Anyone ever own a Lotus?
 

My wife has always had a thing for the movie "Pretty Woman" since she was a kid. I have the opportunity to buy a Lotus, that is supposedly exactly like the one they used in the filming. Trouble is I know nothing about them. I have contacted a local mechanic who specializes in them and he is going to meet with me about the car.

It is a 2.2L 4 cyl with an intercooled turbo with a 5 speed..... 1990 model..

I had a buddy that had one some time back. It was probly an early 80's. As long as I new him he could never drive it because of a cracked windshield. The glass was dam near flat and everytine he went up his driveway apron it cracked again. I think he had something like four windshields in the car never making it out into the street. I dont remember the history of the car as to weather it was ever in an accident or not but thats very possible, he was quite young to be owning a Lotus. I know what your looking at is no where near the same car. I would do what you did and get a mechanic that only works on Lotus who knows what the market is and what to look for.
Good luck.
Sweet looking car.

Nice looking but a sh&*^load of trouble to run. A friend had one and that thing was t!ts up all the time. He did get it for nothing also I guess the word is around.

I would recommend making good friends with that mechanic. I had a friend / boss who bought an 87 Turbo Espirit back around 90-91. It was a fun car to drive, when it ran. I couldn't possibly name everything that went wrong with that car. In typical British fashion, many of the problems were electrical, but not all of them.
I remember it having more than a few oil leaks too.
I ended up with the car for a few months before he finally dumped it. He knew it was a POS, and that he should get rid of it, but it was so much fun to drive, he didn't want it in his garage. He figured he'd take it out for a ride and change his mind about selling it, so he gave it to me to keep until it went.
For the price I see them selling for, I still think they're a great car for the money, as long as you know exactly what you're getting into with one.

Have a good talk with your mechanic, the car is not as much trouble as the other posts would suggest. The thing to remember is you are not buying a Honda Accord, you are buying a de-tuned race car. Just like your boat that needs only regular maintenance with stock power but needs a lot more fine tuning once you start adding horse power, the same goes for cars with big horse power.

P.S For the price of a Lotus you get a great looking and performing car. Set aside some of the money you save for the extra tune ups you'll need.:D

A joke for those who have owned a british car:

Why do the British drink warm beer?
Because they have Lucas refridgerators.

IMHO, british cars may be the only thing that needs more repairs than boats.
Gary

Believe me when I say that French cars need frequent repairs too!!! A LeCar was my first car in high school and it would break down on the way home from the dealer after service!!!! :D :D :D It was fun, though. Hell, any car is fun when your 16...

What is it they say? Lucas electronics have three settings. Dim, flicker and off... :D :D

I always thought the Esprit was a cool looking car.
But after owning an MG for a very shrot time I'm not sure I want to again. Lots of expensive maintenence. And the Lucas (The Prince of Darkness) electric system leaves a lot to be desired.

Poked around the web and found what I thought was a good Esprit site. Take a look at their "Problems" and "Maintenence" sections. Lotus Esprit

All those problems and all that maintenance...... Wouldn't be any different than owning a boat!!!!!

I had a 1977 S1 Esprit . It had the n/a 2.0 in it I had it work up by a company out of Southern CA. It put out 385 hp at the Flywheel In that little car it was damn fast. The down side I am 6'3" tall When I moved my foot on the peddles my knee would be pushed up agents the steering wheel. But I have to say one thing about it...It did attract the women

I can always count on the board !
 

Well I guess,,, I will move on. This is or was going to be a daily driver for my wife....

My brother-in-law just traded in his '88 - talk about a mechanic's car (or should I say, "mechanic's bank account" car!). Cost him an arm and a leg to keep it running. Timing chain + cover, $700. Belts, etc, over $100. Etc etc. And you don't want to think about big ticket items, like the turbocharger.

You are a wise man to walk away from that "deal."

Oh, and the oil leaks! I think the oiling system is designed to constantly leak, thereby ensuring that fresh oil gets added between regular changes! I still have stains on my garage floor from when it was here for a couple weeks...

did someone mention a ten foot pole?!!!

Re: I can always count on the board !
 

Not without good walking shoes!

George Lucas...........The prince of darkness !!!!:D :D

L ots
O f
T rouble
U sually
S erious

I owned a 94 Lotus, The car was fine but very small inside. I would buy one again if I found a good one. I have had some other exotics, They all cost more than a regular car to keep them going but less than my boats!!

they look like an ugly ferrari. They drive like a poorly designed ferrari. The electrical systems are crap. And the ergonomics and driving position are attrocious at best.

That being said it handles pretty well and is definatly fast. BUT the design is pretty damn bad. In very hard cornering with less than 1/4 tank of gas you can actually stall the engine. The baffles (if they are in the tanks) don't do a good job of keeping the fuel in the pickup. And ina sustained hard turn you can actually starve the engein of fuel to the point that it dies.

Reserve. Stpuid stpuid stpuid. You have to pull up this little jammie on the shift lever then cram WAY left. SOmetimes it doens't like to go there and engage.

More wonderful news abotu teh tranny. teh gate is damn near non existant. It feel very similar to a beat up hyundai or honda civic tranny. 1st can be a ***** to find and missed shift happen do to the sloppy gate.

Parking brake. It on the way left side and you pul it up. But then you have ot push it all eth way forward again so youcan get out of the car. Another poor design.

Driving position. The wheel is nt centered on youy bodie scenter lineit about 3"-4" to the right. SO you arms and shoulders while driving are contorted to the center of the car. Wierd descri[tion but normally your "johnson" should be right belwo the wheel centerline. ON a lotus it 4" to the right. Very uncomfortabel to drive.

The gas pedal is very close to the firewall on the right side. Plus due to teh closeness and the off center wheel you leg from the knee down to pretty much your ankle is actually pressed up to the firewall.


NOW a few of eth pluses. The current lotus looks basically the same as the older lotus (mid 80-present). The turbos are fast cars. No two ways abtou it. Once you adjust to thier wierd driving positions its not bad. Its fast and it handles pretty well. It sis very light and hs a mid engine so the balance isn't bad.

Would a lotus be my firs choice in car. NO. Would it be my second choice. No. Woudl I actually own one? NO. DO i think its fun to drive and have fun with? YES. DO i have fun with my brother's when he leaves the keys? YES.

DO i laught my ass off everytime its brakes and he dumps $$$ into it to fix? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT.

If you geta KICKIN deal on it and know of a good mechanic or can do eth work on it yoruself. Id say go for it. But if your like my brother who bought it cus it looks cool and doesn't knwo how to fix or maintain it STAY AWAY.

sorry for the bad news. BUt i'd just like help steer someone away from a money pit. FYI my brother has as much into repairs on that car (mechanical stuff he never crashed it) as he paid to buy it.

i snapped some pics. My bro has his keys with him. Otherwise i jump in and take a quick vid for you.

2.

3

Yep that is me in the last pics. :D

next time he's here i'll take his key and shoot a quick vid. I reiterate. Esprit Turbos are definatly fast cars.

OK so mybrotehr is klind of a twit. He left it unlocked. But didn't leave me a key....

can you say puder looks like a deer in headlights?????

i look really really funny in that picture. I'm not that funny looking person......

me again

OH YEAH the red leather on eth interior and teh red leather MOMO steering wheel. 2 things that HAVE to go.

Well,, I am definately moving on....
 

Found a yellow Corvette,,, that I am going to try and deal on for her. Trying to pull this off as an anniversary present for her.

The V8 Lotus Esprits, 1997 and newer, are reletively trouble-free if maintained properly. Here's my 1999. It is a great car.

One of the reasons I like it, is that it is totally unique. There were only 97 Esprits brought into the US for 1999. Everywhere you go it attracts a group of interested people asking what is it and how fast will it go (180 mph). Not too difrerent from a fast boat! :cool:

One more.

I had a '73 Lotus Europa for a short while in high school. It was a blast to drive- very well balanced. It was a small car though- you didn't drive it, you wore it.

The Prince of Darkness visited this car one evening and it burned to the ground.

Jafo... electrical by chance?

Another cheap shot at the English: They don't make computers 'cause they can't figure out how to make 'em leak oil...

That being said, here's an alternative to the Lotus: For low-to-mid $30,000's you can get a used Acura NSX. Pretty rare car, exotic looks, 25/28 mpg, 13.6 quarter-mile, 165 mph, easy to drive, and Honda Accord reliability. I bought one new in 1991, and won't part with it for all the tea in China. Awesome, awesome car....

But of course........I have a Triumph TR6 in my shop too.... 25 + years later and I haven't learned a damn thing.:rolleyes:

i must say i have heard better thigns about the newer lotuses. And yes they are pretty rare. I will give them that.

A good friend of mine owns a Lotus turbo V8. Beautiful car, fast, and small interior. I like it. I own a Dodge Viper that will out run it and I think the styling is better. I have really soured to his car after all the problems he is having. The car lives at the dealer more than at his home. All computer related. I mean really serious, expensive to fix, tow-truck stuff. Fixed and drove it 4 blocks from the dealer and towed again. He down plays it "as it is an exotic car". What a load of crap. A Viper or a Corvette will run as fast and with a lot less hassle. I walked out a Ferrari dealer after hearing you need to change the timing belts every few years or 25,000 miles whichever comes first. $5,000 to drop the engine/transaxle to change the belt. HUH? I will stick to simple cars thank you very much.

This sounds like a good topic for a poll. What 2 seat sports car would you buy, used in the under $40,000? Corvette, Lotus, NSX, Boxster, 911, Z3, ?others.