Please realize that none of these issues are major mechanical ones. This car has never left me stranded on any road. I wanted to provide everyone with my ownership log of my Lotus Elise that I received in April of 2005. I have almost 13,000 miles on the car so far. Here they are in chronological order:
- Rubber pad meant to keep the clutch from clicking against the aluminum fell off the first day (I’ve never found it nor cared)
- Double-sided foam tape keeps oozing out of the door sills (I just rip it out when there’s enough to grab onto)
- Fan adjustment knob flew off in some spirited driving (fixed it myself and tightened the others while I was there)
- Headlight housing scared from sun (dealer denied it as an issue at first checkup, will bring up again in near future since it’s a lot worse now)
- High beams seem to be aimed by an astrologist or a club DJ (adjusted a little bit on my own but need further tweaking)
- Touring soft-top liner split apart (dealer re-glued)
- Driver’s side window refused to roll all the way up (dealer fixed)
- Starshield dispute with the dealer (not yet resolved to my satisfaction)
- Windows rattle when down (occasionally tighten the screws in the doors)
- Recall for the shifter (service not yet done)
- Touring soft-top liner beginning to split apart again (I haven’t bothered taking it in yet)
- Headlights were horribly inadequate (replaced them myself)
- Stalled twice (stopped happening after I replaced the air filter)
- Speakers sound like sub-par headphones cranked up (replacements in the garage I just need to find time to put them in)
- Wheel balance is off (only really noticed it at a 3rd-party shop who were nice enough to help me when the dealer wanted my car for a week to patch a tire)
- After almost 12,300 miles the rear tires need to be replaced (I’m surprised they lasted this long)
- AC worked for 10-minutes the first time and stopped working the rest of that day. The next day it seemed to work for the entire 1.5-hour drive even though it was increasingly weakening (I have no idea)
- Cabin re-circulation button doesn’t do anything, doesn’t even light up (will have to bring up with the dealer)
- It likes to eat cleaning products (no fix available)
With any other new car I would have considered any number of the above a huge issue, but I really don’t see them as bad with this car. I love driving it so much that I can’t part with it. The Starshield issue is one I’ll have to take up with the dealership again but I admittedly just haven’t taken the time to do this.
And if you look at this list there really aren’t any terrible issues that are mechanical in nature that have happened to the vehicle. But I wanted to list ALL the memorable events where I’ve been forced to interact with systems I usually wouldn’t touch on a new car, or where I’ve felt the need to intervene even though I technically didn’t have to (headlights, speakers etc…)
I love owning this car. There’s no other vehicle like it and it’s fun to drive every day without exception. I love that fat-assed business men and women that drive the BMWs, Mercedes and Porsches on the road couldn’t get in and out of an Elise and thus will never know the joy of owning one.
I was at a car show this weekend. A guy there had a Ford GT. Beautiful car. White with blue racing stripes and he had maybe 1000 miles on it. My little Lotus Elise got more attention :P