I am thinking of purchasing a Lotus Elise to use as an every day driver. I am retired so I won’t be putting a lot of miles on it. Does anyone know of any problems with this vehicle?
To me it would not seem to be a great daily driver but neither does a Miata. A lot of people own them though. You might want to check out this website: http://www.elises.co.uk/problems/
“Does anyone know of any problems with this vehicle?”
Do you have any problems with your back? You may if you try to drive it every day.
You fit well? It’s very tight. Do you have a backup for carrying things?
I believe it has a Toyota Celica GT-S engine, so it should run well for a long time, and the car is extremely light so the Celica engine will throw it around quite smartly. I don’t know what the rest of the car is like, but I can tell you that it is NOT designed for comfort.
This car’s sole purpose is to take windy roads faster than any other car. It weighs about 1,600 lbs. and the seats are not padded much, if at all. To put this in perspective, my '95 Honda Civic coupe weighs around 2,200 lbs, and it borders on being a motorized roller skate. Newer (C-6) Corvettes are around 3,200 lbs. If the Elise is what you want, it is probably the best of what it is, but it is kind of a niche car.
I say buy it, and if you don’t like it you can give it to me!
“In 1986, the company was bought by General Motors. On 27 August, 1993, GM sold the company, for ?30 million, to A.C.B.N. Holdings S.A. of Luxembourg, a company controlled by Italian businessman Romano Artioli, who also owned Bugatti Automobili SpA. In 1996, a majority share in Lotus was sold to Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Bhd (Proton), a Malaysian car company listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.”
What is really amazing is how Lotus manages to get these cars into the country. Meeting safety and emissions requirements must be quite a challenge for such a low production vehicle…Any U-tube videos of the 45 MPH crash test?
Why not? You say you’re retired, so presumably you’ve worked hard all your life, now its time to kick back and enjoy life. Just be sure, don’t do it on an impulse.
P.S. If you need to carry people and/or cargo from time to time, you could buy one of those retired police cruisers to have as a “backup”. ;>)
I say go for it. If you’d like a bit more creature comfort you can step up a bit to the Exige. It’s basically the same car, but a bit more user friendly. And I love the roof mounted air scoop on the Exige.
Look, if you’re retired and considering a Lotus you’ve been around long enough to understand the tradeoffs involved. Treat yourself.
How FIT are you. Getting into one of these is much like getting into a steel sleeping bag. Because of the Lotus’ the poor reliability and high operating cost, you may find a Mazda Miata a much better choice. But it’s only marginally easier to get into.
I want to thank all of you for replying to my “Should I” question. I do have a back up vehicle. A 1992 Jeep Wrangler Renegade. Next week I will go to the Lotus dealer and test drive the Elise.
Thanks once again,
Samson
This is a racing car, pure and simple. The cabin is tight, and the ride is very harsh. If you don’t mind that, it would be a huge amount of fun to drive.