[HethelGuy]

Hello everyone,
My name is Steve and I am new to Lotus cars, and new to this forum. I have been reading alot, but finally decided to register and get online. I thought I would ask this question in the form of a poll, hope its okay with the Moderators.

My question is how often would you expect a new Lotus Elise to have to be taken back to a dealership for warranty work? Whether its a 2009 or a 2008, it would still be a new one.

I look forward to reading the results.

Steve

 

[delise]

You are not going to get very conclusive results with this poll in my opinion. "Warranty work" could mean tightening a screw a couple of turns to adjust the rear edge of the window or replacing a seat belt cover that fell off. The engines do rarely have problems since they are Toyota but a lot of the little interior/body bits will need tending here and there under warranty.......

 

[HethelGuy]

Ok Delise, thanks for the comment. I guess I should be a little more clear as to what I was actually getting at.

I meant how many times would you expect to have to take a new Elise back to the dealership for warranty work where its a situation that the car is just not running right. Or perhaps a warning/engine light is on, or the car sputters, etc. Something that would make you feel like you needed to get back there somewhat soon.

Hope I've made myself a little more clear.

Steve

 

[Randy Chase]

The experiences will not be consistent. But my guess is you can expect something to come up every 6-12 months over the first 4 years. That may fall into the once a year answer on your poll.

And this does not mean a big deal. As in maybe the alarm module has a problem. AC not working well. Dash acting up.

 

[mrcarcrazy]

I'm gonna go with rarely. I live over 5 hrs away from the nearest dealership. there's another Lotus here. He has had his new since 2006. He has taken his into the shop for one issue (power surge while cruising ( I think its the a/c kicking on/off.)....the dealer cannot recreate and its very very subtle....feels a lot like the a/c compressor kicking on pulling a little power then gradual return.

anywho. I've had mine (2005) for about 6-7 months, it has 27k on it, and I've had zero issues. his 06 has same mileage.

We've both had to take them to the dealer for new windshields. neither occasion was the car's fault.

 

[ghastley]

I voted once a year for an oil change and check-up.

You'll visit your tire supplier a lot more often.

 

[Randy Chase]

A good number of people have no problems!

 

[SirLotus]

My own personal experience was ZERO.
Cheers,
Michael

 

[Vishus_1]

A difficulty in answering the question is that it is likely to be in relationship to the mileage driven. Some occasionally drive cars, some rack up the miles and some track/compete with their cars. I will bet the frequency of repairs and visitis to the dealership are in ratio to the usage.

 

[Vicynax]

I only choose 6 month because I rack up about 6k miles every 6 month or less. That's also approximately the time I need oil changed, etc... etc....

Really depends how much you drive. As for problems with the car, all of them were fixed and warrantied by Newport European without any problems.

 

[Sleazy E]

I had to take it back once for warranty on a broken Stage II exhaust. They slapped a brand new one in without question quick and painlessly.

 

[perryeyges]

I really never had any issues ever. If anything ever broke I would just remove it and move on..
Sleazy E is right my sport exhaust cracked twice and was replaced twice until I changed to a custom setup.

 

[Allan Gibbs]

I had the 501 Elise brought to the US (based on VIN) and had to for almost 3 years. No issues asides from the speaker grills popping up.

 

[def]

It's a pretty wide spectrum I'd think, same with most other hand built cars...

 

[ewalberg]

If you're buying a "new" car you need to be aware of lotus' warrantty policies, and that you should double check (with lotus directly) on the state of the warranttee on the car... just becuase you're buying a new one doesn't mean it's warranttee hasn't already started...

Their policy is that the warranttee already starts if the vehicle has either 50miles on it (which the dealer has to report so you may be okay) or if the dealer has taken delivery on the car for more than 6 months lotus automatically start the warranttee becuase Lotus keeps track of, and which the dealer can't change. Lotus corporate may be nice to you and restart the warranttee for you if you're buying new, but they have no obligation to... and i would be darned sure you know the nature of your warranttee BEFORE you put down the money instead of after.

I got screwed out of 9 months on my warranttee, and no body told me until it was too late and expired... and then I got no benefit of the doubt out nor good faith treatment out of the fine Ron Mann at lotus warrantty, to fix an issue that had been present on the car since i bought it... but just didn't figure out what was wrong until quite late into my ownership becuase of how i use the car. Thanks for nothing.

It sure is a great fun car to own, and mine has been satisfactorily reliable (mines a 2006 with 35k plus miles now and never had an emergent problem that needed fixing... mine is a daily driver, and i'm pretty sure any warranttee work i had done was manageable during oil changes, all services done at the dealer), but a sour taste in my mouth from warranttee and dealer support (as it relates to the warrantty) that's for sure.

 

[waydui]

Steve,
Mine's a 2005 Elise and it's never been back to the dealer for any warranty work. :clap:

I do all my own regular maintenance as it's such an easy car to work on.

The Toyota engine is only one part of the warranty equation, and is probably the most reliable component in the car.

FWIW, the warranty issue wasn't a decisive factor in my buying the car.

Good Luck!

Regards,
Wayne

 

[...m...]

...i bought my car without any warrantee and it saved me all that worry about whether something mightn't be covered...

 

[Kaliuzhkin]

I bought my 2006 Elise new in November, 2007 and have had several warranty matters that trouble me. They trouble me because some of them affected safety and because they shouldn't go wrong on a new car. The car now has about 7,000 miles on it.

I've brought the car in three times for maintenance and warranty work. Warranty work:

1,000 mi.: switch on center console for locking/unlocking doors doesn't work; clock off by 4 hours regardless of setting; a/c insufficient;

4,000 mi.: headlight burned out, speedometer doesn't return to 0.; clock still wrong but not fixed;

7,000 mi.: driver's side door lock jammed - door won't open; passenger's window stuck; driver's seat belt doesn't retract (not considered under warranty); clock still wrong but not fixed; rear license plate light dangling, not considered under warranty.

 

[Jean-Paul]

i voted rarely...

 

[Aedo]

...i bought my car without any warrantee and it saved me all that worry about whether something mightn't be covered...

+1 - not that I've ever needed it in now three years