Elise - how reliable?
Discussion
Just out of interest, (I want one 
) how reliable is the Elise?
Is the whole Lots of Trouble Usually Serious thing a myth? Basically, I want to know, would the cost of running one bankrupt me? I'd be looking for one of the cheaper Elises about so I guess more problems are to be expected...
) how reliable is the Elise? Is the whole Lots of Trouble Usually Serious thing a myth? Basically, I want to know, would the cost of running one bankrupt me? I'd be looking for one of the cheaper Elises about so I guess more problems are to be expected...
Look consider driving a Lotus as a lifestyle it's so much more than any other car (forget German gründlichkeit). I'm a Lotus driver for about 10 years now and I just love every droven mile with it. Okay you have to take the shortcomings for granted but then again if it's love you will grow with it.
Pretty reliable but look here:
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=85024&f=15&h=0
Muncher, it is a lightweight sports car. "Lightweight" denoting parts are not meant to last long and wear quickly and "sports car" denoting little things cost big ££ to fix.
An early one is definetly a
in my book. Too many niggles and faults. Also they WILL be suffering from corroding floor-pans and be out of the 8 year warranty to fix 
I was having a chat with AromaT a few weeks back and we kind of decided that if you cant afford to run it COMFORTABLY then its better not to. You'll be able to buy your "dream" car a lot quicker than by *just* managing. IMHO.
My car is a 1999 car. The significance is the majority of niggles have been sorted as it was well into its production run.
BUT, costs since summer 2003 have been:
Upgrades: £1000+ (not needed i know)
Maintenance: £400-500 and would have been double that had it not been for Bruce (specialist).
A perfect little example is my window popped off its runners.
Auto-windscreens could re-glue it for £20 but wouldnt touch it because it was a lotus. The CHEAPEST DEALER wanted £300+vat
I eventually got it sorted at Bruces, but little "things" like that can mount.
My advice? Stay-away, until you can afford a better/newer car and have sufficient funds for repairs/servicing/maintenance.
Sorry if ive put you off, but its the truth
If you really want one then go for it!
Meanwhile, concentrate on your exams you!
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=85024&f=15&h=0
Muncher, it is a lightweight sports car. "Lightweight" denoting parts are not meant to last long and wear quickly and "sports car" denoting little things cost big ££ to fix.
An early one is definetly a
in my book. Too many niggles and faults. Also they WILL be suffering from corroding floor-pans and be out of the 8 year warranty to fix I was having a chat with AromaT a few weeks back and we kind of decided that if you cant afford to run it COMFORTABLY then its better not to. You'll be able to buy your "dream" car a lot quicker than by *just* managing. IMHO.
My car is a 1999 car. The significance is the majority of niggles have been sorted as it was well into its production run.
BUT, costs since summer 2003 have been:
Upgrades: £1000+ (not needed i know)
Maintenance: £400-500 and would have been double that had it not been for Bruce (specialist).
A perfect little example is my window popped off its runners.
Auto-windscreens could re-glue it for £20 but wouldnt touch it because it was a lotus. The CHEAPEST DEALER wanted £300+vat
I eventually got it sorted at Bruces, but little "things" like that can mount.
My advice? Stay-away, until you can afford a better/newer car and have sufficient funds for repairs/servicing/maintenance.
Sorry if ive put you off, but its the truth
If you really want one then go for it! Meanwhile, concentrate on your exams you!
Goto agree with Drag on this one...if you struggle to buy an older one then dont bother. Every MOT time will be a major drama, then you got your servicing and insurance Mine is 6 years old n due an MOT next month and im dreading having to replace endless ball joints and bushes. May not be that bad but recon thats wishfull thinking.
My advice is wait till you can afford a newer one.
But saying that every one told me all this last year and i still bought one and dont regret it at all
(bank managers not to impressed though 
)
>> Edited by alki on Thursday 4th March 21:29
>> Edited by alki on Thursday 4th March 21:31
Mine is 6 years old n due an MOT next month and im dreading having to replace endless ball joints and bushes. May not be that bad but recon thats wishfull thinking. My advice is wait till you can afford a newer one.
But saying that every one told me all this last year and i still bought one and dont regret it at all
(bank managers not to impressed though ) >> Edited by alki on Thursday 4th March 21:29
>> Edited by alki on Thursday 4th March 21:31
I don't wanna tempt fate as I hope to tie up the sale of mine very shortly but it's been excellent for me over one and a half years. The only 'problems' have been replacing the disks and pads on the front, and I had a loud clunking from the rear suspension every time I went over the smallest bump, about a year ago. Put it into Sinclaires, and they discovered a rear brake caliper was slightly loose so the movement of about 1/4 of an inch was clunking over bumps - a few quid to sort it and it was perfect. I've had Fords that have been a damn site more unreliable to be honest.
Having had a S2 now for a while I have been very impressed how reliable its been -
An older S1 well they are cheep and if you are of average compitance as a mechnic they are not complex cars - the problem is having to rely on a dealer to fix bits.
But now knowing the car, I'm half tempted to flog the S2 and get a older S1 as a second car that I maintain myself as a much cheeper option.
An older S1 well they are cheep and if you are of average compitance as a mechnic they are not complex cars - the problem is having to rely on a dealer to fix bits.
But now knowing the car, I'm half tempted to flog the S2 and get a older S1 as a second car that I maintain myself as a much cheeper option.
The Elise is a VERY reliable car. I've had a 2000 S1, a 2001 S2 Racetech, and my current 2002 S2 111S. Between the 3, I covered nearly 50,000. Current car has done 20500, since I bought it new 17 months ago. I have had nothing but the most minor of niggles, and I mean really minor, all fixed FOC by the dealer. Granted, my cars have always been in warranty, but most of the niggles would have been fixed FOC in any case, and total worst case scenario would have cost me only a few quid.
If you want one, buy one. There really is very little to go wrong, provide the car has been properly serviced and cared for. If you're looking at the lower end of the S1 market, then I think previous advice is good - i.e avoid a private purchase. Buy from a dealer/specialist, have it inspected if you wish and make sure all the stamps and invoices are present. There are plenty of cherished, one or two owner FSH cars out there. Be patient and find the right one.
If you want one, buy one. There really is very little to go wrong, provide the car has been properly serviced and cared for. If you're looking at the lower end of the S1 market, then I think previous advice is good - i.e avoid a private purchase. Buy from a dealer/specialist, have it inspected if you wish and make sure all the stamps and invoices are present. There are plenty of cherished, one or two owner FSH cars out there. Be patient and find the right one.
Muncher said:
Just out of interest, (I want one
Is the whole Lots of Trouble Usually Serious thing a myth? Basically, I want to know, would the cost of running one bankrupt me? I'd be looking for one of the cheaper Elises about so I guess more problems are to be expected...
I had two, For a total of four years.
The only thing that stopped me using them was twice (once in each) when I parked somewhere where a strong EM signal (maybe a radio mast) stopped the key fob immobilising the alarm. That would have happened to any car with a similar alarm, so I can't blame Lotus.
Slightly different point, but worth considering as part of your calculation was that servicing and maintenance were at a similar level to expensice sports cars, not to hot hatches.
I've done 8,500Km (12months) in mine and not had a single issue that stopped the car going. Only problems so far:
rattling drivers window
rubber seal on roof piece over roll bar has moved slightly owing to the tension- no leaks just a bigger gap between roof and roof panel in the middle than the edges (can reglue the rubber and fix this).
It's been as reliable as my BMW so far! A service due in 1500km. Think this is a VERY cheap car to service (compared to my BMW).
It's also the kind of car you can do lots of upgrades/maintenance yourself. I fitted a quick shift and gear linkage (Geary's) myself in 1.5hours. nice and easy- was harder doing this on my old mx-5..
rattling drivers window
rubber seal on roof piece over roll bar has moved slightly owing to the tension- no leaks just a bigger gap between roof and roof panel in the middle than the edges (can reglue the rubber and fix this).
It's been as reliable as my BMW so far! A service due in 1500km. Think this is a VERY cheap car to service (compared to my BMW).
It's also the kind of car you can do lots of upgrades/maintenance yourself. I fitted a quick shift and gear linkage (Geary's) myself in 1.5hours. nice and easy- was harder doing this on my old mx-5..
Of course you should not buy a car you cannot afford to run . . . goes without saying . . .
but
Elises are not unreliable cars, they have a few common issues which can/will happen to any age of car, few (with the exception of the HGF issue - and this is common to the engine not the Elise) are costly to repair if the work is done by an independant specialist, however dealers charge unbelievable rates and can make it appear that the car is very costly to run.
I'd say - don't be put off, don't use dealers . . .
Fd
but
Elises are not unreliable cars, they have a few common issues which can/will happen to any age of car, few (with the exception of the HGF issue - and this is common to the engine not the Elise) are costly to repair if the work is done by an independant specialist, however dealers charge unbelievable rates and can make it appear that the car is very costly to run.
I'd say - don't be put off, don't use dealers . . .
Fd
On the other hand, with a basic mechanical competence, a decent range of tools and the workshop manual / parts manual / service notes (available from Lotus) there are very few jobs that you wont be able to do yourself.
The car is VERY simple, although can be a bit of a pain to work on sometimes (I seem to lack the extra two joints in my wrist needed for some jobs!)
The car is VERY simple, although can be a bit of a pain to work on sometimes (I seem to lack the extra two joints in my wrist needed for some jobs!)
DanH said:
Don't think you need to pay proper sports car prices for servicing if you go to the right places. As mentioned they are mechanically reasonably simple. Where they can let you down a bit is with rattles and such like.
Agreed, Dad's is immaculate and we do the vast majority of the work ourselves.
It hasnt been to a dealer in well over 2 years other than to have them rubber stamp the service book.
Unfortunately to keep it in tip-top condition there is a fair amount of work that needs to be done and we have been lucky enough that we havent had to start to do SERIOUS mechanical surgery (ie gearbox or engine out jobs) *touches something wooden frantically*
Gassing Station | Elise/Exige/Europa/340R | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff