Operating costs??

3178 Views 14 Replies 8 Participants Last post by bogie, Mar 15, 2004

excesss

Discussion Starter · Jan 28, 2004

I am not very familiar with the Elise, does any one have any service records or operating cost on a Euro spec Elise. In the Esprit forum some of the owners have the service and operating cost posted. I know some of the members here are from Europe and I was hoping if they could share some feedback. I am more than happy to share some of my own cost with others as well. My dealer has been very vague, he told me he expects the engine and drive train to be pretty reliable. However looking at my own service records I have had few problems with my engine and drive train outside of routine service. It’s the odds and ends that have added up, any feedback is greatly appreciated

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meat

· #2 · Jan 28, 2004

I've tracked my Exige for a 1.5 years and about 1500 miles. I haven't had any major problems. I had an oil cooler line that had a small leak and needed some teflon tape. I had a rotor warp very early on (might have always been alittle out). I also have the usual panel and door fitment issues, but they all work so it doesn't bother me too much.

The car will get good gas mileage on the road. The car is pretty good on tires (I ran the same set of 48's all season this year) and I'm on the original brake pads.

Hope that helps.

atyclb

· #3 · Jan 28, 2004

I'd budget $1000/yr for tires...

excesss

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jan 28, 2004

Would you feel comfortable driving your Exige as daily driver averaging 2,200 miles a month.

zvezdah1

· #5 · Jan 28, 2004

excess,
I can't speak for meat, but I think the Toyota powerplant enables it to be a daily driver. On SELOC some of the elises have over 100,000 miles now.
Chris

meat

· #6 · Jan 28, 2004

Tough question.

I personally would never use a car like an Exige for daily driving. I believe cars have a purpose. The Exige's purpose isn't to be sitting in traffic - it's to be going balls to the wall. I wouldn't even consider my S2000 for daily duties. That's my weekend/fun car.

As far as the Elise for a daily - sure it will get it done, but will want to inflict all the daily dings/wear and tear on it? The paint does chip easily, it isn't easy to get in and out of, there is no storage, winter is not an option, etc.

babak

· #7 · Jan 28, 2004

atyclb said:
I'd budget $1000/yr for tires...

Specially for LSS tyres. My understanding is that they are grooved slicks.

excesss

Discussion Starter · #8 · Feb 3, 2004

Meat: I was wondering how does the Exige perform on the road? My mechanic and I were discussing top speed and he informed me it would vary depending on conditions on the Elise. What is your experience, what do you consider a formable competitor on the road? What are the major differences between an Exige and Elise? I know that an Elise on track is serious competition, however my mechanic told me on open road its not going to be as competitive despite its power to weight ratio.

meat

· #9 · Feb 3, 2004

I don't normally drive it on the road so I'll give you my thoughts based on that.

The car is hot - temperature hot. I did drive it in Atlanta when I bought it on the road to get some breakin miles on it. It looked like I took a shower after driving it for 2 hours on a 80 degree day.

Now, the car is not meant for drag racing or for anything to do with launching the car - it doesn't do that well at all. It also isn't really good for speeds of over 110mph. It really starts to slow after 110. Top speed is probably somewhere around 135-140.

Get into anything twisty and you will be hard pressed to find any car on the road that can keep up with it. Cornering speeds/limits are very high - granted you need to make sure you have proper heat in the tires.

Hope that helps.

zvezdah1

· #10 · Feb 3, 2004

I drove one of the exiges at LCU on the street in the summer. Definately not a comfortable ride for street use. Ventilation isn't all that good for slow speeds (traffic)
Chris

theob

· #11 · Mar 9, 2004

I think the optional A/C fitted in new 111R will do some work and "cool down" the driver a bit during hot days. Here in Greece, where I live, I can say that's even critical to have an A/C fitted, because 40 degrees celsius during summer is something that even the Greeks cannot stand for long, not to mention our Elise

As for operating cost in general, the car is covered in Greece with two-years warranty (how much is it in the states?) and since it's not been long since I have it, and keeping in mind the Toyota engine installed, I could easily predict that operating costs consist of the following three elements:

1) Tyres

2) Tyres

3) Tyres

my 2 cents,

Theo

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Arno

· #12 · Mar 11, 2004

theob said:
1) Tyres
2) Tyres
3) Tyres

Add:

Brakes
Brakes
Brakes

Bye, Arno.

bogie

· #13 · Mar 13, 2004

I use my Elise daily and do a fair amount of miles - 20-25K per year. Heres what it costs at a specialist (not a dealer which is 2x the labour cost)

All for a Rover engine - may differ for you guys !

Service interval 9k miles

Service type A,B, C
A is oil change and check over
B is oil and fluids/plugs, check over
C is all the above + cam belt change

service order is AABAACAABAAC

Service cost is:

A = £180
B = £250
C = £500

I do mainly fast road + motorway miles with trackdays etc every 2 months or so

Rear tyres last around 10K miles @ £250 per pair
Front tyres around 15K miles @ £220 per pair
Clutch around 30-35K miles @ £160 for AP version + £300 fitting
Brake discs 30K miles @ £800 for full set fitted
Brake pads 15K miles @ £180 (Pagid RS42) fitted
Brake fluid - yearly @ £40

So in nearly 40K miles approx £4K total running costs for consumables

...obviously will be much more at dealer rates

HTH

bogie

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theob

· #14 · Mar 15, 2004

Interesting costs for just a Rover engine as you said.

It seems that Lotus brand is quite an overhead in servicing costs, no matter if they have a Rover or a Toyota engine.

Since I haven't fininshed my running-in, I don't have a clue about the dealer costs I'll face in Greece, but I'll let you know immediately, just for comparison reasons.

BR,

Theo

bogie

· #15 · Mar 15, 2004

the above costs are cheap !...from a specialist - a dealer is approx double the above on the servicing !

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