[hotspoons]

I didn't plan on it, but between an 1800 mile trek from buying the car in Albuquerque and driving it back to Maryland, a month of commuting because I've been too busy to fix my other two broken cars, and a long trip this last weekend driving up the New England coast, I topped 5100 miles in my first month of owning my Elise. I'm guessing that there may be a few people out there that haven't put that many miles on in 10 years. I have no regrets, especially since it came with 99 thousand miles on the clock.

In that time the car has developed only a couple new noises (creaks and rattles when pulling from a stop) and it appears to be leaking fluid from only one more spot than when I picked it up. And I have only damaged two things on the car (the seatbelt upper bolt trim piece ripped off, and I ripped the boot lid prop holder tab off the other day), and the car has been damaged twice by others (a lady backed into me at a stop sign and put a hole in the clam, and yesterday my girlfriend forced the boot lid shut with the prop bar in the engine bay bending it like mad).

I've also treated it to a new battery, and picked up a set of Kodiak forged wheels that will be refinished and provided a proper tire set up. And more to come.

This week, I will be bringing it to the body shop for my local lotus dealership to have the clam repaired or replaced. I have a feeling I won't be putting another 5k on the clock any time soon.

 

[sturgeongeneral]

Welcome aboard! It's hard to stop driving these little cars isn't it?

 

[hotspoons]

Welcome aboard! It's hard to stop driving these little cars isn't it?

Sure is! My girlfriend likes to think all of the attention is due to her, but then reckons back to our last cruise in the Miata a little over a month ago and realizes that it is the little yellow spaceship she's riding shotgun in.

 

[Silver_Surfer]

I didn't plan on it, but between an 1800 mile trek from buying the car in Albuquerque and driving it back to Maryland, a month of commuting because I've been too busy to fix my other two broken cars, and a long trip this last weekend driving up the New England coast, I topped 5100 miles in my first month of owning my Elise. I'm guessing that there may be a few people out there that haven't put that many miles on in 10 years. I have no regrets, especially since it came with 99 thousand miles on the clock.

In that time the car has developed only a couple new noises (creaks and rattles when pulling from a stop) and it appears to be leaking fluid from only one more spot than when I picked it up. And I have only damaged two things on the car (the seatbelt upper bolt trim piece ripped off, and I ripped the boot lid prop holder tab off the other day), and the car has been damaged twice by others (a lady backed into me at a stop sign and put a hole in the clam, and yesterday my girlfriend forced the boot lid shut with the prop bar in the engine bay bending it like mad).

I've also treated it to a new battery, and picked up a set of Kodiak forged wheels that will be refinished and provided a proper tire set up. And more to come.

This week, I will be bringing it to the body shop for my local lotus dealership to have the clam repaired or replaced. I have a feeling I won't be putting another 5k on the clock any time soon.

You were actually able to get ahold of that guy to buy the wheels!? If they recommend a new clam, at least you have options with the Lowtush clam!

 

[hotspoons]

You were actually able to get ahold of that guy to buy the wheels!? If they recommend a new clam, at least you have options with the Lowtush clam!

Haha, yeah I was able to get him. Maybe he sold the seat already? Paul went on Saturday and picked them up for me while I was out of town since he knows he'll benefit. I just emailed Kevin (lowtush) and I'll be putting my car in this shop this week. Here's to hoping that geico actually provides a comparable rental like the adjuster told me. I'll take a cayman or boxter s or corvette or R8 or Aston as these are all things that enterprise (their rental company) has stock of.

 

[Akatedjonez]

Drive drive drive! My first few months I had "oh no don't want too many miles on her" in the back of my head but now every 1k more feels like a point of pride! I've only done 7k miles in a year, but with my DD sold (not getting a new one for probably a year...moving three times in the next 12 months) I'm hoping to put many more on!


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[hotspoons]

Drive drive drive! My first few months I had "oh no don't want too many miles on her" in the back of my head but now every 1k more feels like a point of pride! I've only done 7k miles in a year, but with my DD sold (not getting a new one for probably a year...moving three times in the next 12 months) I'm hoping to put many more on!


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Besides resale value, which I never really think of because I have driven everything I've ever owned into the ground, the only other worry is maintenance cost, but because of the non-exotic driveline, I don't think twice about wear and tear. Is there a paragon products-type business (Porsche owners would know) in the US for regular oem stuff for lotii?

 

[Silver_Surfer]

Haha, yeah I was able to get him. Maybe he sold the seat already? Paul went on Saturday and picked them up for me while I was out of town since he knows he'll benefit. I just emailed Kevin (lowtush) and I'll be putting my car in this shop this week. Here's to hoping that geico actually provides a comparable rental like the adjuster told me. I'll take a cayman or boxter s or corvette or R8 or Aston as these are all things that enterprise (their rental company) has stock of.

Hope it doesn't stay in the shop too long! Don't want to miss the driving season!

 

[hotspoons]

Hope it doesn't stay in the shop too long! Don't want to miss the driving season!

Agreed! And with a better tire setup to boot (R1R's I think).

I'll either have an STi or at the worst a Cadillac ATS rental to hoon around in while she's down.

 

[bri3d]

Besides resale value, which I never really think of because I have driven everything I've ever owned into the ground, the only other worry is maintenance cost, but because of the non-exotic driveline, I don't think twice about wear and tear. Is there a paragon products-type business (Porsche owners would know) in the US for regular oem stuff for lotii?

British Racing Group via LotusGarage.com is probably the closest thing to Paragon I could think of.

Flow GM/Chevy (no joke) operating through MyLotusGarage.com (not to be confused with the other one) is the cheapest online OEM dealer in my experience.

 

[TedR]

Nicely done racking up the miles.

There sure are a lot of people backing up into these cars at stop signs!

 

[chris2pher]

nice! The first year I bought mine I put 16k on it between April - Dec. You're going to have a blast with the car.

 

[Almighty]

Hey Rich,

Good to see you're enjoying her. I need to be like you and drive mine more, it gets better gas mileage than my daily does. Hope the repairs go swiftly!

 

[David Craig]

1) The trim item on the seatbelt fell off on my car. I believe I used some caulking to fix it

2) Regarding that metal bar that holds the trunk open. Someone nearly bent mine too. Luckily I stopped them just in time.

3) I put about 6,000 miles on my Elise during an 11 day trip last summer. So I've got you beat on that one.

Congrats on the car by the way.:clap:

 

[MyLOTUSGarage.com]

Thanks for the kind words. Feel free to visit us at

My Lotus Garage

We would love the opportunity to earn your business!

 

[kenfowler]

so you bought the yellow elise that was out here....

how is it treating you so far? with the high mileage, is it still running fine?

 

[kenfowler]

Nicely done racking up the miles.

There sure are a lot of people backing up into these cars at stop signs!

fuking stupid right? I've never seen it until it happened to me....now when I'm driving I like to look at every other vehicle next to me, behind me, in front of me andacross from me and I've seen 2 more female drivers backing up at stop lights/signs!

 

[hotspoons]

I've been off the grid for a while, trying to get the engine back in my Subaru after pulling it for a clutch job and enjoying summer. I ended up crushing the clutch release bearing trying to get it seated in the pressure plate, so I have to wait another week to put it back together and pull that sonofabitch motor again :/.

British Racing Group via LotusGarage.com is probably the closest thing to Paragon I could think of.

Flow GM/Chevy (no joke) operating through MyLotusGarage.com (not to be confused with the other one) is the cheapest online OEM dealer in my experience.

Cool, thanks! I'll check them out.

Nicely done racking up the miles.

There sure are a lot of people backing up into these cars at stop signs!

Haha, I know!

nice! The first year I bought mine I put 16k on it between April - Dec. You're going to have a blast with the car.

I am after I get it back from the shop.

Hey Rich,

Good to see you're enjoying her. I need to be like you and drive mine more, it gets better gas mileage than my daily does. Hope the repairs go swiftly!

Thanks Duane! Yes, it definitely gets better mileage than my 1st gen Miata.

The lady's insurance finally approved the addendum to the repairs and the clam is currently being repaired. They've been saying "two weeks from sign off" from the beginning, though I may be waiting on parts. They found that both the headlamp lenses were cracked from the impact, which tacked on another $2800 -eek- plus some other things brought the total up over $11k, and they haven't gotten a quote to replace the star shield.

1) The trim item on the seatbelt fell off on my car. I believe I used some caulking to fix it

2) Regarding that metal bar that holds the trunk open. Someone nearly bent mine too. Luckily I stopped them just in time.

3) I put about 6,000 miles on my Elise during an 11 day trip last summer. So I've got you beat on that one.

Congrats on the car by the way.:clap:

1) I think I'm going to leave it off since I know the sleeve of my shirt would undoubtedly snag it again.

2) Grrr. I'm thinking I'm going to strip it, use a blow torch to bend it into shape, then anneal it and repaint it. I'm guessing its a $500 part based on the cost of repairs for the rest of the car.

3) Well done!

Thanks for the kind words. Feel free to visit us at

My Lotus Garage

We would love the opportunity to earn your business!

I am checking it out now, thanks!

so you bought the yellow elise that was out here....

how is it treating you so far? with the high mileage, is it still running fine?

Hi Ken! Yes, I bought the yellow one with 99k on the clock. The previous owner in ABQ bought it from the original owner in Phoenix who had the oil lines fail and spun a bearing; the race shop where he had it repaired replaced the entire bottom end with a new unit, so the motor is stout. It also had all the wear parts on the brakes replaced recently, the oil lines upgraded with one off "racing" lines from the shop, and some coolant leaks repaired under the clam.

There are a few creeks and rattles that I'll need to address, plus I'm planning on rejuvenating/replacing all movable suspension bearings and bushes and putting Ohlins on over the winter since there are a few clunks at low speed that tell me there may be some play in some of the bearings/bushes. Other than that, the transmission grinds going into first if not rev-matched or going slow, but in other cars I've owned, putting in a good (Motul, redline) trans fluid fixes this, so I'll give it a shot. It's also leaking a little trans fluid from some sensor on top of the trans, but I'll deal with that when I service the motor when I get it back from the shop.

And a dealer-option stage II exhaust and Kodiak wheels with Toyo R1Rs will be going on the car as soon as I get it back from the body shop :evil:

fuking stupid right? I've never seen it until it happened to me....now when I'm driving I like to look at every other vehicle next to me, behind me, in front of me andacross from me and I've seen 2 more female drivers backing up at stop lights/signs!

LOL. Its like that movie Idiocracy; I think the population is just getting dumber.

 

[Almighty]

There's a boot prop rod and an exhaust here in Arlington... just sayin.

 

[hotspoons]

There's a boot prop rod and an exhaust here in Arlington... just sayin.

Hey Duane, Tyler gave me your number and I texted you. He's out of town this weekend, but are you around? I'd like to pick up that exhaust and boot prop. Thanks!