How often and far should these gems be driven?

[madmike]

This is my first post on this message board. I am currently shopping for my first Esprit. Though ideally I'd like to find a 95 S4S, an 89-93 SE is probably more realistic due to my budget (The 94 S4 mid mount wing just doesn't look right, IMO.) I have read the Esprit Fact File, as well as countless posts and owner web sites. It is often mentioned that you should drive your Esprit on a regular basis, or else you tend to develop the common problems faster (they don't like to sit.)

My question is, how do you define "often"?

I'm not looking for a daily driver (my beat to death 220K mileage Intrepid will fill that bill) but I wonder two things:

How often is often (every day, twice a week, what?)

How many miles is too many miles? (My daily commute is roughly 120 miles. Though I hope to rectify that this year.)

Once I find one, I don't want to drive it too much, or too little.

Just as a side question, are the S4 Eprits more reliable than the SEs? If so, is the reliability difference enough to overcome the goofball mid mount wing? (Objective question, I know.)

Thanks in advance, the Lotus community is great!!!

[Espritloveruk]

Hi Mike,

Go for the newest one you can afford. An S4 has a few improvements over the earlier Stevens models. Try to get a late 94 model with the revised wiring harness as this should also have the Brembo Brakes which are a step up from the earlier brakes. S4s would be better still as after the Sport 300 it is the most reliable and fastest of all the 4 cyl Esprit's. Only 332 ever sold so may be hard to find one (I own one of the last S4s made and would not sell it for anything. Except a Sport 300, Sport 350 or newish V8 Esprit that is!)

If you hate the S4 wing so much remove it and buy a Sport 300/S4s style hoop or early V8 wing (cost you approx £1K with spraying).

You could also go for a GT3 (cut down no frills Esprit)and may be able to get a 98 model for approx £18-20K. Trouble is they are a bit under powered (only 240BHP as opposed to 267BHP for the S4 & 300 BHP (shorterm with overboost) 285BHP long term for the S4s.

As for how much to drive. Every day and as much as possible as if it is a garage queen you will get some obscure things go wrong (seals and gaskets rotting & some of the other electrical components will degrade or fail). I know people who do 18-20K per year in their Esprit's and usually have less trouble than people who do less miles on an infrequent basis.

The size of your bank balance will dictate how much you can drive her anyway. Every 6000 miles you need to get her serviced as skipping on this will cause even bigger and more expensive problems in the near future.
Even petrol becomes an issue as an S4 or S4s driven fast (IE with the turbo engaged) only gives 12-14mpg. A full tank on mine is about £70 and I can empty that with 2 or 3 real fast blasts somewhere nice in the countryside. Opec bulk discount would help greatly!!

IMHO there are very few second hand Esprit's out there which will not have some minor (maybe major problems) lurking around under that gorgeous shape. Try and get one which has full Lotus service history & or the previous owner was an enthusiast as opposed to some rich tosser who drove it to pieces, skipped on maintenance & generally abused the car.

Pick the wrong car and you could end up paying nearly as much as the car to fix it (granted that's a worse case scenario). Pick a good one and it will give you immense motoring joy which few other cars can match and even few still can better.

Unless you are very confident of the private seller would be better off going to a dealer (Offical ones do not really sell 4 cyl Esprit's nowadays but you may get lucky). You'll get a warranty and may need it. Also, buy the Lotus warranty as this covers you for 12 months & major repairs if need be (although I presume they would inspect the car thoroughly before giving you cover which is approx £1500-1800 per year). At the end of the day owning an Esprit is far cheaper than a Ferrari but the hidden costs of repairs/maintenance makes it the same in the end.

Good Luck & Happy Hunting

[ErnestM]

My one piece of advice would be to find one with a verifiable service history (verifiable by you and not the guy trying to sell it to you)...

As far as driving, I don't think you will be able to stop once you've started - I haven't. When a bought my '98 it only had 4500 miles on it (Sept 1, 2001), it now has a bit over 6800... and it's parked outside(I'm at work), so I'm out of here before the wife calls up with a request for formula...

Good luck and good hunting...

ErnestM

PS: You say you drive an intrepid? In the UK? (Your profile says thats where you live). If you are actually living in the US, I know of a Lotus dealer that has a NICE 94 S4 for sale, relatively inexpensive. Let me know... (same place I bought my '98)

>> Edited by ErnestM on Saturday 9th February 03:07

[madmike]

EspritloverUK and Ernest,

Thanks you for responding so quickly...you've given me some good additional insight.

Ernest, my bad, I am from the US and I fixed my profile. Yes, I would be interested in any leads regarding nice Lotuses. If you know of a nice S4 at a dealership, I'd certainly check it out.

I live in the DC area, but am looking nationwide.

Thanks,

Mike

[e-mail]

PS - Any thoughts from any of you on how to get to sleep at night? I lie awake thinking about Lotuses till the wee hours...and I doubt this affliction will be cured once I get one. May even get worse!!!

[rob.ellis]

quote:
PS - Any thoughts from any of you on how to get to sleep at night? I lie awake thinking about Lotuses till the wee hours...and I doubt this affliction will be cured once I get one. May even get worse!!!

Yes, can confirm that it gets worse! I've been an esprit owner for over two years now (on my second esprit). I drive mine every day. Running costs are higher than other cars i've had, but i've never had the "buzz" i get from the esprit with any other car

Rob
98 V8-GT (uk)

[Nightmare]

back in response to the question 'how much'? and 'whats too much'....I would suggest that driving it a couple of times a week / few hundred miles a week would be enough...and more than 10K a year would affect its value, but not how well it worked...if that makes sense?!

cheers Night

[madmike]

Azzkicker,

I suspect you are the one buying the Black S4 (Travelhead's) I called to snap up the other night! Congrats on beating me to the punch...it looks like a great car; I'm sure you'll love it.

I'm looking at a few others right now...but in the meantime, I'd be happy to be one of the first you show your new gem off to.

Question for you...do you plan on bringing it to the same mechanic, or do you have your own (for maintenance/repairs you won't tackle yourself)?

[e-mail]

[nigelharrison1]

I have had my 95 S4S for almost two years. it had 11,900 miles on it when i bought it, and now it has 23,000. I must agree use the car, it runs better when used.

It is a difficult car to drive in heavy stop and go traffic since the clutch is so heavy.

There is nothing finer than driving an esprit...