Can an Esprit be used everyday?

[Dave350iTVR]

As a TVR owner, I'm testing the water with other marques such as Lotus and Porsche. My TVR 350i seems to require constant attention - is the Esprit similar in maintenance terms. Does anyone use them as their daily transport? How reliable are they? Cheers, Dave.

[rob.ellis]

Yes, i use the esprit every day, as its my only transport. This includes my 100 mile round trip to work which i do three or four times a week.

Maitenance costs are high on an esprit, but the two i've had have never let me down (am i tempting fate here!?) I used to run a 98 GT3, now drive a 98 V8-GT.

All the info you need on esprits is on www.espritfactfile.com or www.lotusespritworld.co.uk

Cheers
Rob

ps - the running costs for my current car are all in the members cars section www.pistonheads.com/members/showCar.asp?carId=161

[adrianmugridge]

I've ran 3 esprits over the last 10 years as my only car and until last year was driving 60 miles a day to work and back. My current Esprit, a GT3, has broken down twice in 3 years, or about 50,000 miles.
My web site, www.adrianmugridge.co.uk has all my running costs on it, so you know what to expect.

Adrian Mugridge
[e-mail]

[Dave350iTVR]

Sounds good! Are your services through independant specialists or main dealers? Does anyone do the work themselves? My TVR allows me to carry out a lot of the work myself - (apart from the recent cluth replacement that required the engine out!).

[adrianmugridge]

Dave

I have mine serviced at a Lotus(Independant) and TVR(Main dealer) dealer in Cheshire. Labour is around £45/hour. A major 'C' service ( 24,000 or 36,000 miles, depending on age of car, newer ones are 36,000 ) is around 12 hours work. Labour rates vary a lot, smaller, independant garages are around £20/hour but some main dealers ( Like London Lotus Centre ) are over £100/hour.

Adrian

[d didit]

For me, an S4 has to be one of the funnest cars to work on. Mine has never ever broken down. Probably because I am a fanatic when it comes to service. For the last 6k of miles last year, I changed every little thing you can think of, fluids, belts, plugs, you name it. It didn't really need it because the service was done when I purchased it, but, I like to know for sure that it was done correctly. Also, it familiarizes me with the working aspects of the vehicle.

So for the year and my time, I probably spend about $700-1000 for maitenance aspects. Not bad for an exotic. I won't say what I paid when it comes to my modification for performance. That is going up the roof! So if you don't mind working and getting a little greasy, these cars are gems. I will be changing the clutch soon and this should be fun. So, if there is anything I can say that was hard, it must be the bolt forward right bolt on the turbo flanged. Those tabs are hell to bend when you have no leverage!