[addertooth]

I think it is an unintended artifact of incomplete dealer support structure. Many cities, and several states do not have a Lotus dealership. This puts the owners into the difficult position of performing much of the maintenance by themselves. This collective experience and attitude creates a significant pool of knowledgeable people, who, having born the scars of doing it alone, are frequently willing to help others who are in a similar desperate position. OH, and Lotus people are cool.

 

[DrinkMan]

I belong to forums for most of my cars. Each has their own personality.

On one (forum has been around for years and grew out of old user groups, most members have known each other for many years and travel to meet each other to work on their cars), if you ask a question, everyone piles on with "use the search, dummy" and is put down if you don't have the skill of a master mechanic. Instructions are poorly documented and assume that you have every tool. Once you get assimilated, they are very helpful and I've met a few local people that come over to help me with some very big challenges.

On another (new model car and new forum), it is everyone helping each other learn about their cars. Heavy emphasis on using dealer but anyone who tries it themselves is encouraged. Whenever someone learns something, great instructions with many pictures are posted. It reminds me of going back on the old Elisetalk threads from 2005.

Every forum has their own personality depending on dealer support, age of users, and type of cars (I also belong to the Ford Model A forum......it has so many threads that I never need to post a question, I really can find things with the search. After all, after 85 years, I think all the things you can do to the car have been documented. Although I'm shocked at how many of those members are jumping in with welding equipment and are willing to cast their own part)

 

[sturgeongeneral]

When restoring my 74 Vette I used to frequent another forum. It was helpful but did not come close to the people here. I know part of it was that you are viewed as competition in the classic car scene. Here people just want you to.succeed.

 

[Joegnsx]

Lotus Talk is great, and I'd have difficulty owning an Elise without it. NSX Prime, Ferrari Chat, also excellent! Tundra and Jaguar forums pretty good too!

 

[Wexler]

Bought the car specifically thanks to this forum...lucky enough to register prior to the great split...(for the life of me I cannot remember the name of the other forum...british something or other...

Where else is there a newbie section to specifically introduce yourself and ask questions?

 

[Korntera]

Now i don't own a ferrari yet but have been on FChat for a while and am surprised how many people work on their cars, even the new ones! And advice is often given to do the services yourself to save money.

 

[bugman56]

I have to agree with o.p. the Porsche forums leave a lot to be desired,it is funny to see how the people are on other makes forums. I do enjoy the air cooled VW forum, those people are quite helpful.so far lotustalk has been awesome.

 

[aschen]

I find pelican parts to be one of the most helpful forums on the net, however they consider cars built in the 80s as newer models.

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[MTLDean]

This forum is really the best one - there is a good mix of purists, experimentalists, and the one or two outliers who keep the place edgy. Overall everyone is friendly and helpful, and it's just good fun to be here.

I can tell you that 90% of the people on Jeep Wrangler forums (JK Forum) are psychotic and illogical, and the Audi forums are populated by young fanboys obsessed with VAG products. The Lexus forums are very classy and conservative though, if a bit boring. Just like the cars LOL.

 

[komiko]

there are no other forums.haha.

 

[doug_porsche]

I find pelican parts to be one of the most helpful forums on the net, however they consider cars built in the 80s as newer models.

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+.5

They don't think of all cars built in the 80s as newer models....
They fully embrace the 911 SC model, and that was built up through 83

 

[MConte05]

986forums was a great resource for me when I owned a Boxster, but as the models get older more maintenance is needed and the warranty is up, so a lot of people tackle the repairs themselves. That I think is what starts to spawn a good forum culture. Same with NASIOC for Subaru or some of the smaller forums.

The worst by far are the new cheap car forums. Things like Veloster.org. Holy **** does that place make me want to drink bleach.

 

[RENDERMAN]

I did some work on my P-car last week. I ran into a snag after following some bad instructions. I posted a simple question on the p car forum and got nowhere.
I got a lecture for not taking the repair to a professional. I eventually got some good info after 2 days of passive aggressive non-help.

Turns out the solution and info I needed was very basic.

I guess I'm spoiled with my Lotus "get info" experience. or those P guys are ******** ?

sorta Lotus related

It's all about the audience, younger folks have less patience.

 

[aschen]

I did some work on my P-car last week. I ran into a snag after following some bad instructions. I posted a simple question on the p car forum and got nowhere.
I got a lecture for not taking the repair to a professional. I eventually got some good info after 2 days of passive aggressive non-help.

Turns out the solution and info I needed was very basic.

I guess I'm spoiled with my Lotus "get info" experience. or those P guys are ******** ?

sorta Lotus related

do you have a water pumper? Which forum was it? It couldent be pelican unless you were just a bit unlucky.

Im not sure if there are any good forums for the newer cars, rennlist and 6speed seem OK at best.

 

[LionZoo]

I think of Car Talk on miata.net as an unofficial Porsche forum.

 

[GR82DRV]

When I owned my MX-5 I was on the Miata Forum a lot. They had tons of resources that were well organized and accessible, and I was able to build out my car into a really nice supercharged model with many custom mods. I got a lot of help there.

My biggest complaint was the control power trip that the moderators seemed to have, and especially their P.C. tendencies. (They banned the word "rice" for instance.) I understand their desire not to devolve toward the juvenile crap that goes on with the Honda forums, but after a while the forum mods were just stifling buzz killers.

 

[dt34]

I spend most of my time here but I've been hanging out over at Fchat for awhile now too. I have been pleasantly surprised at how nice the folks are over there. I hope to add a Fcar next to the Evora in the next year or 2.

I also hang out at m3post.com from time to time. Some good info there but also some boy racer attitude. I met the guy that wrapped my m3 on m3post and he did a awesome job. He has since wrapped cars for a couple of my friends.

 

[jet37ski]

There is only one other forum I spend any real time on, and it is for a car that hasn't been made in a long time, and I think most of the folks on there could be original owners. It's a few guys who rant and rave about people not searching, a few guys who start a new thread every time any thought crosses their mind, a ton of threads with old jokes and completely car unrelated musings, and a handful of experts who are very helpful and make it a valuable resource.

I think Lotus is the best by far, but I think it's a self selecting group. The type of people who buy these cars are real car guys (and gals) and drivers at heart. It's the perfect mix of enthusiasm (like tuner sites) and the means to actually do what you want (like the high end exotics)

 

[plastique999]

Fchat and Rennlist are pretty resourceful

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