25k miles a year in an Evora?

25k miles a year in an Evora?

Author
Discussion

Pooh

Original Poster:

3,692 posts

252 months

Tuesday 21st July 2015
quotequote all
I am considering trading my Maserati for an Evora, I would also sell my Alfa and commute in the Evora, the aim of this is to free up some cash for a property purchase and reduce my outgoings a bit by running two rather than three cars. Another option is to trade the Maser for a cheaper Elise (probably a series 3 1.6) and keep the Alfa for commuting.
Would doing 25k miles a year in the Evora, drive me mad, spoil my appreciation of the car and cost an absolute fortune in running cost and depreciation?

flyingscot68

241 posts

138 months

Tuesday 21st July 2015
quotequote all
I found mine to be really comfortable, good on fuel (N/A) and once the initial teething problems had been sorted out it was reliable and well put together.

I'd happily have another and 25k miles a year would be no issue.

HTH

CocoPops

463 posts

230 months

Tuesday 21st July 2015
quotequote all
I'm not sure you'd find an Evora owner saying it's a bad idea.

People have mentioned chosing a subtle colour if attending customer sites etc, but not a bad word against using it as a Daily Driver.

Pooh

Original Poster:

3,692 posts

252 months

Tuesday 21st July 2015
quotequote all
Thanks for the responses. I am sure that I would enjoy an Evora, I have had a short test drive in one and I liked it a lot. I am trying to get an idea of the cost of doing 25k miles a year in one so that I can work which option I should go for.

Gravel

116 posts

119 months

Wednesday 22nd July 2015
quotequote all
You might find your 25k rapidly becoming 30k - while it is a very pleasant place to be on an A-road cruise, it's a whole lot more exciting on the long way home!

I can't really comment on the options packs - my Sports Racer has them all, but IMHO I would not be without the cruise control, reversing camera and bluetooth audio (radio reception is patchy as it's not a metal bodied car). Sports mode is also essential - should really be called 'parking mode' when it's off as the throttle response seems a bit dead when sport is off.

My guess would be that fuel and tyres would be your main expenses.Are you near a dealer for services? Sounds like you'll be doing two a year...




Pooh

Original Poster:

3,692 posts

252 months

Wednesday 22nd July 2015
quotequote all
Gravel said:
You might find your 25k rapidly becoming 30k - while it is a very pleasant place to be on an A-road cruise, it's a whole lot more exciting on the long way home!

I can't really comment on the options packs - my Sports Racer has them all, but IMHO I would not be without the cruise control, reversing camera and bluetooth audio (radio reception is patchy as it's not a metal bodied car). Sports mode is also essential - should really be called 'parking mode' when it's off as the throttle response seems a bit dead when sport is off.

My guess would be that fuel and tyres would be your main expenses.Are you near a dealer for services? Sounds like you'll be doing two a year...
I live close to some of the best driving roads in the country so I suspect that you would be correct about the higher mileage. My nearest dealer is Murray Motors in Edinburgh which is about 60 miles away so getting it serviced twice a year could be a bit of a a pain. They have a 2011 laser blue Evora with the premium and sport packs for sale at the moment which is in my price range but they have had it for a while so I am wondering why it has not sold.
I believe that the tyres are quite expensive and that the rear ones in particular don't last long.

Gravel

116 posts

119 months

Wednesday 22nd July 2015
quotequote all
Pooh said:
I live close to some of the best driving roads in the country so I suspect that you would be correct about the higher mileage. My nearest dealer is Murray Motors in Edinburgh which is about 60 miles away so getting it serviced twice a year could be a bit of a a pain. They have a 2011 laser blue Evora with the premium and sport packs for sale at the moment which is in my price range but they have had it for a while so I am wondering why it has not sold.
I believe that the tyres are quite expensive and that the rear ones in particular don't last long.
Just don't buy your tyres at a dealer IIRC they wanted 350 per rear vs 240ish at Camskill. My rears were new 4.5k ago - in April, I'll check the tread remaining tomorrow.

Not sure why that blue car hasn't sold - to be bleeding obvious, from peas to cars to houses if it ain't selling the price is probably too high!

That said, having seen MY11 and MY12 interiors side by side I decided to go for the newer spec - just looked nicer to my eyes.

CTE

1,488 posts

239 months

Wednesday 22nd July 2015
quotequote all
Tyres can be bought for less than £200/corner and is you go for something like the Avon ZZ5R or Michelin Pilot Supersports, you`ll find the wear rating is higher and they will last twice as long with very little real world difference in grip.

Alfa2Evora

160 posts

132 months

Wednesday 22nd July 2015
quotequote all
Pooh said:
I live close to some of the best driving roads in the country so I suspect that you would be correct about the higher mileage. My nearest dealer is Murray Motors in Edinburgh which is about 60 miles away so getting it serviced twice a year could be a bit of a a pain. They have a 2011 laser blue Evora with the premium and sport packs for sale at the moment which is in my price range but they have had it for a while so I am wondering why it has not sold.
I believe that the tyres are quite expensive and that the rear ones in particular don't last long.
They have had that one for a while haven't they?, confused , as I looked at it back in February before settling on the other Laser Blue one they had - Nov 2010 registered, slightly higher mileage than the 2011 one, but has all 3 packs, Oyster interior (which I particularly wanted), CR box and a 2bular valved exhaust for pretty much the same money.

It came with almost brand-new Avon ZZRs on the rear which are now down to 5mm remaining after 5.5k miles so they're wearing quite well, judging by the comments of others, when compared to the OE Pirellis. Having said that, I've got 2 Pirellis sitting in the garage for when the Avons 'burn out' but that's only because I got them for £190 (+ VAT) the pair in the big Lotus production overstock clearout sale.

The comments on racking up the miles holds true for me too. My intentions were for the Evora to be a weekend/holiday toy with most of my annual mileage being put on my daily 'shed', so I wasn't at all concerned by the 8k mileage limit on the insurance. Now I'm starting to panic - that's nearly 70% of my allowance gone already and I've still got things to do/place to visit. During the same period, my daily driver had covered barely 2k miles, so yes, the Evora is VERY addictive.

Gravel

116 posts

119 months

Wednesday 22nd July 2015
quotequote all
I guess the real solution to racking up the miles on your Evora is to buy more than one smile

I had not planned to use mine for quite so much commuting but it is very depressing having to take the other car to work! I'm thinking about changing my other car to narrow the gap but it's hard to think what would do it for sensible money...


douglasgdmw

488 posts

218 months

Wednesday 22nd July 2015
quotequote all
Don't think there is an issue with doing the miles in the Evora however the downside comes at resell time as the majority of Evora's do very little miles.

I know a lot of guys on Scottish Elises do reasonable miles in there Evora's and they will have info on the MMC one (suspect it will be someone on the forum which probably traded it in).

Also Brandon at MMC is very honest and won't give you the salesman bull that a lot will, so if you ask a direct question about why it's sat for so long you should get a direct answer.

The Evora is a nice place to be. The longest trip I did on mine was from Edinburgh down to Mugello (over a couple of weeks holiday). Certainly would have not done that trip in my previous 111R.

George

Pooh

Original Poster:

3,692 posts

252 months

Wednesday 22nd July 2015
quotequote all
Thanks guys.
I did a quick calculation and excluding depreciation, I think that it would cost me approximately £3k more in running costs to do 25k miles in the Evora rather than the Alfa, this would be partially offset by the fact that I would only be running two cars rather than three(Alfa, Volvo and Elise)but I suspect that once depreciation is taken into account the cost would be higher.
Another factor is that only having the XC90 and the Evora would result in increased use of the V8 petrol XC90 which is not a cheap option at 18mpg.
I am starting to think that the Alfa + Volvo + Elise option might be better but it is hard to work out all the competing costs.

XBOW

1,670 posts

180 months

Wednesday 22nd July 2015
quotequote all
I used an Evora S as daily driver for 9 months, often doing 250 mile round trips and apart from fuel costs I loved it.

I did consider a NA version as a daily runner recently, but wanted an IPS due to amount of time in traffic , plus concern of clutch replacement costs in the manual (potentially £3k due to labour of anywhere between 30-40 hrs). I couldn't find an IPS in timescales so went a different route .

A NA car should do mid to high 30's to gallon on a run, tyres on a 18/19" setup should be reasonable and according to driving style no reason they shouldn't last a fair while. You're then down to servicing costs which shouldn't be too bad .

Personally I think a NA Evora is probably one of the cheapest cars to run for the type of car .

Just my 2p worth.

FRO911

53 posts

130 months

Wednesday 22nd July 2015
quotequote all
I agree the NA is an excellent choice for a daily driver, you get all the Evora appeal but with decent fuel consumption and lower outlay. Also, the ride on the 18/19's is exceptional, almost rediculous for a sports car. Don't know how Lotus do it but it can make all the difference for daily use.

XBOW

1,670 posts

180 months

Friday 24th July 2015
quotequote all
I actually thought how good my Esprit rode on a recent 120 mile round trip and that's an 18 year old car ! I think Lotus have always been ahead of the game re ride quality for a sports car.

blueg33

35,578 posts

223 months

Tuesday 28th July 2015
quotequote all
My n/a Evora is my daily driver and I did 20k miles last year, probably about 60% on the motorway.

Running costs are fine, I have seen 41mpg over 2 hours of steady 75mph and I have seen 26 mpg when honing, the typical average is about 32/33mpg. Rear tyres (especially the Pirelli OEM tyres) only last 6-8k miles, Avon ZZ5's last a little longer and give up little in grip and balance if you increase the pressure by 2psi. Front tyres last forever. Service intervals are close at 9000 miles but cost around £300-400 a go at Lotus Silverstone.

The only problem I have had is a door close sensor which was £300 to replace. Interior build quality is ok but not up to Audi standards although there is a lot less plastic and a lot more leather. The Alpine head unit is ok as a radio, good at nav, good at MP3 music and terrible at phone. If I upgrade any part of my car it will be the head unit. Seat bolster wear on my car is fine.

I drove the car to Le Mans via Santander this year doing 4 consecutive days of 5 hours driving a day, it was perfectly comfy, perfectly reliable even in 30 degree plus heat, it was quicker on the mountain twisties than my mates 993 c2s, but couldn't quite shake the Ferrari 360 (the driver did comment on how quickly my car changed direction)

The car does get a lot of attention (positive) from the public, at Hotel du France it was photographed more than the Porsche and the Ferrari (a 575 Marenello this time).

In terms of depreciation, my car has 60k miles on it, I was offered £26k p-ex only last week by a Lotus dealer and 24k by a non Lotus dealer who admitted he didn't have a clue as to the value.

Hope this helps

(note my car has tubular exhaust system and decat so is louder than the average Evora)


Pooh

Original Poster:

3,692 posts

252 months

Tuesday 28th July 2015
quotequote all
Thanks for all the replies.
I test drove an Elise at the weekend and have decided that it is not for me so I am looking at the Evora but things have become a little more complicated.
My commute is 130 miles per day but I have had the use of a company flat for 2-3 nights per week and this helps keep the mileage down a bit. My company is getting rid of the flat due to the downturn in the oil industry so I will either have to go for an economical daily commuting car with a cheap Evora as a weekend and occasional commuting car or rent a room close to the office which could allow me to only have the Evora.
I need to look into the cost implications of all this before I decide what to do.

Sumsion

277 posts

171 months

Tuesday 28th July 2015
quotequote all
He says with tongue in cheek ...... your circumstances allow you to enjoy the proposed Evora more as you may have to commute daily !
I managed 30 mpg in my S IPS today when I took the car for service at the factory . Unfortunately coming from Newbury it was mainly motorway in traffic and the dreaded M 25 and speed cameras .
On the upside I did see the new 400 on track apparently driven by JMG . The exhaust note was loud and raspy .

Lazydonkey

177 posts

222 months

Wednesday 29th July 2015
quotequote all
I did 10k last year in an NA at an average of 27mpg and it handled a fast 80 mile round trip commute 3 days a week with ease. I didn't have another car as a back up and i was never left standing by the road. Air con compressor failed but that seems very rare.

I know of '10 plate with 75k miles on the clock that was worth in the region of £25k trade in so in the grand scheme of things even high mileage isn't prohibitively expensive from a depreciation point of view.

I've now got an astra as well as the evora as i needed 5 doors now and again and being honest i probably enjoy the car even more now, as it feels more special.

Pooh

Original Poster:

3,692 posts

252 months

Wednesday 29th July 2015
quotequote all
Lazydonkey said:
I did 10k last year in an NA at an average of 27mpg and it handled a fast 80 mile round trip commute 3 days a week with ease. I didn't have another car as a back up and i was never left standing by the road. Air con compressor failed but that seems very rare.

I know of '10 plate with 75k miles on the clock that was worth in the region of £25k trade in so in the grand scheme of things even high mileage isn't prohibitively expensive from a depreciation point of view.

I've now got an astra as well as the evora as i needed 5 doors now and again and being honest i probably enjoy the car even more now, as it feels more special.
I think the depreciation would be manageable but three services a year plus fuel plus tyres would add up.
Your last point is also very true, I was using the Maserati to go to and from work quite a bit last summer and when you use a car a lot you become accustomed to the performance, noise etc. and it becomes a bit less special.