typical elise running costs

[sawman]

I am considering moving from my '88 morgan 4 seater to an elise. I have always fancied an elise, since I saw its launch at the motor show.
The kids don't fit in the back of the morgan so well and I don't think we have used it as a family for a year. I currently use it for commuting, but also have a mercedes shed for bad weather days.
Over the last couple of years I have averaged about 7k miles.

So whats the typical annual maintenance costs I might experience - I have seen a couple of S1s near me, one is low miles and the other is higher miles but has already had head gasket done. I will be off to the elise/lotus forums later for more research but any perspectives will be helpful

thanks in advance

[Thorburn]

Servicing is pretty cheap, think I paid £200 for a B service (basic service + spark plugs) and MOT this year.
C service with cam-belt replacement is typically around £450-550.

Head gasket failure is around £500 to sort out, lots of people go for the AA parts and labour warranty which covers £500 of a repair after a roadside assisted breakdown (with a £25 excess).

My running costs over the last 5 and a half years have included a couple 4-figure bills, but my cars is up to almost £80k miles now I've always replaced parts with upgraded parts where available rather than always like for like and some things I've replaced haven't always been 100% necessary. If I'd done some of the work myself it would have cost a LOT less.

[sawman]

OK, thats sounds similar to the morgan overall, I have always taken the view with these things that replacing with an upgrade is sensible.

Assuming I am looking at '99/'00 cars are there elements/components which are likely to be coming towards the end of their natural life/need replacing or is it more of a mileage issue.

Any specific upgrades that I might look out for?

[Thorburn]

sawman said:

OK, thats sounds similar to the morgan overall, I have always taken the view with these things that replacing with an upgrade is sensible.

Assuming I am looking at '99/'00 cars are there elements/components which are likely to be coming towards the end of their natural life/need replacing or is it more of a mileage issue.

Any specific upgrades that I might look out for?

Most enthusiast owned cars should have had the big items done by now. My car is a late '97 and by the time you get to '99/'00 cars you avoid some of the issues mine had - things I've changed like the later cant rail fixings and steel rear uprights (my aluminium ones had corroded) will already be on those cars.

The standard radiators can blow the plastic end pieces and are normally replaced by all aluminium ones. Radiator is about £200 + labour.

Suspension refresh is one of the keys things as there isn't much point in a bad handling Elise. Almost all will be running non-standard dampers now as the original Konis will almost all be worn out and aren't available anymore - Lotus did their own conversion kit to Bilsteins as per the S2 (same dampers, different front spring rates compared to the S2) and although availability was a bit flakey for a while I believe EliseParts offer these now, this is about as close to 'OEM' as you can get for an S1 now. If it needs a suspension refresh then budget up to £2,000 by the time you've bought dampers, any balljoints, bushes, etc, that may need replacing, labour costs and a geo alignment, so if you can find one that's been done recently that's a bonus. I had that done to mine last year which along with HGF, the rear uprights and the radiator racked up a nasty bill.

[kambites]

All of the running costs for my K-series S2 (since I've had it) are in my profile if you want to look.

[sawman]

kambites said:

All of the running costs for my K-series S2 (since I've had it) are in my profile if you want to look.

neat, thanks

how far do you get on a set of tyres?

[kambites]

sawman said:

kambites said:

All of the running costs for my K-series S2 (since I've had it) are in my profile if you want to look.

neat, thanks

how far do you get on a set of tyres?

Well in 12k miles (of mostly B-road commuting) I have gone from 8mm (I think that's what they started with) to 4mm on the rear and 5mm on the front. So I guess I'll be looking to replace them somewhere in the 15-20k mile mark.

Obviously if you track it they'll go a lot faster.


ETA: I'll also be refreshing (and quite possibly upgrading) the suspension as soon as I've finished rebuilding my garage, which will be another chunk of money.

Edited by kambites on Saturday 10th August 17:22

[Thorburn]

sawman said:

neat, thanks

how far do you get on a set of tyres?

I went through a set of Toyo T1R's in about 8k of road use. They were dreadful though.

[sawman]

I was thinking it might be 10-12k, which is what I used to manage with my mk1 mr2. From waht you say I'd be looking at new boots every 18 months or so. My morgan has managed 40k on a set including a couple of track sessions and an autosolo!

[kambites]

sawman said:

I was thinking it might be 10-12k, which is what I used to manage with my mk1 mr2. From waht you say I'd be looking at new boots every 18 months or so. My morgan has managed 40k on a set including a couple of track sessions and an autosolo!

I'm sure you could fit harder tyres that would last longer if you wanted to, but it would rather destroy the point of the car.

[Thorburn]

10-12k is certainly possible. Mines just a weekend car so relatively hard use.

Also I wore out the front first, which is quite uncommon, so could have been geo related.

[kambites]

Thorburn said:

10-12k is certainly possible.

Yeah, but 40k probably isn't. At least not on AD07s.

One problem with the Elise, is that very few tyres are made in both sizes that you need.

[Thorburn]

Missed that! Yeah that sounds a bit optimistic.

[sawman]

kambites said:

Yeah, but 40k probably isn't. At least not on AD07s.

One problem with the Elise, is that very few tyres are made in both sizes that you need.

Yeah noticed that after a quick snout at black circles.
Most of my 40k has been dual carriaway so not too challenging. I wouldnt expect thst out of an elise.

Just need to get myself down to the dealership.....

[Thorburn]

S1 sizes aren't too bad. Narrow fronts on the S2 a bit more tricky?

The Kumho KU-31's have been very good for me as a cheaper option, and Yokohama AD08's aren't too pricy in S1 sizes.