How precious are you about your car?

[Stuno1 314]

I get annoyed when my car is dirty, has scratches, wheel kerbing, dinks etc.

When I notice an issue I have to get it resolved or it bugs me! I use my car in all weather and will look to track it next year and have been on the ring this year but do want it to be in as good a condition as possible. 

To this end, next year my car is getting both wing mirrors resprayed and ppf applied, all factory applied ppf replaced (it is turning yellow) and extended in some places to cover the whole pannel such as the pannel behind the front wheels, some chips on the roof and front clam being repaired, 3 wheels re-sprayed due to heavy scratching on them and scrape at bottom of passanger side pannel in front of rear wheel is being repaired. Once done the car will be 98% as good as new. If I had the wedge it would be getting full paint correction detail and full ppf.

All for using the car but really quite precious about keeping it tidy. Hope I am not alone!

Stu

 

[theelanman 400]

I am the same I suppose......

I have to have my Lotus cars just so........

I can let them go a little but not much.......certainly always needs to be clean and tidy....

little imperfections I can live with but if theyre beyond my threshold then like you I'll do something about it

and I also make sure they get used......

 

[Colin G 761]

I do my best to take care of my cars whether it be my Lotus or my old faithful Saab that I've owned for years and is worth buttons, but never to the point that I don't use them for the purpose they were built, in any weather. That's about it really. Years back I'd have washed my 400 every time it got a splash of dirt, doesn't bother me so much now, though I do like the interior of my cars really clean and tidy.

[CocoPops 812]

Yellowing PPF is downside of a white car.

It's far less noticable on other colours... particularly yellow

 

[Colin G 761]

Yup, I hated the sight of the PPF on my white Evora!

[theelanman 400]

@Colin G I wonder how many other have Saabs with their Lotus

Im on my 4th......not sure where to go next when this one needs to be changed......

lots of car for not a lot of money.....Ive always had the petrol Aeros too....and theyre pretty quick when you ask em to be

[Barrykearley 4,771]

I wash mine once a year whether it needs it or not

[Stuno1 314]

The yellowing does bug me! I will be a lot happier once it is replaced. 

 

Agree colin, the inside needs to be clean at all times. 

[Colin G 761]

@theelanman My 2007 9-3 anniversary Aero estate just tipped over 100,000 miles at the weekend, in all the years I've owned it and all those miles it's never had one fault. I'm being serious, not one. I love that car. In the time I've had it I think at least six 'fun' weekend cars have come and gone. Like you, I just can't find a replacement I like as much!

[Neal H 610 1 Vehicles]

When it's a daily driver you can't be too precious about it, but I to remain determined to keep the car looking as good as possible at all times, so give it a thorough clean every weekend. I know my resolve will be tested as winter sets in and the temperatures drop - washing cars when it's 0 degrees outside is no fun at all!

 

[theelanman 400]

0 degrees.........tropical.........lol

Im not as far north as Colin but we always get snow.........we're a regular feature on radio 2 in winter....lol

its at that point the car lives in the garage for a few weeks...........don't want to get salt on it........lol

 

[Neal H 610 1 Vehicles]

I always suspected it was grim up north....

[Colin G 761]

My cousin owns a garage, worryingly every time I pull up at it with the Evora in bad weather, one of his mechanics is always like "you can't bring that out in this weather, you'll ruin it!". It's a ****ing car, it's what it's built for!

[theelanman 400]

mine goes out in winter.........don't get me wrong.......just once the snow is past about 8" deep I don't bother......

it just turns into a snow plough for about 200yds before beaching itself

[JayEmm 1,265]

I look after my cars and like them to be in very good condition, and will replace/repair anything that bugs me... but I try not to wind up "not using" a car because I'm afraid something will happen to it. The only car I really don't care about getting dented in a car park is my Peugeot van.

[Colin G 761]

31 minutes ago, theelanman said:

mine goes out in winter.........don't get me wrong.......just once the snow is past about 8" deep I don't bother......

it just turns into a snow plough for about 200yds before beaching itself

To be fair, I wouldn't be arsed driving mine in snow, but that's more fear of other people's driving than my own!

[Bibs 8,107 4 Vehicles]

1 hour ago, theelanman said:

mine goes out in winter

[theelanman 400]

that's the one....

[DJW 593 8 Vehicles]

I look after it, but im definitely not in the camp of keeping miles down on car etc.  Did 4K miles in 2 months in last Exige through all weathers.   Life's too short to worry about when and where to use a car.......just get out there and  enjoy it

[Big Ed 16]

I'm a right bufty boy. I hate a dirty car but fortunately I love cleaning them in any weather!

One question: Do all 400's come with factory ppf?..

[Iconic Ride 267]

1st yr of ownership: Occasional wet weather usage, if for no other reason than to evaluate the windscreen wiper effectiveness.

2nd yr: Rarely exposed to inclement conditions. Have several other choices with which to run the domestic errand circuit.

3rd yr and on: No gravity affected moisture from on high has (or will) touched the pristine surface of this spoiled rotten immaculate conveyance.

Important elucidation:  "The average US city gets 25 inches of snow per year. The number of days with any measurable precipitation is 83. On average, there are 228 sunny days per year in Austin, Texas."  Eat your heart out.

[Steve V8 1,055 1 Vehicles]

As someone who always dreamed of having a Lotus, but didn't think I would ever be able to afford or be allowed to have one, I'm over protective of my beautiful Esprit. I love to take it out as much as possible, but I hate the thought of it getting wet or dirty underneath, there's some strange thought process in my head that leads me to believe that it will dissolve in water. So I I'd like to be a fair weather driver, but the f ***ing weather in this country has other ideas. Every time I arrange to go somewhere it pisses down. There must be some kind rain switch on my garage door me thinks.

[TomE 133]

I was pretty fastidious about my previous Elan and Elise, and about the Evora for the first couple of years of ownership.  More recently family and work commitments have meant it only gets washed about 3-4 times a year rather than monthly.  I commute by train so try to use it more regularly at the weekends rather than let it languish as a garage queen, even if that means using it to transport a muddy, smelly teenager to and from the stables along an unmade dirt track.

Next spring I plan to do an exterior refresh as it'll be reaching 6 years old - remove and replace the Ventureshield, deal with stone chips in other areas, paint correction detail and GTechniq coating, refurbish the scuffed alloys etc.  I'll then continue to enjoy driving it and will keep telling myself that all the special coatings mean I could just give it a quick hose down to restore the sparkle, if only I could be bothered to get the hose out and do it more regularly!

[Escape 513 2 Vehicles]

I'm afraid I'm far less protective about my Lotus... Don't get me wrong, I love her and would hate see something happen to her. But I bought it to drive above all else. I'll do what is needed to keep her in decent shape. Starting with a far from immaculate bodywork (both my previous red one and the current silver, too good to warrant an expensive respray but with enough bits that wont buff out), and not being too found of detailing, I'm satisfied to just keep her clean(ish). Which does mean washing about once a month, usually before an event or local run. And I do love it when I (finally) sort something or make a small improvement (like getting the cracked veneer dash resprayed at the moment, it's been bugging me for over a year).

I do feel bad when I see the wear daily use inflicts on the body, stone chips, occasional grounding on unavoidable speed bumps, parking lot scratches... As long as it's from being used, I can live with it. When offroading, we're used to getting battle scars, some quite bad even, but they all tell a story. A good friend of mine put a big dent in the rear quarter panel going up a waterfall in his Range Rover (he did make it, of course). A few months later his car got hit while parked in front of his house, by a woman who veered off the road while looking for her cigarettes. Even though less damage was done, it had a much bigger impact on him because it was totally unnecessary and beyond his control and not an unfortunate mishap while consciously pushing the limits.

[Colin P 354]

11 hours ago, Ed Duley said:

I'm a right bufty boy. I hate a dirty car but fortunately I love cleaning them in any weather!

One question: Do all 400's come with factory ppf?..

Yes, but the front bumper isn't and I'd recommend that you get it done. I got the headlights done as well. Didn't bother with the half clam as never had an issue with that on the S1 and I don't like the edge across the middle of the clam.

7 hours ago, TomE said:

Next spring I plan to do an exterior refresh as it'll be reaching 6 years old - remove and replace the Ventureshield, deal with stone chips in other areas, paint correction detail and GTechniq coating, refurbish the scuffed alloys etc.  I'll then continue to enjoy driving it and will keep telling myself that all the special coatings mean I could just give it a quick hose down to restore the sparkle, if only I could be bothered to get the hose out and do it more regularly!

PPF/breezeblock aside, I can't say I've ever really thought of your car being particularly filthy, but then again I have been conditioned by our favourite Lotus owning couple .

As for me - I'm getting better with age. I now accept that damage may occasionally happen so whilst trying to avoid it I no longer get upset about it - I just get it sorted immediately. Our cars are always clean and get (carefully) washed at least weekly, I won't let anyone else wash them and the minute something needs doing it gets done. I will however use the things, no point in owning them otherwise. I keep them nice for me, not the next owner. The 400 is coming up to 2500 miles since 1st Sept when I picked it up.