questions about 1995 lotus s4s

[motley]

new here, hello everyone, i may be buying a 95 lotus esprit s4s but am having second thoughts, i have been into american cars all my life but now want to try something different, the car has 30,000 very easy 1 owner miles on it, so mechanicly its very solid, my questions are is this a type of car i can take out and romp on it with out having to worry about something breaking? not that im going to do that but i want to know if it can handle a hard drive every now and then, also are theese cars reliable? can i go on a worry free 3 hour drive with out thinking something bad will happen, are they good daily drivers? is there anything i should know about buying a 95 esprit, were there problems or issues with the 95 model year, thanks guys looking forward to posting and learning alot here

[feffman]

Motley:

The Esprit S4/S4s is very relaible, but it's not a Honda. It's an exotic if used daily will incure some expenses. The car will take what you feed it but unlike American muscle, it's designed to go on twisty roads at high rates of speed, not a short burst 1/4 mile at a time drag racing. If you do stop light launches, plan on a new clutch reguarly. Use synthetic oil and good oil filters, plan on an annual AC charge and an annual service with a knowledgable mechanic. May I suggest you join Lotus Ltd. (www.LotusCarClub.org)

Mark Pfeffer
1999 Esprit V8

[fmxa]

The key is finding one thats been well taken care of. I put about 4K miles a year on my S4s and the biggest expense in two years is a timing belt at $700. It helps if you're handy with a wrench to fix the easy stuff, but it's not a difficult car to work on if you have any mechanical smarts!

My last trip was LA to SF and back via Hwy1, about 1000 miles in a long weekend. Car didn't miss a beat, and I'd have no hesitation getting in today and driving across country.

As for a daily driver, I couldn't do it! The car would put me in the nut house if I had to drive it everyday in Los Angeles freeway traffic (not even a cup holder!).

My advice is to get a PPI on the car by someone who really knows the Esprit before laying out any cash.

Good luck!

[peter450]

check out
www.lotusespritworld.com/
loads of info on every esprit going

[dsf3g]

motley said:

new here, hello everyone, i may be buying a 95 lotus esprit s4s but am having second thoughts, i have been into american cars all my life but now want to try something different, the car has 30,000 very easy 1 owner miles on it, so mechanicly its very solid, my questions are is this a type of car i can take out and romp on it with out having to worry about something breaking? not that im going to do that but i want to know if it can handle a hard drive every now and then, also are theese cars reliable? can i go on a worry free 3 hour drive with out thinking something bad will happen, are they good daily drivers? is there anything i should know about buying a 95 esprit, were there problems or issues with the 95 model year, thanks guys looking forward to posting and learning alot here

You can definitely go 3 hours without worryng about it breaking down. Heck, I did 800 mile non-stop trips in my 1986 Esprit (and it was 14 years old at the time). But they can be troublesome mechanically. I eventually sold the 1986 Esprit because it ate me out of house and home. But the 1989 and above cars are much more reliable (GM bought them and updated the engine management and Lotus slapped on a nice intercooler and bumped the power midway through 1989).

One of your biggest concerns is going to be finding a mechanic who can work on the car. The engines are not so technologically sophisticated that they can't be worked on by a decent mechanic with a good set of tools, but a lot of guys simply don't want to touch the things.

Whatever you do, the best advice I can give is this: buy the best kept example that you can afford. Don't cheap out and buy a car that's not well kept with good records. I did and paid for it dearly. I'd probably still have an Esprit had I taken my time in choosing one, and bought one of the later models.

Good luck.

[Paul93Lotus]

If this helps any....I bought my 1993 Esprit with 32,300 miles in Atlanta Georgia...I then took a flight out there and drove it back to Los Angeles over 5 days. That's about 2500 miles. No problems. If you decide to buy one, keep in mund that some parts are pricey, and that it would need regular routine care. Negligence or regular abuse will lighten your wallet quickly.

[JeffYoung]

Paul, great story! I went the other way. Bought in Seattle on a Friday morning in September, 2003 (a 1993.5 black SE) and drove it to Raleigh NC by Sunday evening. Some long days in the car, and some high speed out West, but we did it.

Car was great. No issues. Like everyone here says, if you keep up with an SE/S4/S4s, they will be very good, very reliable cars.

[ErnestM]

Also, check out Karl's site:

www.espritfactfile.com

He has probably one of the best sorted S4s cars out there...

ErnestM

[deecee]

Lotus Handling and Performance, coupled with General Motors Electronics and Fuel Injection Technology.

Its definitely the best of the 4 cylinder cars and for ease of maintenance, I would definitely rank it above the V8.

If you bought it at Fair Market Value and didn't like it, I'm sure that you would not have a problem reselling it.