New member from Baltimore, Maryland USA

[plannerphil]

Hello All!

I'm tiring of my Smart Fortwo. It's a great fit for the city but not much fun outside of it. I'm saving my pennies for a roadster, and the Elan is among the top contenders. I've reduced my driving to work (50 mi roundtrip) to just one or two days per week, so I can now prioritize fun over reliability. I'm intrigued by the Elan's sharp looks, relative rarity, superb handling, powerful and apparently reliable powertrain, and usable trunk.

My current goal is to save $10,000 for the car, and budget $2500 per year in maintenance/repairs/misc. From searching the boards here, it sounds like that might be reasonable?

I've noticed that leaks around the windows and roof are among the top problems. I don't have a covered parking spot, just a parking pad with a nice shade tree over it. Would that be an issue?

This seems like a nice community. Thanks in advance for welcoming me!

Phil

[epipete]

Hi Phil

Given the exchange rate differences, although expenses may differ on your side of the Pond, I think the figures you quote are about right, that said a lot depends on how much maintenance 'work' you intend to do yourself.

In respect of the weather, I've no idea about Baltimore's precipitation but rain covers are available - both full covers and smaller roof/cockpit covers, the latter is easy and quick to install.

There are other measures that you can put in place to mitigate or reduce the ingress of water when it's parked, what seems to annoy most is a constant drip from the top of the A pillar on to your leg when driving (or having a saturated seat if parked); I have found that for this to happen it needs to be raining proverbial 'cats & dogs' and, at city speeds anyway, releasing the roof so it is secured only by the safety clips on the latches allows the water to flow away properly.

[lotos]

Figure $12,500 for a good car and I'd say more like $500-1000 annually for other stuff (mods notwithstanding). You can spend less up front but might have costly fixes that far exceed my number. Welcome!

[steve matthews]

Baltimore Ravens
Welcome

Steve- Eagles fan

[Tyger]

I would say you need to keep it under more cover than just a tree, unfortunately, and when things do break it may take you quite a while to find the parts and it will be nearly impossible to find a mechanic who's even ever seen the car before. It's not like in the UK where there are still quite a few floating around. Not a good choice for an ungaraged daily driver in the US, IMO.

[Tyger]

There are other measures that you can put in place to mitigate or reduce the ingress of water when it's parked, what seems to annoy most is a constant drip from the top of the A pillar on to your leg when driving (or having a saturated seat if parked); I have found that for this to happen it needs to be raining proverbial 'cats & dogs' and, at city speeds anyway, releasing the roof so it is secured only by the safety clips on the latches allows the water to flow away properly.

Safety clips??? Must be a H&S thing

[epipete]

Well, you know, you release the roof fastener, and then there is still a retainer that stops the wind lifting the roof! Of course you do, didnt you guys over there invent H&S?

[plannerphil]

I would say you need to keep it under more cover than just a tree, unfortunately, and when things do break it may take you quite a while to find the parts and it will be nearly impossible to find a mechanic who's even ever seen the car before. It's not like in the UK where there are still quite a few floating around. Not a good choice for an ungaraged daily driver in the US, IMO.

Thanks for the advice. We have a shop in the Baltimore area that has a skilled Lotus mechanic on their team. From what I can tell, the place is pretty highly regarded. I know they work on a number of Esprits in the region. I should call and ask if they maintain any M100s.

[Tyger]

Well, you know, you release the roof fastener, and then there is still a retainer that stops the wind lifting the roof! Of course you do, didnt you guys over there invent H&S?

As far as I can tell, the only thing that holds my roof in place are the two "fasteners". Or as the Handbook calls them, the "header rail latches". Does this other "retainer" have a part number??

We've got federal occupational safety and health (OSHA) for worksites, but nothing for personal "safety" even close to what you guys have over there, at least not on a national level.

[Tyger]

[

Thanks for the advice. We have a shop in the Baltimore area that has a skilled Lotus mechanic on their team. From what I can tell, the place is pretty highly regarded. I know they work on a number of Esprits in the region. I should call and ask if they maintain any M100s.

Esprits are very different animals, but it bodes well if he really is a qualified Lotus mechanic. You should definitely ask, though. Some Esprit folks are a bit snobby about M100s, haha.
You'll definitely want a waterproof cover for parking on rainy days!
Lastly, I think you might have a tough time finding a decent one for $10K in the US. Certainly be very wary of any one that's priced much lower, as there's likely a reason why it hasn't sold yet.

[lotos]

I think you might have a tough time finding a decent one for $10K in the US. Certainly be very wary of any one that's priced much lower, as there's likely a reason why it hasn't sold yet.