To buy a Lotus Esprit 1988 or not?????? :)
Discussion
Hi to everyone on this great forum!
Buying an Esprit has been a dream of mine since having an 1988 Esprit poster hunged on my wall for the first time, ages ago! So I am thinking of maybe buying one Esprit year 1988 in the next year, as my weekend car, to have it in Greece! So I have some questions:
1) What do you think of a Lotus Esprit year 1988 (with the redesigned shape) as a potential buy?
2) Are there any common problems with this particular year that can turn the car into money pit? Do
you consider it to be reliable in total? Do you think that 70 or 80k miles are too many for the
engine of this car?
3) Esprit maintenance: How much should I keep every year on average for the maintenance of an Esprit
year 1988?
4) What is a normal price for an Esprit 1988' in good condition these days?
Thank you guys!! Send some pics if you like!:P
Buying an Esprit has been a dream of mine since having an 1988 Esprit poster hunged on my wall for the first time, ages ago! So I am thinking of maybe buying one Esprit year 1988 in the next year, as my weekend car, to have it in Greece! So I have some questions:
1) What do you think of a Lotus Esprit year 1988 (with the redesigned shape) as a potential buy?
2) Are there any common problems with this particular year that can turn the car into money pit? Do
you consider it to be reliable in total? Do you think that 70 or 80k miles are too many for the
engine of this car?
3) Esprit maintenance: How much should I keep every year on average for the maintenance of an Esprit
year 1988?
4) What is a normal price for an Esprit 1988' in good condition these days?
Thank you guys!! Send some pics if you like!:P
Have a look on Lotus Esprit World for all the different models and maintenance issues plus 4sale section on there to give you an idea of current market rates. The 88's - 89 were carbied with citron box but crossed over in 89 with the renault box. The 89 onwards also switched over to the SE which had the fuel injection and nicer interior. The USA cars are a different matter again. My advice is buy the newest one you can afford.
Happy researching
Happy researching
I have an 88 and think it has plenty of spirit in it. One major factor in owning a car like this for fun is that you are going to drop a lot of money and time into it so you better get the car you have wanted for so long. Don't be scared away with the 88 shortcomings. The gearbox is fine as long as you maintain it. Some things are harder on it but then again those same things have less of a problem once they are sorted out (ie K-jet). I know my engine was worked on before I got it from Lotus and they teaked up some things inside and the PO also threw on a larger turbo (not too big) so mine is a little faster than a stock 88.I have been told it will keep up with an SE but that is not why I bought it and don't really care if it beats my minivan I just love the feel of driving it.
Also on your question of price it all depends what someone will pay for one. The bad examples look like they are going for around 15-17 with the midrange around 20 and then higher for an excellant example.
Also on your question of price it all depends what someone will pay for one. The bad examples look like they are going for around 15-17 with the midrange around 20 and then higher for an excellant example.
Edited by enzomn on Wednesday 17th September 18:53
At the risk of p155ing on your bonfire so to speak a work of caution from someone who had a 1988 NA SE.
Red, cream leather, lift out roof panel, SE wheels, spoiler etc. Looked great drove great. Would regularly hit 140 on my er, long private driveway, on the way home.
initially.
Then on the way to work one morning something let go. One piston had managed to end up scoring the liner.
At the time (and this was back in 2002/03) you had to buy a nicasil liner with a piston (matched as a pair) and you have to get pistons in a set of 4, balanced you know. Only one supplier could get them for £750 EACH!!!
Plus it needed a new head as the old one had been over skimmed at some point in it's life. very very expensive.
Add to that that i couldn't get new rear disks or shocks from independant suppliers OR main dealers (items you would have though would be consumables) and i'd had enough and swapped it for cash to buy the engine for my current toy. Best swap ever.
Perhaps mine was just a bit of a lemon, but i'd never have one again.
One last thing, one of the (many) times it broke down, the day after going to the main dailer for a service, we spent 6 hours in the centre of Bristol, were attended by 7 breakdown vehicles of varying sizes (at one point we had 3 trucks packed up in front of us) before they managed to find something that could tow us the 2 miles home.
(No towing eye on the back and the front was too low to pull onto the flat bed or scoop under the front wheels)
Buy one, put it in the garage and look at it every now and then, but don't expect to be able to drive it!!
Red, cream leather, lift out roof panel, SE wheels, spoiler etc. Looked great drove great. Would regularly hit 140 on my er, long private driveway, on the way home.
initially.
Then on the way to work one morning something let go. One piston had managed to end up scoring the liner.
At the time (and this was back in 2002/03) you had to buy a nicasil liner with a piston (matched as a pair) and you have to get pistons in a set of 4, balanced you know. Only one supplier could get them for £750 EACH!!!
Plus it needed a new head as the old one had been over skimmed at some point in it's life. very very expensive.
Add to that that i couldn't get new rear disks or shocks from independant suppliers OR main dealers (items you would have though would be consumables) and i'd had enough and swapped it for cash to buy the engine for my current toy. Best swap ever.
Perhaps mine was just a bit of a lemon, but i'd never have one again.
One last thing, one of the (many) times it broke down, the day after going to the main dailer for a service, we spent 6 hours in the centre of Bristol, were attended by 7 breakdown vehicles of varying sizes (at one point we had 3 trucks packed up in front of us) before they managed to find something that could tow us the 2 miles home.
(No towing eye on the back and the front was too low to pull onto the flat bed or scoop under the front wheels)
Buy one, put it in the garage and look at it every now and then, but don't expect to be able to drive it!!
I've driven somewhere in the region of 50,000 miles in Esprits over the past 8 years and have once been on a low loader, the recovery company arrived with an appropriate vehicle in 45 mins. Oh, the other time it's been on a truck was when the latest one was being delivered to me.
Lotus sold 10,675 of these cars. They are as reliable, if not more so in my experience as any other exotic supercar as long as they are well maintained.
Lotus sold 10,675 of these cars. They are as reliable, if not more so in my experience as any other exotic supercar as long as they are well maintained.
I've had mine for 18 years. When I got it, it looked pretty but it turned out servicing had been skimped because it was used very irregularly as a toy by people who worked in the middle east. It was hopelessly unreliable, let me down three times and cost me a fortune in repairs in the first few months. But I used it as a daily and had it properly serviced on schedule. Ignoring my first year's ownership, my Esprit has been totally reliable for 17 years, loads of fun and has included at least one track day a year. If you can find one thats been looked after, you use it regularly, and you can afford to look after it - an Esprit can give years of reliable service.
In 2002 I bought 4 nicasil pistons and liners for ~£900
Join www.lotusespritforum.com - If you're serious about buying one, that's not an option!
You will get shafted on prices through a lack of information unless you are on there - The guys on there know *everything* and I mean literally everything there is to know about Esprits, what can be bought and from where.
Go to larger, well known dealer/mechanics and you can easily end up paying 3 times as much as you would if you went elsewhere.
Join www.lotusespritforum.com - If you're serious about buying one, that's not an option!
You will get shafted on prices through a lack of information unless you are on there - The guys on there know *everything* and I mean literally everything there is to know about Esprits, what can be bought and from where.
Go to larger, well known dealer/mechanics and you can easily end up paying 3 times as much as you would if you went elsewhere.
Today my 89 esprit clicked over to 100,000 miles on the odometer. I bought the car in 92 with 1738 showing, from the original owner.
Awesome car, well worth the price of admission.
Get the 88, join the Lotus Esprit forum, and read up on the car as much as you can and you may avoid some of the headaches that can occur.
Awesome car, well worth the price of admission.
Get the 88, join the Lotus Esprit forum, and read up on the car as much as you can and you may avoid some of the headaches that can occur.
abrussich said:
Today my 89 esprit clicked over to 100,000 miles on the odometer. I bought the car in 92 with 1738 showing, from the original owner.
Awesome car, well worth the price of admission.
Get the 88, join the Lotus Esprit forum, and read up on the car as much as you can and you may avoid some of the headaches that can occur.
That is awesome Awesome car, well worth the price of admission.
Get the 88, join the Lotus Esprit forum, and read up on the car as much as you can and you may avoid some of the headaches that can occur.
On orginal engine without new internals? My 89 had over 80,000 miles with good compression, credit to Lotus really as most high performance engines need rebuilding much much earlier.Yep, block is untouched. Had to replace some bent valves at 92K but that was due to a broken vacuum pump belt which was supposed to have been replaced but got missed.
Had the engine dynoed after the valve replacement and had rear wheel h.p. close to 230. BHP is probally around 250-260.
Esprit 4 pot engines are awesome and the strongest part of the whole car. IMHO.
Had the engine dynoed after the valve replacement and had rear wheel h.p. close to 230. BHP is probally around 250-260.
Esprit 4 pot engines are awesome and the strongest part of the whole car. IMHO.
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