v8 se

[jcb 260]

hi,I am about to buy a v8 esprit,will be my first lotus. I have read a lot of information about these cars and I am terrified of how fragile these cars really are. Could someone please ease my mind a little and advise on the following questions. Is the life of a v8 50000 miles? What is the expected life of the gearbox? what other silly problems might I expect from a 50000 mile se? I only plan to use this car maybe once per week ie 3000 miles per year what running costs can I expect? many thanks .

[GKP]

The V8 should be good for 200k+ miles if looked after.

Missuse/lack of oil changes/irregular maintenance will obviously shorten it's life. A number of cars have had their engines rebuilt due to a sealing issue with the base of the cylinder liners (see hylomar thread!) but once reassembled, the should be reliable.

Gearboxes can get tired or broken by enthusiastic treatment. They don't like lots of high power standing starts or hurried and forced gearchanges. But again, if cared for will last many thousands of miles. It all depends on your (or previous owner's!) mechanical sympathy when driving.


Buy it, drive it! It's just a car. If something breaks then fix it, but don't let any potential expense put you off enjoying a great car.

[rob.e]

If you’re really that worried, then I suggest you buy a diesel toyota. I hear they are very reliable..


I drive the nuts off mine, and although its not been cheap to run, i reckon it holds up pretty well compared to any similar vehicle*.


* meaning low volume hand made sports cars with similar performance.

[rob.e]

jcb 260 said:

I only plan to use this car maybe once per week ie 3000 miles per year what running costs can I expect? many thanks .

Well, discounting my engine rebuild, over 51 months and 45000 miles it works out for me at about 2500 per year on servicing and all other repairs. I'd guess you'd be looking at about half that with your lower mileage. Generally, esprits don't like being left standing for long periods of time - in fact your running costs may end up being lower if you use it more (and cost per mile definitely lower )

[jcb 260]

does all pre-2000 give coolent problems {liners.etc}

[rob.e]

jcb 260 said:

does all pre-2000 give coolent problems {liners.etc}

No, but its safer to stick with post2000 v8s OR a car that has already had a rebuild, and most if not all pre2000 cars that could be affected have had rebuild by now...

[peter450]

if your worried about running or reliabilty costs then maybe you should consider an 4cyl car these tend to be more reliable with lower running costs an the s4s is not all that much slower