DeanB

Guy I don't blame you for passing. I'm not saying it's a bad car but 29,000 miles, a substantial portion of which are on track including some cruncher drivers that can't heel and toe ..... it would worry me. Standard Lotus service intervals aren't designed for full-on track cars. I'd want to see much shorter service intervals and so on.

Wonderful

The V105 Yoko tyres that Lotus fitted on the late model 220 Sports aren't that expensive and last pretty well - I have them and like them, so does Dunc on his cup but I know DaveB isn't keen on them! I think they are still less than £400 for a full set and are a lot better in the heavy rain and cold than track day type tyres like AO52s and Toyo 888Rs (although they are awesome in the dry warm weather).

I would want to change tyres that old, particularly if you plan on using it in the wet and cold. I would be using it as a haggling point on a £38k car. That's a lot of money by the way!

They have always been good pads the Pagids, I had them on my VX220 back in the day. I'm hoping the Ferodo DS2500s aren't far off but we shall see.

The scenery is unreal. It will blow you away. Wasdale is ridiculously beautiful. If you get time to have a swim in Waswater even better - although it needs to be a bloody hot day unless you have a suit! Have a great trip 😊

I second The Bower House at Eskdale. Lovely inn and the food is excellent. Nice garden too.

You might be able to pimp the interior but realistically you ain't retrofitting aircon. I think you are probably better waiting for the right spec car to turn up.

Which Pagid pads did you go for? I usually use Carbon Lorraine RC5+ on the front axle but I have just ordered some Ferodo DS2500s - they were good value, about £130 all in from DemonTweeks. A fair bit cheaper than the RC5+, let's hope they are as good. Or at least nearly as good.

Hi Stu. Good to hear from you. Have you tried Phil Peek? He's on facebook. And UK Lotus Centre in Birmingham? Good luck! Dean

Seems like a very sensible idea to me

Dave you are not comparing like for like. If a punter had a choice between a car with service stamps from a main dealer or a car that the owner simply serviced himself - and had receipts for consumables - most would ptefer the former, all other things being equal. If however you are comparing a car with service stamps to a car that has been partly disassembled by an enthusiast owner with previous experience (you for example) that has meticulously cleaned, restored or replaced everything that needed it to a proper standard and documented all of it with lots of photos then a prospective purchaser may well prefer the latter. I would add that a really skilled amateur mechanic with experience of these cars can also spot and rectify most if not all of the issues a specialist professional can (I suspect Lithospian is such a chap, so is Martin R) but how would a prospective purchaser know who knows their shit and who doesn't?

Hi It's not happened to me but I know it isn't unheard of. If you do a search on Seloc there will be threads I'm sure. They aren't Porsches that's for sure!

Some do their own but not that many. I think a lot of people aren't keen because it will narrow down the number of people you can sell the car on to. Personally I am rubbish at spannering so I don't have much of a choice, but even if I could do the basics myself I think I would still take it to Gav at Unit 4. He knows so much about the cars and he gives it a good look over, he doesn't just change the fluids. He's found various things I hadn't noticed over the years like a broken engine mount, loose suspension bolts (eek!) and he isn't expensive.

V105s are a nice tyre for year round use. A lot less grip in the warm weather but better in the cold and very wet. Also, the sidewalls are a lot softer than 888s so they don't tramline as bad. If you use your car in the winter they would be my choice. But all four, not just rears! If you have been happy with the 888s and only use the car in warmer weather I would just stick some 888Rs on the rear. They work perfectly fine with 888s on the front - I know because I did exactly that. Bilstein refurb is the way to go - if you like the way the car handled before don't fix something that ain't broke!