Weather-Proof?
Discussion
First post on here, so be nice!
Interested to know what problems if any, storing an Elise outside all year round might cause.
I'm thinking of getting my first car and because I don't have a garage, it will either be on the drive or by the side of a road all year round. Is this likely to cause any problems (other than any leaking roof issues which I guess I can deal with by getting a cover)?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Interested to know what problems if any, storing an Elise outside all year round might cause.
I'm thinking of getting my first car and because I don't have a garage, it will either be on the drive or by the side of a road all year round. Is this likely to cause any problems (other than any leaking roof issues which I guess I can deal with by getting a cover)?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Thanks, hadn't been looking for cars with a/c but I might add this to the wish-list.
I was thinking more of corrosion to the metal work - I assume the aluminium is fairly resistent to damp conditions during the winter, but can it take repeated exposure to the winter months and are there other parts of the bodywork that might need extra care (I've notice the posts about brake disk rust)?
I was thinking more of corrosion to the metal work - I assume the aluminium is fairly resistent to damp conditions during the winter, but can it take repeated exposure to the winter months and are there other parts of the bodywork that might need extra care (I've notice the posts about brake disk rust)?
thousands of people use them as daily drivers, all year around. If you are really bothered, get a decent cover ...thats all I did when mine lived outside
theres nothing really to corrode on them to be honest, certainly not many bits that wont have been upgraded/replaced in 7 years time when they would have started corroding LOL
theres nothing really to corrode on them to be honest, certainly not many bits that wont have been upgraded/replaced in 7 years time when they would have started corroding LOL
BBL said:
Thanks for all the replies and the assurances.
All I need to do now is find the right car!
Are you looking at S2 Elises or S1's? S1's have a couple of weather related issues both of which are sortable. S2's are fine out of the box.All I need to do now is find the right car!
On the S1 the soft top doesn't fully seal at the leading edges leading to drips finding their way through to the cabin in persisent heavy rain. Also the spark plug cover is unsealed and sits right below the ducts on the bootlid basically allowing rain to find its way into the spark plug wells. A hardtop or a modified seal on the softop will sort the roof leaks and the spark plug cover can either be sealed or replaced with the better S2 cover. Otherwise there are no major issues that I can think of.
I'm hoping the budget will stretch to an S2 - but as a former company car driver (so with no documented no claims history) and no garage my next task is to find affordable insurance that fits the budget.
Inital on-line quotes were around £900 pa. fully comp, but I'm sure I can improve on that.
Inital on-line quotes were around £900 pa. fully comp, but I'm sure I can improve on that.
BBL said:
I'm hoping the budget will stretch to an S2 - but as a former company car driver (so with no documented no claims history) and no garage my next task is to find affordable insurance that fits the budget.
Inital on-line quotes were around £900 pa. fully comp, but I'm sure I can improve on that.
It's worthwhile going to some of the specialist insurers such as CCI, Richard Eggar and Heritage.Inital on-line quotes were around £900 pa. fully comp, but I'm sure I can improve on that.
I'm with CCI and it's saved me a fortune!
Mine is a daily driver but it does live in a garage. It's never leaked a drop when it's left outside at work though. Any Elise can be made waterproof in anything but the worst conditions, but they made gradual improvements through the life of the car so the later the better.
The last big improvement was in MY04 where they added some little cup things to the top of the windscreen pillars to catch drops falling down from where roof meets windscreen meets side-window.
If you're worried about leaks, you can buy shower caps which cover the whole glasshouse and only take a few seconds to put on which will make the worst of cars waterproof when not in use.
The ali wont rust but the screws holding various bits onto the bottom of the car will and there are various different bits which don't like the rain on different model years (the interior fan resistor pack being the msot common one).
The last big improvement was in MY04 where they added some little cup things to the top of the windscreen pillars to catch drops falling down from where roof meets windscreen meets side-window.
If you're worried about leaks, you can buy shower caps which cover the whole glasshouse and only take a few seconds to put on which will make the worst of cars waterproof when not in use.
The ali wont rust but the screws holding various bits onto the bottom of the car will and there are various different bits which don't like the rain on different model years (the interior fan resistor pack being the msot common one).
Edited by kambites on Tuesday 10th March 19:16
I guess I'm the test case since whilst I love Lotus handling and persist in coming back to their cars, I don't have a garage and water ingress is simply something I will *not* put up with in a car. My first Lotus was a M100 Elan and even though it's a Lotus black sheep, I loved it - until the steady stream of water onto my right knee when driving in the rain drove me to hate it. Perhaps I'm shallow, but there you go. Foolishly I was drawn back to Lotus with an S1 'super 160' which was unbearably loud, but I also picked up a carbon roof from B&C when I bought it, thinking it'd solve the weatherproofing problems. Alas it didn't, and a combination of inadequate window-edge sealing and the carbon roof making the cockpit resonate at all speeds turned me off the car.
But I had to come back. Much later, I tested a VX220 turbo (with a hardtop and latest-spec window seals) and had to have it - this car actually did a *much* better job of withstanding the elements. I had that for 2 winters, and only really heavy rain would get in, by seeping around the back and into the headlining of the hardtop. No drips onto my legs or soaked / frozen windscreen interiors, if it was going to leak then the water would end up in a puddle behind the seats on the bare ally tub, easily mopped up with kitchen roll.
With that massive improvement (proper engine too! ) I then bought an S2 Exige S, which has been bloody perfect. No water ingress unless it's got a couple of litres sitting on the roof and you open the doors without flicking it off (as you sit on the sill to get in, the car tilts, and any water on the roof pours into your lap) - this is easy to prevent with a water blade in the car. Air con clears any windscreen misting. I'm *really* happy with the Exige.
So - I'm not one of the Lotus hardcore, but something keeps bringing me back to their cars. And by gum they've improved them. You may not be as picky as me when it comes to the importance of weather-proofing, but Lotus have now got hard tops and window seals that work. If your budget limits you to an S1 then I'd seriously consider searching until you find one that had a similarly anal owner and upgraded to the new window seals with the 'ears' in them that catch stray drips. Equally whilst a hardtop can make getting in and out of the car a bit more of a palaver, depending on your size / flexibility (always need to mention this even though it's never a problem for me) it can ensure the car doesn't need bailing out after heavy rain. I don't know how much it costs to upgrade the seals and roof yourself, but Lotus hardtops don't usually get much change from a grand so if budget is tight then best find one that already has the kit you require. Soft tops, with regular waterproofing maintenance (I used to use Thompson's WaterSeal), can be watertight but only with the later window seals. If it was left outdoors all year round like mine, I'd want a hardtop though - paid out too many times to replace my girlfriend's MX-5 soft roof after vandalism to go through that again.
If I lived in Spain then I probably wouldn't give as much of a damn, but in England, rain is a major part of the weather and any fun car has to be fun in the rain as well. The Lotus delivers in spades for driving pleasure in the rain (heh, I like it when the car moves around...) but water dripping onto your legs gets annoying *very* quickly...
But I had to come back. Much later, I tested a VX220 turbo (with a hardtop and latest-spec window seals) and had to have it - this car actually did a *much* better job of withstanding the elements. I had that for 2 winters, and only really heavy rain would get in, by seeping around the back and into the headlining of the hardtop. No drips onto my legs or soaked / frozen windscreen interiors, if it was going to leak then the water would end up in a puddle behind the seats on the bare ally tub, easily mopped up with kitchen roll.
With that massive improvement (proper engine too!
) I then bought an S2 Exige S, which has been bloody perfect. No water ingress unless it's got a couple of litres sitting on the roof and you open the doors without flicking it off (as you sit on the sill to get in, the car tilts, and any water on the roof pours into your lap) - this is easy to prevent with a water blade in the car. Air con clears any windscreen misting. I'm *really* happy with the Exige.So - I'm not one of the Lotus hardcore, but something keeps bringing me back to their cars. And by gum they've improved them. You may not be as picky as me when it comes to the importance of weather-proofing, but Lotus have now got hard tops and window seals that work. If your budget limits you to an S1 then I'd seriously consider searching until you find one that had a similarly anal owner and upgraded to the new window seals with the 'ears' in them that catch stray drips. Equally whilst a hardtop can make getting in and out of the car a bit more of a palaver, depending on your size / flexibility (always need to mention this even though it's never a problem for me) it can ensure the car doesn't need bailing out after heavy rain. I don't know how much it costs to upgrade the seals and roof yourself, but Lotus hardtops don't usually get much change from a grand so if budget is tight then best find one that already has the kit you require. Soft tops, with regular waterproofing maintenance (I used to use Thompson's WaterSeal), can be watertight but only with the later window seals. If it was left outdoors all year round like mine, I'd want a hardtop though - paid out too many times to replace my girlfriend's MX-5 soft roof after vandalism to go through that again.
If I lived in Spain then I probably wouldn't give as much of a damn, but in England, rain is a major part of the weather and any fun car has to be fun in the rain as well. The Lotus delivers in spades for driving pleasure in the rain (heh, I like it when the car moves around...) but water dripping onto your legs gets annoying *very* quickly...
Gassing Station | Elise/Exige/Europa/340R | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff