Upkeep Costs

[Skute]

Whats your lotus cost to run each year?

Im trying to budget to buy the actual car but getting worried by reading stories on here of constantly taking the thing into the garage to have bits fixed

 

If i bought a 3 or 4 year old car, what sort of upkeep costs would you be expecting?

[Bailey]

Well, I think my car knows when i get paid cause pretty much every month around pay day it has something break on it. Over the 12 months i have had it i think it has had to go to the garage 8 times (normally around the £300 mark) I must have called Green flag out at least 6 times. They are definitely not a cheap car to use everyday but that said I am still glad i got it rather than a 172 or CTR.

 

As far as normal running costs go they are great on petrol £35 fill up will get you over 350 miles, probably more if you drive it like your nans in the passenger seat. They hardly touch tyres still waiting for my cheapo ones to need up grading/replacing.

 

Servicing isn't that much of a robbery as long as you can get it done at a specialist i.e. Bruce, Matty's is ok too. Imho

[Wuddie]

Alot of people taking their cars to the garage are to get Upgrades done..IE the recent upsurge in s2 suspension.

 

in the year and a bit i've owened my car i've spent about £800 on things that were worn and that includes 2 A services an MOT and a cambelt (hedging my bets before it snapped), my tyres still have enough tread on for me not to have to worry.

 

on the other hand...i dont do as many miles as some on here, £35 fill up will get you approx 350 miles if you just do Mway miles...i usually do about 10 - 15 miles in the week and i only get around the 200 - 210 miles mark.

 

The main thing you will spend your money on is Upgrades, i've probably spent in the region of £1500 - £1800 on upgrades in the past year.

 

TBH i wouldnt worry too much..if your getting an s1 4 ish years old or even an s2 then there are plenty of good specialists out there.. Bruce @ragtop is very good, as are Horizon motorsport..Just get the car and drive it like it should be driven and enjoy..in a years time you'll wonder why you ever started this thread

[Bailey]

200-210 miles on a tank bloody hell. I do a 30 min trip to work, clear country road for 10mins then dual tracks for the rest. I cant help but boot it every time i drive it. I noticed the last 2 fill ups i only got just over 300 miles thought that was bad and blamed it on my new crp.

[DerekC]

I use my car every day "too and from" work and at the weekends too but only do about 6000 miles a year.

 

I bought mine last March (V reg S1) and "Touch Wood" it hasn't cost me a penny so far in repairs. It is due an A service though.

 

My release cable for my boot snapped last year but i'm not worried about getting it fixed until the better weather arrives and i'm taking the roof off more.

 

The horror stories do worry me at times when I listen to the problems that some cars have, but that's what my credit card is for.

 

The looks you will get when driving round town (especially with the top off) and the thrill you get when you have the chance to put your foot down certainly makes you forget the costs.

 

Good luck with your purchase and really shop around for your insurance too, it will be worth it.

 

Derek

[Skute]

Dont get me started on insurance

Cheapest i can get is £1500 from Tesco but that aint too bad considering age + my NCBs etc.

 

--

 

whats an A service? and i presume there must be B, C etc?

Those petrol stats arent too bad, i drive a toyota corolla currently and a £30 fill up gets me around 300 miles so, £35 - 350miles sounds the same! (and im a bit heavy right footed with the corolla too )

[KiwiPete]

R reg S1, 30K in the last 2 1/2 years as a second car (57k total miles). Its cost 2 wheel bearings over the normal service costs, although I think my heater matrix maybe leaking. The rest of the costs have been upgrades to suspension and replacing the red clutch pipe.

They really are basic cars with a rover engine.

When you take depreciation into account Becks Astra costs more to run.

 

Peter

[Simon G]

Bailey, was that you I passed at the weekend, you were heading out towards Alvechurch, still got your hardtop on?

 

I use my car everyday and weekends, done 35k miles in 2 and a half years. It is relatively easy to work on the car, Rover engine so bits can be had cheap. Take it to a specialist for anything major. Upgrades are the problem! Probably spent about £3K so far.

[malbon]

Erm...how did you fit £35 worth of petrol in the tank. Its only like 36 litres or something. My fill ups were usually £27/£28 tops - maybe a couple of quid more if optimax but never that much - and used to return 240 miles

 

Only occasional motorway. And it got the arse ragged off it every single day. Don't get me wrong I looked after it. Had a B at £250 and an A at £150 and a new set of tyres and few upgrades but it took a beating for 15k miles and never battered an eyelid. No wheel bearings, bushes or anything like that went.

 

You need to look around. learn about the car and take a specialist to check it out. get it on some ramps. make sure the service history is spot on even if its just be independents.

 

Do that and it should cost you peanuts....apart from insurance that is.

[ipanter]

Skute, i've only just bought my 97 Elise, but the best bit of advice i think i was given when looking was to keep about £1000 back to get bits sorted when you get the car.

 

I have had to have a tracker fitted £500, some work on the steering rack £100, an A service £150 and a 1st lotus driver training day £120, so that's £870 so far, and i'm sure something else will crop up.

 

So i'm glad i did keep a bit back.

 

Ian

[SimonC]

Skute - check out my experience so far re Cam Belt

 

If you get a good one from a club member or enthusiast (unlike what I did) it's likely to have been modded properly and looked after. If you are unluky it will cost you a fortune like any car. My MR2 has been fantastic and cost me sod all until a wheel bearing went and was such a git to remove the labour costs were nearly £300!!!

 

Day to day should be reasonable - I am positive (despite my 10 years + of lotus ownership and the number of times they have let me down/been stranded/skint and all three at once) there is nothing to touch them overall

 

Even the excitement of not knowing whether you will reach your intended destination :-)))

[Wuddie]

Yeah i think the Key is to do your research...find out all the little things that can go wrong, and then ask the current owner if any of the things have happened, has he/she sorted the problems?...

1 good one to check for on s1's is the red clutch hose, in the summer it can expand and leave you without gears, most people will have upgraded to a braided hose to stop this happening.

 

Also when going to view cars take some one thats knowledgable with you, either a mechanic or a current elise owner (If you ask nicely someone from this forum may come with you to check a car out if its close to them)

 

Check for a Full service history, that all services have been done and at the correct intervals, stay away from cars that are going to need a C service soon as that will set you back £700+ from a dealer, Dont worry about a Full "Lotus" service history if there is a non-dealer stamp in the book check it out here there are a few good specialists about who know their stuff.

HTH

[MattyB]

Putting a £1000 aside for "costs" when you buy is a very good idea...even for little things like an S2 wiper (which you wont realise how much you needed till you bought one!), geo, rear tyres etc.

 

I see your still at Uni though What do you drive at the moment?

[Kris H]

Skute

 

A service is the cheap/quick one, B is slightly more expensive and requires a little more work, C is the major one but infrequent unless you do a very high number of miles. I bought my car new but major expenditures for me have been insurance and mods. Running costs in terms of servicing and petrol and so on are actually very cheap for a car with such good performance. I can't imagine that of its type you'll find much cheaper. I think luck is a big factor here if you're buying second hand though. Simon C has been unlucky but others have commented that nothing significant has worn out and have probably spent the cash on mods and insurance. Would also agree strongly that cars looked after by recognised specialists such as Bruce (Ragtop) or Sinclaire's are aguably likely to be better, or certainly as good, as those with official stamps from lotus dealers.

 

Kristian

[Scott_Mac]

I'm the frequent advisor to putting the £1000 aside.... i was told to and am glad i did, things go wrong and there are some things you want fixed....

 

To give you an idea of costs (excluding insurance, tax, and petrol as you need them with any car) look at my website, take a deep breath first though!

 

http://www.smckenzie.info/lotus_elise.php