[PermaGrinNeeded]

I plan on buying my first Lotus which will be an Elise this spring..I'm 25, have my insurance lined up and ready to go, have very adequate funding for the car, and I still have dreams about my first test drive several months ago...With that said, can anyone tell me what to expect as far as maintenance, repairs, etc.. on an 05 Elise with say 15 to 25 thousand miles on it??? I'm not buying a Lotus as a practical and reliable car but after having an RS4 and an S4 I will say I hope to not have to deal with the same kinds of repair and maintenance costs.
The Boxster S was the car for me until that first Elise test drive which I guess changed my life. Can anyone blame me?!!

 

[petroboy]

I can only speak for myself. I have an '05 with 23,500 miles. I've had no troubles so far. I do the minor maintenance (oil, brakes, brake fluid) myself, with the oversight and training of a mechanic friend. To this point, I've been delighted. I've had the car about 18 months, have put 14K of the miles on it myself, and drive it more than my Honda.

I wish you the best and hope you enjoy the car.

 

[shokwaves]

Expect no problems and too much fun. Yamaha built engine, bullet proof. Maintainance parts are Toyota's, fairly cheap if d.i.y. Mine has 12K miles and just oil changes and no issues. Of course, be sure of what you are buying and its history.

Good luck.

 

[Bavarian Motorist]

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f221/uberpost-read-here-there-information-uberthread-25131/

 

[macdady2424]

Haha, my 02 audi tt has had more problems then my 05 elise, and I considered the Audi to be pretty good. That's how awesome my 05 elise has been. I don't think I've put any money into anything on the lotus other then the price of doing my own oil change, checking toe links, changing air filters, and other basic maintenance. Although, expect to go through tires pretty quickly compared to other cars and the tires are a little on the higher side I guess.

 

[Rei]

TIRES MORE TIRES AND MORE TIRES. You'll get sick of it on your 4th set after a year. Then break down and get a set for wet street, dry street, race, and if you lost your mind "like I did" set for snow.

 

[trav34]

Yup, I just bought my 3rd set of rims & tires. Got a set of all seasons, summer tires, and track tires. I've had my car about 8 months and 8k miles (bringing the total to 15k) and enjoyed every minute of it. An airfilter, couple of oil changes and some brake bleeding are the most involved thngs I've gotten into so far.

 

[the1sen]

read THIS: http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f3/100k-miles-65861/

And you can check out this too: Another Daily Driver Blog - Used 05 Elise on my march to 100K miles - LotusTalk - The Lotus Cars Community

 

[sleepe]

Brother, first thing is no>>>>TORQUE or POWER in any measure from an NA Elise.

But, that is why the Elise is great!

I've not had any expensive repairs to my 2006 Elise since purchasing new in 2006. It has 20,100 miles now and the only problem is my mod obsession.



-Robert