Hello

[Taro]

Just want to say hello to all on the Esprit forum. I'm new on the site and in the market for an S4 or GT3. Thanks to S4Simon for steering me this way and giving me useful advice. Seems this is the right time of year to buy one when it's quiet.

I look forward to spending many happy hours at my keyboard!

Thanks for reading.

Taro

[Paul C]

Welcome Taro

Best of luck finding a nice one!

Any questions while looking, post e'm up here.

[s4simon]

Greetings Taro,

Next thing for you to do is drop in on a couple of get togethers this year. With doing this you can get all your questions answered in a day.

Don't forget to check out the garage button at the top of the screen. There's a few good reads in there.

[Bibs]

Welcome to the forum Taro and good luck in your epic quest! There's a few guys on here who have recently purchased and I'm sure will share at a get together with you.

[lrg_machine]

Hi Taro

Welcome to the forum(s). There's no info for your location so if you're interested and it's not too far some of us are getting together this Sunday at

Warbrook House

Warbrook

Eversley

Hampshire

RG27 0PL

It's a SELOC meet but a few of us Esprit owners are going as well.

[Taro]

Hi Taro

Welcome to the forum(s). There's no info for your location so if you're interested and it's not too far some of us are getting together this Sunday at

Warbrook House

Warbrook

Eversley

Hampshire

RG27 0PL

It's a SELOC meet but a few of us Esprit owners are going as well.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks to all of you for taking the trouble to reply to a newbie. I live in Manchester (no jokes about the rain please) way up norfff so the next meet in Hampshire is a bit of a trek for me. I've noticed the nearest place from here the group arranges meets is at AltonTowers. I really look forward to joining in the next meet if it's norff 'o' watford gap. Drive safely!

[Guest Troy Halliday]

Hi Taro welcome aboard.

Do you know untill recently I thought the Watford Gap was some sort of slang about Watford being a .... hole. Well you know what I mean

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

Hi Taro, We also tend to make the trip up to eth Club Lotus Meets at Stoneleigh (Coventry) and Donnington... I guess they're kind of half way!

First thing you have to do is read www.lotusespritworld.com religiously and read the Buyers guide info....

Then SEE as many as possible and ask us / Yahoo etc about ANY car yo8u are thinking of seeing as it may well be a known (good/bad) car or a dodgy dealer and there may be model specific advice

Check LEW's for sale pages several times a day and check Autotrader several times daily. Be prepared to move (ie checck out / place a deposit) on a good car *immediately* as the boys here who have recently bought cars can testify, good ones go near instantly and within a few hours the sellers have usually had at least 5 inquiries!!

Also make sure you get a local Esprit EXPERT to check over any car before you buy it! - This is kind of a non-negotiable - Ignore at your peril!

Lastly, out comes the cliche....

"There's nothing more expensive than a cheap Esprit!!"

Good luck!

[Taro]

Thanks Evil Dr Fish, I'll take your good advice on board. People will know I'm a serious buyer when I take my check list and clip board with me. They may even think I'm a dealer but I wouldnt want to be thought of as a 'tyre kicker' or 'pilot' otherwise I may get 'hit around the head with a shovel'.....a quote from Jeremy Clarkson I think which I found used in an ebay car advertisement recently. ha ha

[Evil_Dr_Fish]

Hmmm yes and watch out for Esprits on ebay!!

You MAY get a genuine bargain but you do have to ask yourself "Why is it not selling by 'traditional' methods" See if you can get one of us who may live nearest to check it over and as ever get a local speicalist!

We have seen some real dogs ending up on ebay and the por sap owner turning up on LEW all proud of his new acquisition and how fast he thinks it is, when we all already knew it was down on power and was only 50% compression in one of the cylinders etc etc..

I guess the real advice is "Ask LOADS of questions in every arena possible" (Here, LEW, Yahoo ukespritforum)

[Paul C]

Check LEW's for sale pages several times a day and check Autotrader several times daily. Be prepared to move (ie checck out / place a deposit) on a good car *immediately* as the boys here who have recently bought cars can testify, good ones go near instantly and within a few hours the sellers have usually had at least 5 inquiries!!

True.

If it's a good car at a good price and even if the Ad is new on that day,

If the vendor says he has 'other people waiting', chances are he does.

I used

[Taro]

Hiya Paul C,

Thanks for the good advice and the phone location web site link, I've added it to my private eye favourites!. You know, when I do go to see an Esprit and feel compelled to put the experience/ ask for advice on this forum, chances are the owner is also a member I suppose if the car's a goodun the owner wont mind in the least.