Lotus Carlton ???

[cossie1]

Anyone know much about the Lotus Carltons ? I have been offered a 93 model with 71k on the clock and fsh, as a swap for my E6... So does anyone know what there like to run and maintain ? Anything to watchout for (other than the obvious accident damage and bodged repairs). I know the interior is very very dull to look at, but imo the outside is pretty awesome to look at, and the main thing, is the power is ment to be pretty damn good at 377bhp from the arse end. But I don't want to swap my E6 if there is alot of dodges with the Lotus, I mean this is 1 of those cars as I kid I always wanted, but never thought I would get 1, is it best left as a dream car ??? HELP PLZ

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[SamERST]

Dont know much about them technicly but i would go for it as their only going to go up in value.
Ive always wanted one since i was a wee nipper.


Go for it mate !

[Fudgey]

if it goes wrong, youll need a loan to fix it.

no parts are available now i dont think

[RstNut]

I heard parts are ludicrous prices

[Mike Rainbird]

If it breaks, it will bankrupt you to sort out .

[rsnissan]

lots of info here

http://www.lotuscarlton.co.uk
and here
http://www.lotus-carlton.fsnet.co.uk/

[Jay_]

mate of mine had one clutch went couldnt get one for love or money had to get it reconed at 350+vat i guess it depends on how deep are ur pockets

jay

[BlueSmoke]

Best left as a dream car, unfortunately mate.

The parts are like rocking horse poo and if anything goes wrong, you WILL pay for it. If there was a decent supply of parts to maintain these cars then they'd be much more sought after IMO....

[MONSTER]

As already said, parts if you can find em are horrendously expensive..

PM Lord Lucan on RSOC, he used to own 1

[simonc]

A friend of mine has had one from new, its ony done 20 odd thousand miles even now. It had to have a new head at about 7k miles as it cracked & kept overheating. Probably not common but his car won't start very well if its on a slope ! (to do with petrol) i remember pushing it to get it going at my sisters wedding ! Parts are very expensive & some are hard to come by. Like you i have always liked them ,but i couldn't afford to run one if it went wrong. It is defintely not an everyday car. Personally i'd rather have the modern day E39 M5 for the same money. The Lotus needs to be kept in a garage & pampered.

If you swap your evo for a Lotus carlton it could end up in tears

Check this website it has some usefull info.
http://www.lotus-carlton.co.uk/

Simon

[Anonymous]

Fuck wether its sensible or not and go fot it if its always been a dream car, they hold their value well so own it for a while and if it starts getting too expensive just sell it on and get something else.

[markyd3]

what do you value your E6 at?

[cossie1]

WOW didn't think i would get this many replies this quick (I mean 3pm ish on a tuesday afternoon, have none of us got jobs, lol ).

Originally Posted by chip-3door

Fuck wether its sensible or not and go fot it if its always been a dream car, they hold their value well so own it for a while and if it starts getting too expensive just sell it on and get something else.

Thats the way I WAS looking at it, but now after all the replies on here, and the MLR im not so sure, lol.

I always thought they were quite reliable, I guessed parts would be expensive and also guessed some parts wouldn't be avaliable off the shelf now (just like the cossie's I guess), but I suppose I didn't think about the fact that a Lotus Carlton isn't like a cossie in the respect that if something isn't avaliable from the dealer, then I doubt there is an aftermarket part for it either

And the other thing is, it wouldn't be kept in the garage and it would be my everyday car.

[cossie1]

Originally Posted by markyd3

what do you value your E6 at?

I've got it up for £13,000

[Anonymous]

one and only every day car that you need to rely on?

are you fucking mental?


Stick with the E6 its the perfect combination of Fun/Image/Performance/Reliability

[Fudgey]

if your gonna use it every day, buy a bus pass too mate just incase lol

[cossie1]

Originally Posted by chip-3door

one and only every day car that you need to rely on?

are you fucking mental?


Stick with the E6 its the perfect combination of Fun/Image/Performance/Reliability

LOL

Am I mental, hmmm HELL YES

The E6 is great fun, but I get bored of cars quick, and if I was to keep the evo then it needs more power, and I get fedup with spending money on making a car go faster, when I could just get something that is faster

[Stealth Bomber]

Originally Posted by fudgeass

if your gonna use it every day, buy a bus pass too mate just incase lol

LoL

[markyd3]

Originally Posted by cossie1

I've got it up for £13,000

I would deffo say stick with the Evo!!

[simonc]

I can't believe how you go through cars Didn't you have a nice magenta saff,E36 M3 & now the Evo 6.

Simon.

[Anonymous]

Originally Posted by cossie1

LOL

Am I mental, hmmm HELL YES

The E6 is great fun, but I get bored of cars quick, and if I was to keep the evo then it needs more power, and I get fedup with spending money on making a car go faster, when I could just get something that is faster

A lotus carlton isnt faster than a 325bhp evo in 90% of circumstances!

[cossie1]

Originally Posted by simonc

I can't believe how you go through cars Didn't you have a nice magenta saff,E36 M3 & now the Evo 6.

Simon.

Yes, and 4 other saffs, an M5, an e36 M3 Evo saloon, 3 rst's, an audi s2, nova 2.0 16v, pulsar, scooby STi, mondeo v6, bm 325i sport, bm 325ise and some others that I need to think about before I will remember.

lol

[cossie1]

Originally Posted by chip-3door

A lotus carlton isnt faster than a 325bhp evo in 90% of circumstances!

Fuck, now that has burst the bubble

What about an e39 M5 ???

[Anonymous]

The problem you have, is that point to point you have one the quickest possible cars already unless you start looking at very exotic stuff or very modifed stuff

[BlueSmoke]

I actually prefer the looks of the Evos after the 6

Mate you may have to look to some of the Jap only models of Scooby, Evo etc. if you want more....

[RSPTG]

Had the chance of buying one of these in Cardiff, was going to px the escos. awsome cars but I bottled it rust at the bottom of the doors and an oil leak which looked expensive......I never regretted it though.......keep the EVO mate.

[Grant]

I once read in EVO magazine that they need a rebuild at around 65,000 miles. Keep the Evo

[Jay_]

Originally Posted by cossie1

Fuck, now that has burst the bubble

What about an e39 M5 ???

didnt the e39 M5 when new came with a pringle v neck and 20% off at ur local golf club membership

jay

[cossie1]

ok so it might not be a match made in heaven lol

But, what they like to sell on ? I know there not cheap, and I know not everyone would want 1, but as there such a rare and mental car there must be a following for them ? and they should sell easy enough aslong as there in good condition ???

[DooerEvo1]

Do you not know what "LOTUS" stands for mate=

L OTS
O F
T ROUBLE
U SUALLY
S ERIOUS

But on a serious note a couple of mates of mine used to have one,very expensive and unreliable deffo a rich mans toy.One of em was even blueprinted and that was even worse it was off the road more times than on it.

But what a car in a straight line though.............

[dojj]

if you crack the bellhousing (like they do after a certain age) you can't get another one
just like the majority of the parts
and, like the majority of peole here, yes, if i had the spare cash to spend i'd get one, but as an everyday car, you'd be better of with something italian

[The Sludge]

as chip has said-go for it

i know lots about the car as i really want one. I know James Waddington failry well of that Lotus site. To get the engine done he had to have some parts especially made as you cannot get them.

If i remember rightly it costs around £85 quid to fill the tanks. Its gone after around 230 miles 'ish or therabaouts

The brakes are £380 each corner or were around 3 years ago.

Still would not put me off buying one. ( i will get one eventually, its my personal goal) They will be a future classic collectors car. Only 1040 were built or so.

377bhp twin turbo 3.6 motor for around £15k>cheap as chips

Go for it mate

[cossie1]

1100 were planned to be made, 440 were planned for the uk, but in the end only 950 were made, and of those I think only 250 were uk models.

[cossie1]

Ok, the car I have been offered is a 1993 model, has full main dealer service history (1 of the 16 approved dealers to sell the car when new, and they have serviced it all it's life), 2 owners from new, 71,000 miles, HPI clear, Had a full respray about 12 months ago as the front of the car was stone chipped and there were some scratches here n there, and the current owner wanted it looking like new.

Only problem that is logged in the history was the clutch fork and pin needed replacing which again the main dealer did.

It's not had the headgasket done, and hasn't had a clutch either.

So what do you think ??

Oh and it's 100% standard still

[blacky.]

http://videos.streetfire.net/iPlayer...E-C27B762D0392
take a look could sway your choice lol
i wouldnt like is i would never have the cash for petrol nevermind fixing it

[The Sludge]

cossie 1

you get one chance in this life to do what you want, own what you want. Do it. LIve for today and fook tomorrow until tomorrow arrives.

Thats my philosophy

Oh and if you do get it, give us a ring mate

[cossie1]

Originally Posted by the sludge

cossie 1

you get one chance in this life to do what you want, own what you want. Do it. LIve for today and fook tomorrow until tomorrow arrives.

Thats my philosophy

Oh and if you do get it, give us a ring mate

Thats very very true m8, but as I said earlier, this will / would be my daily driver, and as it says above it seems that there not as reliable as I thought they were, so I need to workout if I can afford to get another car as a daily driver and only use this at weekends etc.

Oh and my insurance company won't touch it with a barge pole, but said they will cover an E39 M5 for £20 extra (which is just an admin fee).

[carfixz]

we have the occasional one in at our work (vaux dealer in edinburgh), the last one we had needed a coil pack, and it was £600+ if i remember rightly, and took weeks to come, they are extremley expensive to fix, no doubt about it and i remember hearing that approx 40% of parts are no longer available, and that was not including body or trim parts

[cossie1]

I have thought about this, and I can't get the damn thing out of my head.

im now thinking, well if I get another car as a daily runner anyway then after a few months of having fun with this, or until something nasty happens (clutch, coil etc) then once im at that point I could just break it.

im sure as there sooo rare that it would make good money, and again as there so rare im sure they bits wouldn't take long to shift either ???

[Stavros]

Using a Lotus Carlton as a daily driver and leaving it on the street in a big housing estate?

Your off your fookin nut Russ

I love LC's, but in your situation id keep the Evo