Keeping Exige 2 outside

[paulexige]

Hi guys , just wanted some advice on my Exige 2 , ive lost the use of my garage and am thinking of keeping the car outside , problem is i live in central London and would mean keeping it on a public road and not covered also concerned about water getting in the engine bay , really dont know what to do
many thanks

[addertooth]

Water in the engine bay will likely not be a serious issue. A group of clockwork oranges wanting to express a bit of the old ultra violence on your ride might be.

[paulexige]

Originally Posted by addertooth

Water in the engine bay will likely not be a serious issue. A group of clockwork oranges wanting to express a bit of the old ultra violence on your ride might be.

was concerned about clockwork oranges myself mate

[Vishus_1]

Actaully it probably isn't the best idea to keep the car outside if you don't have to.

Lotus has a bit of a reputation from S1 and S2 owners for having paint blisters (you will find more material about this on the other Lotus forums). These blisters are often caused by poor priming and sealing that allows moisture to penetrate the fiberglass. Many owners, especially in the UK, who store their car outside and is subjected to temperature variations, humidity and moisture eventually find some evidence of these paint blisters. Owners who store outside with covers also find this escalates the problem due to breathing limitations. Paint blisters are not easy to fix. Essentially you have to remove all the paint all the way to the primer, bake the car in an attempt to drive embedded moisture out and seal under and above panels and repaint. This has only had some limited success and sometimes resurfaces again after all that effort and expense.

[aschen]

eventually somebody will bump it unfortunately. I cant imagine streetparking an exige in london or nyc or anyplace similar. Last time I was in london we exited the tube in one of the nicer areas and I was shocked to see some really nice cars street parked in neighborhoods.

The sea of range rovers and x5s didnt bother me to much but the tiny little 356 speedster out in the lonely cold made me a bit sad.

[paulexige]

Originally Posted by aschen

eventually somebody will bump it unfortunately. I cant imagine streetparking an exige in london or nyc or anyplace similar. Last time I was in london we exited the tube in one of the nicer areas and I was shocked to see some really nice cars street parked in neighborhoods.

The sea of range rovers and x5s didnt bother me to much but the tiny little 356 speedster out in the lonely cold made me a bit sad.

I though i might get alot of you saying this sort of thing i love the car and dont want to get rid of it , but probably know that it will get scuffed and stuff by keeping it outside on the street

[Heavyweight]

ya there is a guy in the LA area that I see parallel parking his on the street, in a kinda bad area too. I could never believe that someone would do that to an Exige knowing how fragile it is.

[Hello Kitty]

You HAVE to get a second job, and rent someones garage. Or sell your car. Or never sleep again.

[billsaidso]

I flew to the UK to buy mines and was told it was stored inside since new 2007 (5 years old with 11,000 miles on it).

I really didn't know what to look for since I had never owned one before and now, after spending about 4-5 thousand US Dollars to replace all of the rusted out suspension, dampers, misc. nuts and bolts, metal retainers, and getting rid of the rust on other metal surfaces that could be saved throughout the car, I can say it was never ever stored inside until now that I own it.

Long story short, Your car will have a short lived life if kept out in the elements and like posted earlier, the jealous a$$holes will always find your car (had a Mustang that had to be parked on the curb and it went through hell).


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[evilfij]

I can't imagine why you would replace bolts and nuts with surface rust one them?

That is insane.

[billsaidso]

It looks bad, they become brittle, and can also corrode the aluminum.


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[Kimgt]

I 2nd the notion to rent a garage.

[sizzflair]

Originally Posted by Vishus_1

Actaully it probably isn't the best idea to keep the car outside if you don't have to.

Lotus has a bit of a reputation from S1 and S2 owners for having paint blisters (you will find more material about this on the other Lotus forums). These blisters are often caused by poor priming and sealing that allows moisture to penetrate the fiberglass. Many owners, especially in the UK, who store their car outside and is subjected to temperature variations, humidity and moisture eventually find some evidence of these paint blisters. Owners who store outside with covers also find this escalates the problem due to breathing limitations. Paint blisters are not easy to fix. Essentially you have to remove all the paint all the way to the primer, bake the car in an attempt to drive embedded moisture out and seal under and above panels and repaint. This has only had some limited success and sometimes resurfaces again after all that effort and expense.

The last owner I bought the car from, did NOT have a garage... somehow the car survived harsh New Jersey weather. However, I did witness these blisters you are talking about on my car. Thankfully it's hard to notice and only a small part is affected by it (on the removable access panel), so I haven't done any about it. But after all you told me about the issue, at least I know the severity of it.


If you absolutely have to keep it outside, get a good car cover and keep the paint detailed/protected. I had to personally machine detail the car to get a lot of scratches out from lack of paint protection. Rent a garage or sell the car

[evilfij]

Originally Posted by billsaidso

It looks bad, they become brittle, and can also corrode the aluminum.


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Other than looking bad (and I can tell you even my garages exige has some surface rust on nuts/bolts) few of the bolts touch aluminium directly and I can't imagine a bolt rusting enough to become brittle. If you want blinged out fresh bolts fine, but as far as a safety or corrosion issue you are nuts. I will agree that certain bolts are really bad as far as corrosion and adverse effects but mainly those are not structural (the dumb Allen head bolts on the rear diffuser, the screws in the front wheelwells, oil cooler line fittings) and whenever I pull a clam, I refit the bolts with antiseize.

[Gunpilot]

You said you can not cover it?

[Aedo]

Welcome to LT

As to your dilemma it depends a bit on what part of London you're in...

You'll get a more relevant answer on SELOC | Lotus Enthusiasts Club which is the UK equivalent of LT

[Mr.C]

I thought you Brits always park them outside

[Mr.C]

But they seem to clean up nicely...



Here is another example

[Mr.C]

Originally Posted by billsaidso

I flew to the UK to buy mines and was told it was stored inside since new 2007 (5 years old with 11,000 miles on it).

I really didn't know what to look for since I had never owned one before and now, after spending about 4-5 thousand US Dollars to replace all of the rusted out suspension, dampers, misc. nuts and bolts, metal retainers, and getting rid of the rust on other metal surfaces that could be saved throughout the car, I can say it was never ever stored inside until now that I own it.

Long story short, Your car will have a short lived life if kept out in the elements and like posted earlier, the jealous a$$holes will always find your car (had a Mustang that had to be parked on the curb and it went through hell).


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Dampers out of an Elise after 3,5 years and 35.000 miles from the UK
There must be something in the air over there that eats metal

[billsaidso]

Mine looked almost like that lol.


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