Europa thoughts
Discussion
I've owned mine for coming up to a year, used it as a daily driver and not spent a penny on it yet bar a bit of polish!!
I'm due a service pretty soon but not expecting anything out of the ordinary, just routine stuff. Its a proven Vauxhall engine and the rest of the car seems suprisingly well made. The only issue I have is that winter salt has caused some corrosion on the wire mesh in the front bumper so that is coming off and dropped at the powder coaters very soon. I'm particular about my car looking crisp and new all the time and can't wait to get this corrected.
I used to own a Porsche Boxster S. I dare not own the Porsche without a warranty due to known engine issues, that warranty tied me into their ever tightening terms and servicing which was pretty outrageous. The Lotus I can take where I like, and fit whatever tyres, brand of battery, brake pads etc I damn well like as I don't have any need for such a restrictive warranty. I can buy and fit my own discs and pads when the time arises too.
My Europa also seems to be worth at least the same amount of money as when I bought it this time last year, whereas my Porsche dropped a chunk. Add that to the fact it also does good MPG its pretty cheap ownership so far.
Yep its cramped with a passenger, its noisy even with the later luxury interior, the door buttons sometimes freeze up so you cant get in it in winter but thats such minor stuff on such a great car. They are so rare that nothing else short of a supercar will draw so much attention. Just make sure you get one with the later 225bhp fueling map and enjoy.
I'm due a service pretty soon but not expecting anything out of the ordinary, just routine stuff. Its a proven Vauxhall engine and the rest of the car seems suprisingly well made. The only issue I have is that winter salt has caused some corrosion on the wire mesh in the front bumper so that is coming off and dropped at the powder coaters very soon. I'm particular about my car looking crisp and new all the time and can't wait to get this corrected.
I used to own a Porsche Boxster S. I dare not own the Porsche without a warranty due to known engine issues, that warranty tied me into their ever tightening terms and servicing which was pretty outrageous. The Lotus I can take where I like, and fit whatever tyres, brand of battery, brake pads etc I damn well like as I don't have any need for such a restrictive warranty. I can buy and fit my own discs and pads when the time arises too.
My Europa also seems to be worth at least the same amount of money as when I bought it this time last year, whereas my Porsche dropped a chunk. Add that to the fact it also does good MPG its pretty cheap ownership so far.
Yep its cramped with a passenger, its noisy even with the later luxury interior, the door buttons sometimes freeze up so you cant get in it in winter but thats such minor stuff on such a great car. They are so rare that nothing else short of a supercar will draw so much attention. Just make sure you get one with the later 225bhp fueling map and enjoy.
My car is an Ex press car which was then privately owned by Russell Gibbons from Lotus Sport. I picked it up from Russells house just up the road from the factory so all maintenance so far has been done at Lotus Sport. I'm still in contact with Russ who has kindly offered to book me in at Lotus Sport to keep the records with them.
I'm not sure what to do yet as Im over 1hr 30 mins from Lotus Sport and have a Lotus approved garage (Kelvedon) a mile from my doorstep. I might try and line up a factory tour with a service but if I can't get the time I guess it will go to Pat Thomas. I've not spoken to Pat yet but while my car was parked in my driveway he stuck his business card on it so he is keen to see it. Not sure of servicing costs but its a simple car so it can't be too daft unless they find something I'm unaware of. My Porsche cost me thousands every time the dealer had it so whatever the worse case is I'm going to be better off.
I'm not sure what to do yet as Im over 1hr 30 mins from Lotus Sport and have a Lotus approved garage (Kelvedon) a mile from my doorstep. I might try and line up a factory tour with a service but if I can't get the time I guess it will go to Pat Thomas. I've not spoken to Pat yet but while my car was parked in my driveway he stuck his business card on it so he is keen to see it. Not sure of servicing costs but its a simple car so it can't be too daft unless they find something I'm unaware of. My Porsche cost me thousands every time the dealer had it so whatever the worse case is I'm going to be better off.
Edited by Tucker1 on Monday 5th April 20:01
lenwad123 said:
thanks tucker
again, never owned a lotus...where and what sort of garage would you take your lotus for a service and what sort of cost would it be.
for me, it would be a every day car...they look rare and "shexy"
Use a local Lotus specialist, (one recommended by folk on here) and you will find they are not much dearer than a normal car to service.again, never owned a lotus...where and what sort of garage would you take your lotus for a service and what sort of cost would it be.
for me, it would be a every day car...they look rare and "shexy"
I have had mine since July 08 and use it for weekends and trackdays.
I changed the wheels, exhaust and brakes on mine as i felt the car didn't stop as well as i would of liked and it suffered from a little understeer.
As above make sure you find one with the 225 ECU until Hofmanns make their all new ECU available.
I have mine serviced by Hofmanns as they race one in the GT Cup and are very knowledgable with these cars. There are also loads of very good independent Lotus garages out there. I can't really give you a price for servicing as i seem to have upgrades fitted everytime the car goes in.
They are a great car and can more than surprise a few drivers on a trackday.
If i were to start from scratch with another one i would look into upgrading the brakes, change the wheels (front one smaller and wider as per the Exige) and the exhaust (as i like the Miltek i have). Then see how i got on with tracking the car.
I have taken mine to trackdays in France, the Ring and various days in the UK and its brilliant fun. This was after buying the car and being frightend into thinking that i really needed some driver training. I spent one day on track with MSV and got bitten by the trackday bug quite badly.
Hope that helps.
Enjoy.
I changed the wheels, exhaust and brakes on mine as i felt the car didn't stop as well as i would of liked and it suffered from a little understeer.
As above make sure you find one with the 225 ECU until Hofmanns make their all new ECU available.
I have mine serviced by Hofmanns as they race one in the GT Cup and are very knowledgable with these cars. There are also loads of very good independent Lotus garages out there. I can't really give you a price for servicing as i seem to have upgrades fitted everytime the car goes in.
They are a great car and can more than surprise a few drivers on a trackday.
If i were to start from scratch with another one i would look into upgrading the brakes, change the wheels (front one smaller and wider as per the Exige) and the exhaust (as i like the Miltek i have). Then see how i got on with tracking the car.
I have taken mine to trackdays in France, the Ring and various days in the UK and its brilliant fun. This was after buying the car and being frightend into thinking that i really needed some driver training. I spent one day on track with MSV and got bitten by the trackday bug quite badly.
Hope that helps.
Enjoy.
Get one, you will not regret it. My Europa has a Miltek exhaust and 240 bhp ECU upgrade, which probably helps. Some parts are cheaper as they can be sourced from the Vauxhall parts bin rather than Lotus, VX 220 discs for example. It is pretty comfortable inside, you can hear the radio, talk to a passenger and it doesn't leak when it rains. It is wonderful to drive, plenty of overtaking power without having to rev the nuts off it. I get about 30 mpg, not bad considering the performance available. You will have a very rare car without the expence that could go with something more exotic, I have yet to see another Europa on the road. One problem is other cars driving very close with the driver trying to read the badge on the back but you can normally extend the gap easily.....
I spotted only my second one of these at the weekend outside a Honda dealer in Maidstone. The first one was the pace car on loan from Lipscombs.
I think they look far better in the flesh, I'd have thought that one in a light colour with some black detailing (thinking orange or white) would look pretty special.
Personally a bit too "sensible" for me at the moment but you never know... when I grow up I can imagine I'd be taking a closer look.
I think they look far better in the flesh, I'd have thought that one in a light colour with some black detailing (thinking orange or white) would look pretty special.
Personally a bit too "sensible" for me at the moment but you never know... when I grow up I can imagine I'd be taking a closer look.
I've only ever seen one in the flesh (normally see an Elise most days) so deffo better for rarity, and I also think that they look great. Personally I don't like hardtops so not for me, but if I did I'd def be interested. I especially like the 'bespoke look' of some of the interiors, much better than rivals in my opinion and I would certainly go for one over a Cayman (without ever having driven either........).
I love the look of the one that sold on the dark grey one on PH classifieds with the mixed light and dark interior - nice
I love the look of the one that sold on the dark grey one on PH classifieds with the mixed light and dark interior - nice
Have just sold mine(was the one with dark/light interior that Loudman is talking about).
You will have no problem using it as an everyday car, and I've done 400 miles in one go in mine without any probs. If you're not going near a track, then I'd leave standard dampers as they are fine and more forgiving, although Nitrons definitely help looks by lowering car.
Running coats etc as everyone else has said - very reasonable - I think I had one service done at Scottish Lotus Specialists, and was c£140. I also traded it in for more than I paid for it 15months previously! Only real complaint I would have is with the brakes, which should be better, but again depends what you need. The sound was not great either, but I tried Milltek then took it off as I didn't like the popping and banging in day-to-day use.
You will have no problem using it as an everyday car, and I've done 400 miles in one go in mine without any probs. If you're not going near a track, then I'd leave standard dampers as they are fine and more forgiving, although Nitrons definitely help looks by lowering car.
Running coats etc as everyone else has said - very reasonable - I think I had one service done at Scottish Lotus Specialists, and was c£140. I also traded it in for more than I paid for it 15months previously! Only real complaint I would have is with the brakes, which should be better, but again depends what you need. The sound was not great either, but I tried Milltek then took it off as I didn't like the popping and banging in day-to-day use.
Elise has no real issues as an everyday car, its a little inelegant getting in and out of but apart from that no issues. You can even get a reasonable amount of shopping in it, I've had 10 sainsbo's bags in mine (without using the pax seat!) Practical, reliable, comfortable. I've even done >100ml commutes in mine fairly often, its not ideally suited for that, but certainly makes it more fun......
Being a convertible makes it quite handy for DIY, I've had 10 3m lengths of 2x2 sticking out of the top of it from B&Q, not sure if thats strictly legal but better than hiring a van.
Being a convertible makes it quite handy for DIY, I've had 10 3m lengths of 2x2 sticking out of the top of it from B&Q, not sure if thats strictly legal but better than hiring a van.
as above, i use my elise s daily.
im of the larger variety but manage fine getting in and out, if it is in a tight spot the roof can be rolled over in less than 5 seconds to make it simple to get in. have had it for a year so far 12000 miles getting 38 ish mpg. not too noisy in the cabin as long as you dont go above 80mph radio is easily heard. lots of room for luggage and shopping as long as its the right shape, golf bags even fit in the passenger seat. no leaks from the roof or anything that has put me off and i can say that it is the easiest car i have ever had to drive normally. 30mph in 5th will still pull cleanly, people let you out of junctions and move over on motorways and dual carriageways.
i would however say that if you are after a coupe style car go for the europa as it is a stunning car, but for me would miss taking off my top!
hope some of this helps,buy carefully,get some driver training (both wet and dry), enjoy the car,go fr a crazy/unusual colour scheme, and most importantly post us some pictures!!!
heres mine (because i love showing her off)
im of the larger variety but manage fine getting in and out, if it is in a tight spot the roof can be rolled over in less than 5 seconds to make it simple to get in. have had it for a year so far 12000 miles getting 38 ish mpg. not too noisy in the cabin as long as you dont go above 80mph radio is easily heard. lots of room for luggage and shopping as long as its the right shape, golf bags even fit in the passenger seat. no leaks from the roof or anything that has put me off and i can say that it is the easiest car i have ever had to drive normally. 30mph in 5th will still pull cleanly, people let you out of junctions and move over on motorways and dual carriageways.
i would however say that if you are after a coupe style car go for the europa as it is a stunning car, but for me would miss taking off my top!
hope some of this helps,buy carefully,get some driver training (both wet and dry), enjoy the car,go fr a crazy/unusual colour scheme, and most importantly post us some pictures!!!
heres mine (because i love showing her off)
Had my Europa for just over a year, no real problems to report apart from trim rattles which if you know a bit about cars you can sort. Fuel mpg about 30 service cost about £200/£300 depends on what you need like brake pads etc. A little heavy on rear tyres but a small price to pay when you consider how well these go ! Like already reported my car year (06) still being sold for what I paid for it. Be careful what you buy and enjoy.
i went to look at one at the weekend and am now seriously thinking of getting one, my question is how does it compare to an elise on a daily basis, i could not live with the elise as my only car for daily drives especially in winter and wet weather, how does the europa compare , is it as tail happy especially in the wet ? i also dont get these reviews saying its an ugly car i personally think its stunning also i cant see them devaluing much as there arent many of them
lenwad123 said:
also, out of curiosity..
does anyone have and use an Elise/Exige and an "everyday" mobile..?
or are they beasts for the track only.?
I would imagine that more than half of Elises are used as daily drivers. Certainly the overwhelming majority of other owners that I know, use them daily. does anyone have and use an Elise/Exige and an "everyday" mobile..?
or are they beasts for the track only.?
Our car is not our only vehicle and not used daily, but I see no reason why you could not use an Elise or Europa as a daily car. The MPG of the Europa is the best out of all our vehicles, just a shame its not reflected in the VED banding.
Knock wood! there are some purchases in life you can regret. The Europa was a bit of a rash decision.
However the Europa has been an absolute joy to own. I have done a couple of oil and filter changes myself. The oil filter is the cheapest I have ever purchased for a vehicle and it’s a Bosch filter. The recommended branded fully synthetic oil can be purchased from some Morison’s garages at anything from £4 - £8 a litre depending on the deals they have going on. A comment I have heard on the VX forum is "you can not run a VX on shoe string". I agree, but I am still amazed by the Europa. I always though that buying something this rare and with this performance would be a wallet emptying experience. So far I have been proved very wrong. I also get just short of 40MPG. I must be driving it wrong. That said it doesn’t get thrashed much, you really don’t need to in order to make quick progress.
Problems so far have been. MOT failure due to light alignment, I had this done at the garage and to be honest not very happy with the now so-called correctly adjusted lights. They are a bit bloody dangerous if you ask me and wonder if they haven’t been set too low. Roof and engine trim rattling and paint coming off of airbag. Both fairly easy repairs. Oh and one of the remote key fob batteries died, which had me looking on ebay for a spare until I found the user manual for reprogramming procedure. Again I was pleasantly surprised that if the remote did die it would cost less than a tenner to replace. I think its about £80 for my daily runners' remote.
Rear tyres. Err yes looks like we will be needing a pair soon, but again doesn’t look like it will be extortionate for a pair of Bridgestone’s.
Having a bit of a tinker with the car is part of the enjoyment really. I guess if you are not up for that then a Porsche or something German is the way forward. I wouldn’t say a Lotus isn’t a Solid car, but Lotus seems to know their limits when it comes to production. The lack of technology and wizardry in a Lotus has the well known benefits of making a car lighter, but it also means there is less to go wrong. Which is why I am a true Lotus convert at the moment.
Knock wood! there are some purchases in life you can regret. The Europa was a bit of a rash decision.
However the Europa has been an absolute joy to own. I have done a couple of oil and filter changes myself. The oil filter is the cheapest I have ever purchased for a vehicle and it’s a Bosch filter. The recommended branded fully synthetic oil can be purchased from some Morison’s garages at anything from £4 - £8 a litre depending on the deals they have going on. A comment I have heard on the VX forum is "you can not run a VX on shoe string". I agree, but I am still amazed by the Europa. I always though that buying something this rare and with this performance would be a wallet emptying experience. So far I have been proved very wrong. I also get just short of 40MPG. I must be driving it wrong. That said it doesn’t get thrashed much, you really don’t need to in order to make quick progress.
Problems so far have been. MOT failure due to light alignment, I had this done at the garage and to be honest not very happy with the now so-called correctly adjusted lights. They are a bit bloody dangerous if you ask me and wonder if they haven’t been set too low. Roof and engine trim rattling and paint coming off of airbag. Both fairly easy repairs. Oh and one of the remote key fob batteries died, which had me looking on ebay for a spare until I found the user manual for reprogramming procedure. Again I was pleasantly surprised that if the remote did die it would cost less than a tenner to replace. I think its about £80 for my daily runners' remote.
Rear tyres. Err yes looks like we will be needing a pair soon, but again doesn’t look like it will be extortionate for a pair of Bridgestone’s.
Having a bit of a tinker with the car is part of the enjoyment really. I guess if you are not up for that then a Porsche or something German is the way forward. I wouldn’t say a Lotus isn’t a Solid car, but Lotus seems to know their limits when it comes to production. The lack of technology and wizardry in a Lotus has the well known benefits of making a car lighter, but it also means there is less to go wrong. Which is why I am a true Lotus convert at the moment.
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