Should he buy an Elise?
Discussion
Hello all. I have a friend who lives about 3hours away from a Lotus mechanic He has put a deposit down on the new Elise because he is completly in love with them. It would be his only car for his 15min commute to work. He drives a Honda Civic now and hates it. He sat in an Elise for the first time at the LA Auto Show and did not mind the space or the comfort level. He's about 5'7/140pounds.
Knowing that there will be a Toyota engine, will it be a smart buy as a daily commute? Could it be serviced at your local Toyota dealership?
Thanks,
Ed-
Knowing that there will be a Toyota engine, will it be a smart buy as a daily commute? Could it be serviced at your local Toyota dealership?
Thanks,
Ed-
Hello all. I have a friend who lives about 3hours away from a Lotus mechanic He has put a deposit down on the new Elise because he is completly in Loads of people here use them for much longer commutes than that with no problems at all so your mate should be fine with it.
As for Toyota being willing to service, well that's a bit trickier to answer! Rover dealers here won't touch Elises dispite the similarities to MGF/Ts but then most Rover dealers are idiots, life might be a bit more straight forward for you. Alternatively if the Elise really takes off stateside then there may well be more dealers/independents springing up to take care of the car. At the end of the day any competent mechanic can service an Elise, they're very simple cars really.
As for Toyota being willing to service, well that's a bit trickier to answer! Rover dealers here won't touch Elises dispite the similarities to MGF/Ts but then most Rover dealers are idiots, life might be a bit more straight forward for you. Alternatively if the Elise really takes off stateside then there may well be more dealers/independents springing up to take care of the car. At the end of the day any competent mechanic can service an Elise, they're very simple cars really.
Service tie ups depends on how well Lotus can market the car. Lotus do a lot of 'private' work for Toyota (as well as others like GM) and a bit of political dexterity could mean support is do-able. Especially considering the size of the US, and limited coverage of Lotus.
The Elise is Lotus' best built car to date. Reliability is going to better than anything before. A 15 minute commute is nothing. The car will only just be warming up by the time he switches it off at work. Got to consider, it is a sports car, and should be given time to warm up properly (even a normal car needs that) else engine/box wear will build over the months prematurely.
Regards,
Nicholas
(92 Esprit SE , 03 Esprit V8)
The Elise is Lotus' best built car to date. Reliability is going to better than anything before. A 15 minute commute is nothing. The car will only just be warming up by the time he switches it off at work. Got to consider, it is a sports car, and should be given time to warm up properly (even a normal car needs that) else engine/box wear will build over the months prematurely.
Regards,
Nicholas
(92 Esprit SE , 03 Esprit V8)
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