drive their Lotus Esprit every day? A buddy of mine has a NSX and he drives the piss out of it. So I guess what im looking for is to see if I will be the only one.
Bill
I've had my S4 for about 18months now, the first 10 months I put on 15k on the clock. I do tend to drive it less now in the week as someone already said, driving in traffic in the Esprit is usually just not what it's all about - it's like keeping an Eagle in an egg box...
Still oddly enough, even though I made a promise that I would only drive it at weekends and when the roads are dry, it's Friday and it's raining - yes, I have the Esprit!:-)
JC
I ran my 98 GT3 as my only car for 12 months/12,000 miles then traded it for a 98 V8-GT in which i did 18,000 miles in my first year of ownership, then 12,000 in my second year.
It was at that point that i decided to get myself another car for the boring motorway trips etc so i now have a vw as well.
The esprit CAN be used as a daily driver, and in fact its better for the car to be used regularly than to leave it in the garage for weeks at a time..
Nothing comes close to the buzz i get driving the esprit, and to get this every single day was great (although driving in snow is very bad news!). The costs of running the car were pretty high, but that depends what you are comparing it too.. I've suffered a bit with depreciation as my car has a higher than average mileage now, but I'm not going to sell it so that doesn't worry me.
All my costs are in my profile but you need to remember that i pay dealer rates for any work (no time or skills to do it myself like Jim or Calvin) plus i was pretty unlucky with some major work i had to pay for.
Cheers
Rob
Ps. if you are really worried, then go get yourself a honda. Those civics are great
It was at that point that i decided to get myself another car for the boring motorway trips etc so i now have a vw as well.
The esprit CAN be used as a daily driver, and in fact its better for the car to be used regularly than to leave it in the garage for weeks at a time..
Nothing comes close to the buzz i get driving the esprit, and to get this every single day was great (although driving in snow is very bad news!). The costs of running the car were pretty high, but that depends what you are comparing it too.. I've suffered a bit with depreciation as my car has a higher than average mileage now, but I'm not going to sell it so that doesn't worry me.
All my costs are in my profile but you need to remember that i pay dealer rates for any work (no time or skills to do it myself like Jim or Calvin) plus i was pretty unlucky with some major work i had to pay for.
Cheers
Rob
Ps. if you are really worried, then go get yourself a honda. Those civics are great
A buddy of mine has a NSX and he drives the piss out of it.
Bill - if you (or your buddy) can find someone who does 18,000 miles a year in an NSX in all weathers and has documented the costs it would be great to do a real comparison of the running costs between this and an esprit.
I hear a lot of "anecdotal" stuff about this car is cheap to run, that car is expensive etc.. some if it is true, some of it is bar room talk from guys who [controversial mode!] don't have anything else to brag about so they focus on the jap-cars-are-reliable thing ! [/controversial mode!]
It wont' upset me if the esprit is more expensive than the honda. After all the reasons i chose the esprit are to do with its beauty, its heritage (colin chapman, lotus f1 history, james bond etc) its handling, its exclusivity and the fact that its british. I wouldn't get any of that with a honda..
Rob
I'll get my flame proof jacket on now..
When I got my Esprit in 2000 it has 13k miles on the clock. Now after 3 years it's at 48k.
I've had some problems (fuel tank, gearbox) but have never been left stranded with it. It definitely runs much better when it's driven regularly. I feel that many of the issues may have to do with the first 5 years and only 13k miles it had. But nobody likes to blame themselves anyway.
michael
1995 S4
I've had some problems (fuel tank, gearbox) but have never been left stranded with it. It definitely runs much better when it's driven regularly. I feel that many of the issues may have to do with the first 5 years and only 13k miles it had. But nobody likes to blame themselves anyway.
michael
1995 S4
Aside from the reliability aspect, there is a definate ego stroke involved.
On the ego scale of 1-10:
Driving an Esprit as a weekend treat: 8
Having the Esprit experience become commonplace, and knowing you "always" ride is an exotic: 10
I love my Esprit so much more this year now that I've stopped treating it like a museum piece, and more like a supercar.
Drive it.
On the ego scale of 1-10:
Driving an Esprit as a weekend treat: 8
Having the Esprit experience become commonplace, and knowing you "always" ride is an exotic: 10
I love my Esprit so much more this year now that I've stopped treating it like a museum piece, and more like a supercar.
Drive it.
I drive my 99 with the 450hp chip upgrade and the boost turned waay up, almost every single day. I've driven it in rain, snow and 90 degree weather. I've only had it for about 6 months now and it hasn't yet seen a 110 degree Indiana summer. I've been told how horribly stupid I am and that it is just a matter of time before I experience disaster. I'm still doing this and haven't noticed ANY problems.
It is beautiful and I love it, but it is a CAR. Drive it. Smile. Enjoy it. Someday when you're old and creaky and can't climb in and out of exotic sports cars you'll remember how much fun you had.
Dirk
and haven't noticed ANY problems. It is beautiful and I love it, but it is a CAR. Drive it. Smile. Enjoy it. Someday when you're old and creaky and can't climb in and out of exotic sports cars you'll remember how much fun you had.
Dirk
dirk989 said: I drive my 99 with the 450hp chip upgrade and the boost turned waay up, almost every single day. I've driven it in rain, snow and 90 degree weather. I've only had it for about 6 months now and it hasn't yet seen a 110 degree Indiana summer. I've been told how horribly stupid I am and that it is just a matter of time before I experience disaster. I'm still doing this
It is beautiful and I love it, but it is a CAR. Drive it. Smile. Enjoy it. Someday when you're old and creaky and can't climb in and out of exotic sports cars you'll remember how much fun you had.
Dirk
Hey, my ears just perked up. Where abouts in Indiana?
I grew up a Hoosier, and I'm heading back there in November to get married.
Mike
madmike said: Aside from the reliability aspect, there is a definate ego stroke involved.
On the ego scale of 1-10:
Driving an Esprit as a weekend treat: 8
Having the Esprit experience become commonplace, and knowing you "always" ride is an exotic: 10
I love my Esprit so much more this year now that I've stopped treating it like a museum piece, and more like a supercar.
Drive it.
This is how I feel as well when I drive to work everyday. Everytime I get in it I am reminded of my dream when I was 15 years old and found out what a Lotus was.
Although I've already put on new tires, replaced the black front spoiler, new floor mats, put on the "Esprit" sticker on the rear (little things like that), I am finding my car is much better looking than when I bought it Dec 2002.
Now... I just need to get it in for a good thorough check up. Just haven't found someone in the SW FL area beside the Dealer in Clearwater (not sure if their $500 charge for a service A is a good price).
Mike
Red '97 V8
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