Scooby Snacks 23

My brother-in-law to be is about to spend £25K on a 2nd hand, four year old 3.5SE, and I'm trying to disuade him. He's 24, still on his first car (MR2 T Bar), and drive like Morgan Freeman in Driving Miss Daisy. Not only that, but his mum and dad are worried that he'll hurt himself in it, which quite frankly, I think he will.

Anything I can put him off with? Bad depreciation, reliability etc, high insurance premiums, servicing costs etc?

Thanks

MODS - please leave here as I'll get a better reponse than in other marques I suspect! Thanks.

davyboy

Has he got deep pockets?

Scooby Snacks 23

Er, no.
He's so tight he squeeks when he walks!

Gordo

Lot Of Trouble, Usually Serious

Dr Hu

A couple of years ago a poster on here did buy one..... he had it for about two weeks and got rid if I recall.

The old adgae of Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious seemed true on the one he bought, I think in the space of about two weeks it needed several thousands of pounds of repair work, one of which was a engine out job for a cracked exhuast manifold

I believe he returned it to the dealer.

Anyone else remember this....??

Is that enough for you?

(they look the dogs nads though.....)

Tiggs

leave hima lone! what are you? jealous?

Scooby Snacks 23

Not at all Tiggs - I've told him to do what he wants (I know I've been doing that since I passed my test!) but I do want him to consider everything before he committs, that's all.

beemerboy

mr brother had one before his skyline, the thing spent most of the time back to the dealers for repairs/problems.
fooking quick but he had loads of trouble with it!!!

the gear lever even came off, when i was testing it up and down the driveway (as i wasnt insured!!!) Booooo!!!

he changed it for a twin turbo supra, which was much better, then eventually an R34 GTR

PS: He's a git with too much money and attitude, so dont follow his lead please!!!

regards

BB

carl

I think you'll find it was SDB (webmaster) himself...

davyboy

Yes Si did have one, I forgot about that! I was lucky enough to go in it too.

I love the way they look and the quality feel inside...I have a memories of fantastic deep pile carpet!

XRS

Davyboy, I think[/] you'll find that the carpet provides most of the structural rigidity for the car.

I had a twin cam Europa back in 1975. It was less than three years old when I bought it, and I sold it 8 weeks later when the gearbox went. I later found out it had been written off twice before I had it and just about everything bodged (I was young and innocent in those days, now I'm just old and innocent).

Even so I hankered after another, almost bought one but fortunately resisted.

BTW in the 8 weeks I had it I spent a fortune on it, and became well known at the local Lotus dealer.

chopper

I had a red 97 V8SE for about 14 months. Loved this car - when those turbos kicked in, boy this thing could fly! I had ZERO trouble with this car - most expensive thing was depreciation - bought it for 40k and sold it for 28k which hurt a fair bit, but I was off to Oz so had no choice.

If he does go for one, try and get the revised model which came out mid-97, with the new interior, revised spoiler etc. The engine doesn't sound as you would expect ( ie no tvr rumble) but that's nothing a couple of straight throughs can't sort out...

brickboy

Not really relevant to the car your bro-in-law wants, but a mate of mine bought a '78 Esprit Turbo back in the late 80s. What a bloody disaster ....

First, exhaust manifold cracks. Then in trying to remove it to reweld it, several of the manifold bolts shear in the head. So head off to fix that. Then when it's back on the road, the gearbox grenades ... then he's told the front of the chassis holding on the suspension needs welding before the corrosion gets terminal ......

He now drives a nice reliable Toyota

POC

For the same kind of money:

http://3z.bz/nsx/



I know what I would rather have!!!!!

Dizzy

POC You mean you HAVENT owned an esprit?!!? LIES!



IMHO I'd rather have the Esprit but there again there are a LOT of horror stories (like ones above )

DazV

Apparently they're good fun if you get one with all the optional extras on it...

davyboy

It has a Renualt 21 gear box!

cool

Wheelman

Actually it's a Renault 25 gearbox (early cars were Citroen boxes)! One of the reasons they are stopping making them this year is the suplly of the Renault boxes has finished.

I had one, a 1990 for 18 months and used it every day. Was reliable probably as a consequence of the regular use. Expensive to service and if it does go bang...

Does look a million dollars though if you like that sort of thing. I want another one.

carl

POC -- if only it wasn't a targa
(prefer the coupes myself). But 26k for a '96 is a bargain (had someone offer to sell me a '91 for £28k the other day )

chopper

Davyboy - it also has toyota red plastic brake light covers. This does not make it a bad car.... Lotus have nearly gone into liquidation several times - parts sharing is a common practise amongst the smaller car manufacturers as they can direct the majority of money to the important bits....engine etc. It's getting on a bit I agree but give it a break!

Lotus engineering can claim to having 'some' design input to over 10% of all the cars in the world. Who else would have designed a dial in your mini (of the future) that you can flick to Ferrari/Lamborghini/ERA and it senses the throttle position and plays the noise through your car speakers! (actually part of their anti-noise idea which is now in production with Mercedes). So who would buy a Merc eh -Urghh! Lotus designed the sound suppressant system

Black Cat

Andy
Tell him it looks like a squashed frog... that ought to do it
P
PS On a more serious note, is it rear wheel drive? if yes then with that kind of power he'll be driving an extremely skittish animal in the wet or on ice... I know of quite a few people who have ended up in very dangerous situations with various rear wheelers, myself included and that was only the MX5.

Drive home the delights of owning a safe 4wdr car with power, speed and reliability.


[Edited by Black Cat - 5/9/2003 9:22:33 AM]