Discussion
While trawling through the various adds over here in France, I came across a 2008 Exige with 9000 miles on the clock. What surprised me the most was his last service was just over £2000. Should I be surprised or is this 'par for the course'. My worst bill for my Elise R was around £600 but that included two tyres. Got me thinking about many aspects of running costs and left me with several unanswered questions.
Was I just lucky with my car.
Did driving within limits prevent the excessive wear of consumables
Does anybody have any experience of 'seriously expensive' repairs, the sort of nightmare scenarios.
What do people regard as a 'big bill' on an Elise R/Elise SC / Exige asides from technical upgrades.
I for one, envisaged perhaps a bill of around £1000, tyres, and brake pads all in but would never have been prepared for anything more than that. Was I naive?
I was thinking of an Exige as my next car but bills of £2000 would have me running scared
As stated, only looking for comments on day to day: regular motoring use as opposed to tracking and technical upgrades which undoubtedly increase the costs
Was I just lucky with my car.
Did driving within limits prevent the excessive wear of consumables
Does anybody have any experience of 'seriously expensive' repairs, the sort of nightmare scenarios.
What do people regard as a 'big bill' on an Elise R/Elise SC / Exige asides from technical upgrades.
I for one, envisaged perhaps a bill of around £1000, tyres, and brake pads all in but would never have been prepared for anything more than that. Was I naive?
I was thinking of an Exige as my next car but bills of £2000 would have me running scared
As stated, only looking for comments on day to day: regular motoring use as opposed to tracking and technical upgrades which undoubtedly increase the costs
simpo555 said:
While trawling through the various adds over here in France, I came across a 2008 Exige with 9000 miles on the clock. What surprised me the most was his last service was just over £2000. Should I be surprised or is this 'par for the course'. My worst bill for my Elise R was around £600 but that included two tyres. Got me thinking about many aspects of running costs and left me with several unanswered questions.
Was I just lucky with my car.
Did driving within limits prevent the excessive wear of consumables
Does anybody have any experience of 'seriously expensive' repairs, the sort of nightmare scenarios.
What do people regard as a 'big bill' on an Elise R/Elise SC / Exige asides from technical upgrades.
I for one, envisaged perhaps a bill of around £1000, tyres, and brake pads all in but would never have been prepared for anything more than that. Was I naive?
I was thinking of an Exige as my next car but bills of £2000 would have me running scared
As stated, only looking for comments on day to day: regular motoring use as opposed to tracking and technical upgrades which undoubtedly increase the costs
Any Lotus can throw up a big bill every now and then, and while this wont be every year a bill of over £1000 (and it could be well over) on your lotus cannot be ruled out.Was I just lucky with my car.
Did driving within limits prevent the excessive wear of consumables
Does anybody have any experience of 'seriously expensive' repairs, the sort of nightmare scenarios.
What do people regard as a 'big bill' on an Elise R/Elise SC / Exige asides from technical upgrades.
I for one, envisaged perhaps a bill of around £1000, tyres, and brake pads all in but would never have been prepared for anything more than that. Was I naive?
I was thinking of an Exige as my next car but bills of £2000 would have me running scared
As stated, only looking for comments on day to day: regular motoring use as opposed to tracking and technical upgrades which undoubtedly increase the costs
Having said that the Elises and Exiges are fundamentally very similar and running costs will be likewise similar, it certainly wont be the case that a Exige will be costing you double a service over a similar engined Elise, the only major difference might be the cost of the tyres.
New set of tyres all round, fixing the air con pipes in the sills or the air conditioning unit itself and you're way up over a grand before you add on the cost of the service itself.
Any number of other things that cost £500 to fix - leaky dampers, broken radiator etc etc. £700 for a new clutch at a garage...
The Elise/Exige doesn't have one killer bill, but it does have lots of things that cost a fair bit if they go wrong.
Any number of other things that cost £500 to fix - leaky dampers, broken radiator etc etc. £700 for a new clutch at a garage...
The Elise/Exige doesn't have one killer bill, but it does have lots of things that cost a fair bit if they go wrong.
I can't imagine ever getting a bill for 2K unexpectedly, I mean that's a fair bit of work gone unnoticed.
Discs/pads are simple to change yourself. Tyres can be sourced online and fitted locally. If your prepared to be a bit pro active you can save a lot of money without having to scrimp on things.
The cars themselves are quite basic, mechanically. Just that access can be pain sometimes.
Discs/pads are simple to change yourself. Tyres can be sourced online and fitted locally. If your prepared to be a bit pro active you can save a lot of money without having to scrimp on things.
The cars themselves are quite basic, mechanically. Just that access can be pain sometimes.
A friend's status update a couple of month's back:
"£350 for service, £65 brake fluid change, £500 two rear tyres, £60 gear linkage correction, £266 rear shock absorber, £377 central locking module and £651 for heater... just a standard Lotus Exige service then."
Problem is, a lot of people leave things until the service, thinking "it'll be in the garage anyway, may as well get it done then..."
None of the things above are rare - particularly the dampers, central locking and HVAC (although as above it's often air con rather than heater).
I do think he's an idiot for going to a stealer though - an independent would fix things for a lot cheaper, even if you're not willing to do stuff yourself.
A lot of people on Pistonheads may have a crack at most things, but you only need to look at the number of cars with "full service history" and a stack of dealer stamps as long as your arm to know that the majority just aren't willing to do the work themselves, in which case you're easily looking at four figure bills.
And if you don't spend your life poking round under the car, you'd not going to notice things like leaky dampers, knackered ball joints etc. (Don't discount those either - yeah they're £20 each or whatever, but if you get them fitted by a dealer you're looking at £80-100, and there are eight of them..).
"£350 for service, £65 brake fluid change, £500 two rear tyres, £60 gear linkage correction, £266 rear shock absorber, £377 central locking module and £651 for heater... just a standard Lotus Exige service then."
Problem is, a lot of people leave things until the service, thinking "it'll be in the garage anyway, may as well get it done then..."
None of the things above are rare - particularly the dampers, central locking and HVAC (although as above it's often air con rather than heater).
I do think he's an idiot for going to a stealer though - an independent would fix things for a lot cheaper, even if you're not willing to do stuff yourself.
A lot of people on Pistonheads may have a crack at most things, but you only need to look at the number of cars with "full service history" and a stack of dealer stamps as long as your arm to know that the majority just aren't willing to do the work themselves, in which case you're easily looking at four figure bills.
And if you don't spend your life poking round under the car, you'd not going to notice things like leaky dampers, knackered ball joints etc. (Don't discount those either - yeah they're £20 each or whatever, but if you get them fitted by a dealer you're looking at £80-100, and there are eight of them..).
A friend's status update a couple of month's back:
"£350 for service, £65 brake fluid change, £500 two rear tyres, £60 gear linkage correction, £266 rear shock absorber, £377 central locking module and £651 for heater... just a standard Lotus Exige service then."
A central locking module is about £60 and takes about 10 minutes to fit, but if you want to pay a dealer £317 to fit it then I guess it's up to you.
"£350 for service, £65 brake fluid change, £500 two rear tyres, £60 gear linkage correction, £266 rear shock absorber, £377 central locking module and £651 for heater... just a standard Lotus Exige service then."
A central locking module is about £60 and takes about 10 minutes to fit, but if you want to pay a dealer £317 to fit it then I guess it's up to you.
mikem7709 said:
I can't imagine ever getting a bill for 2K unexpectedly, I mean that's a fair bit of work gone unnoticed.
I had one.Car was in for some suspension work and asked the garage to investigate some coolant loss. Turned out to be HGF which had pressurised the coolant system and blown a seam on the radiator, which added up to the about £1,000.
While they were doing the geo discovered that the aluminium rear uprights were both badly corroded and had stripped the threads due to the steel bolts not being duralac'd by a previous mechanic and needed replacing (£1,000 for a pair from Lotus these days), and a toe-link was shot (replaced both with uprated ones at £300 or so).
Get a few bits using bespoke parts going wrong at the same time and it can add up quickly.
willld said:
A central locking module is about £60 and takes about 10 minutes to fit, but if you want to pay a dealer £317 to fit it then I guess it's up to you.
My Lotus hasn't got an internal locking mechanism, let alone central locking, so it's not me paying £317!! (in case you're hinting my "friend" is actually me. I do my own servicing and most things on the car, but as above would suggest (outside of PH) that I'm in the minority.
Personally I'd have managed without central locking.
Just in case you think I'm making it up for the sake of argument though:
Edited by pthelazyjourno on Tuesday 9th April 14:05
willld said:
No, I don't doubt the cost, if you factor in main dealer rates and a couple of hours to completly dismantle and re-assemble the dash.
Just saying certain bills can be reduced massively if you're willing to have a go yourself, even if you're not a mechanical genius.
Yup - I'd have the radiator and ball joints on that list. Just saying certain bills can be reduced massively if you're willing to have a go yourself, even if you're not a mechanical genius.
Both would be approaching a grand at a stealer on a bad day (previous receipt for £1450 following a radiator change, some seized bolts and a few other bits and bobs!).
Both are no more difficult than assembling a flat-pack wardrobe.
Guess it's having the time, inclination and tools as well though: how much is your time worth to you? I know that given the chance, I wouldn't waste so much time changing the 4-2-1 manifold again...
Would never have the confidence or know how to even think about working on the car myself. On the positive side, never had a problem with getting the car serviced outside of the Lotus network. As stated just have to be selective. Still remains frightening to me at least to think that one could end up with a bill of over £2000. Even more so when talking about a car with 9000 miles on the clock.
simpo555 said:
Would never have the confidence or know how to even think about working on the car myself. On the positive side, never had a problem with getting the car serviced outside of the Lotus network. As stated just have to be selective. Still remains frightening to me at least to think that one could end up with a bill of over £2000. Even more so when talking about a car with 9000 miles on the clock.
The 9,000 miles bit is worrying, but you'd think it'd still be in warranty!! Forgot to say that engine work can also be pricey if anything goes wrong there - the 2zz is not unknown for oil starvation issues now and again on track.
I suppose that just because it's done at a service doesn't mean something failed either - lots of owners upgrade the toe links as soon as they buy the car, for instance - with a geo you're looking at £500. A048s won't last anywhere near 9k miles, so that's £1k+ without anything having failed.
Some people are luckier than others, but they can be costly. And yes, you'll always get somebody popping up and saying "I haven't spent a penny in 7 years", but I certainly wouldn't fancy buying their car - there are some massive bills just around the corner!!
Just for a bit of perspective - my Toyota MR2 used to generate £800 bills for single items like head gasket or steering rack. Combine one of those with a service and some brakes and it'd generate horrific garage bills. For a mass produced Toyota.
It was my unwillingness to pay for this sort of thing any more that made me learn how to do simple jobs like a radiator swap on my Elise. I did it over a sunny weekend on my driveway for just the cost of a new radiator, some coolant and a few spare bolts. This summer I'll be taking the rear clam off just to tidy up the engine bay.
When I start a job I remind myself that if I can't do it I can just put it all back together how I found it and take it to the dealer to fix.
It was my unwillingness to pay for this sort of thing any more that made me learn how to do simple jobs like a radiator swap on my Elise. I did it over a sunny weekend on my driveway for just the cost of a new radiator, some coolant and a few spare bolts. This summer I'll be taking the rear clam off just to tidy up the engine bay.
When I start a job I remind myself that if I can't do it I can just put it all back together how I found it and take it to the dealer to fix.
simpo555 said:
Still remains frightening to me at least to think that one could end up with a bill of over £2000. Even more so when talking about a car with 9000 miles on the clock.
In my case it's a 15 year old car with almost 80k on the clock, I'd imagine a newer car is far less likely, and many of the parts are cheaper as they're still in production. It's the older parts made in small quantities that was the killer on mine - the price had gone up 5x on them over the years.any car can generate a bill of over 2k. It just depends how many things you have done at the same time.
The difference, though, between an exile and (say) an audi is that you need a lot of those things to go wrong at once to get to 2k. Whereas a single part can cost nearly a grand with some marques.
Overall, my exige is the cheapest performance car I've ever run. I hope it stays that way!
The difference, though, between an exile and (say) an audi is that you need a lot of those things to go wrong at once to get to 2k. Whereas a single part can cost nearly a grand with some marques.
Overall, my exige is the cheapest performance car I've ever run. I hope it stays that way!
Guys
I thought I would share my Europa S costs for 46,00 miles x 4 years and all at a main dealer, the option of 'i know what I am doing' vs 'main dealer' its wrong to view garage's are rip off, we all want to place shopping in our basket at the end of the week. Time spent working on a car is time you could be spending doing something else, I am not saying don't do it if you really want to but life is short and time is precious.
If you track your car there is the notion of 1 mile = 10 track miles therefore that 9,000 miler could have done quite a few hundred track miles, with associated higher wear and what about the driver what driving style do they have, these after all are performance cars and subject to heavier loads.
So The Europa was never tracked, occasional spirited drive, I budgeted for £2K per year for servicing (including tyres insurance and anything that broke) It constantly amazes me on many car forums that people find it surprising that there is a repair bill and always there is the sage that says 'go to Bills bits and bobs yard he will do it for 5p, great guy knows what he is doing'......yet the guy may have years of hammer wielding experience but no formal training. I know I am going to get flamed for that but when you buy a performance car consider a budget and where you are actually going to get the thing serviced. On a liability front if your DIY repair goes wrong and there is an accident is the insurance company going to pay out let alone the potential liable you may face. An extreme comment maybe, but its a view.
Over 4 years the actual costs including insurance were £5200 out of a budget of £8K (this includes car tax)
Servicing / repair costs
266
843.2
1659.34
282
344.96
276
701.6
75
I thought I would share my Europa S costs for 46,00 miles x 4 years and all at a main dealer, the option of 'i know what I am doing' vs 'main dealer' its wrong to view garage's are rip off, we all want to place shopping in our basket at the end of the week. Time spent working on a car is time you could be spending doing something else, I am not saying don't do it if you really want to but life is short and time is precious.
If you track your car there is the notion of 1 mile = 10 track miles therefore that 9,000 miler could have done quite a few hundred track miles, with associated higher wear and what about the driver what driving style do they have, these after all are performance cars and subject to heavier loads.
So The Europa was never tracked, occasional spirited drive, I budgeted for £2K per year for servicing (including tyres insurance and anything that broke) It constantly amazes me on many car forums that people find it surprising that there is a repair bill and always there is the sage that says 'go to Bills bits and bobs yard he will do it for 5p, great guy knows what he is doing'......yet the guy may have years of hammer wielding experience but no formal training. I know I am going to get flamed for that but when you buy a performance car consider a budget and where you are actually going to get the thing serviced. On a liability front if your DIY repair goes wrong and there is an accident is the insurance company going to pay out let alone the potential liable you may face. An extreme comment maybe, but its a view.
Over 4 years the actual costs including insurance were £5200 out of a budget of £8K (this includes car tax)
Servicing / repair costs
266
843.2
1659.34
282
344.96
276
701.6
75
Edited by Toaster on Thursday 11th April 08:46
My details are in my profile but short version is.
20 months
11500 miles
£4600 on bills (not including petrol)
However, £3k of the bills is insurance/tyres and a gearbox rebuild when 3rd gear broke a tooth.
The other £1.5k includes £740 for new discs and pads all round. Could have been cheaper but I have the AP upgrade and put on Pagid RS4-2's.
That leaves about £750 which covers 2 services and a geometry.
Not too bad for the performance and only really one item which wouldn't be considered normal maintenance. My 911 cost me twice as much for half the miles.
I'll probably only do about 6k miles this year as I don't have any Euro trips planned but do have a couple of trips to Scotland which normally end up going the long way.
20 months
11500 miles
£4600 on bills (not including petrol)
However, £3k of the bills is insurance/tyres and a gearbox rebuild when 3rd gear broke a tooth.
The other £1.5k includes £740 for new discs and pads all round. Could have been cheaper but I have the AP upgrade and put on Pagid RS4-2's.
That leaves about £750 which covers 2 services and a geometry.
Not too bad for the performance and only really one item which wouldn't be considered normal maintenance. My 911 cost me twice as much for half the miles.
I'll probably only do about 6k miles this year as I don't have any Euro trips planned but do have a couple of trips to Scotland which normally end up going the long way.
Gassing Station | Elise/Exige/Europa/340R | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff