Evora NA running costs?
Discussion
I want to get into an Evora eventually, and I'm comfortable doing some saving up for deposit, but too impatient to wait until I can afford it outright. 
As such I'm mentally subtracting the running costs from the amount I can afford to allocate to a monthly "Evora fund" and converting that to a hypothetical finance payment, to shorten the wait. At the moment the two lines cross at about spring 2022.
I'm presuming prices stay about flat, and a good 2010 Evora NA will still be about £28K (See the 20K Evora thread. Prices aren't really moving at all, upwards maybe if anything.)
Am I correct on running cost allowances though?
Insurance - £500 (I'm ok on NCB, car history and age)
Tax - £325 (assuming a 2010 N/A car)
Service & MOT - £800-1000 (main dealer price?)
Consumables - £500-600 (pair of rear tyres or brake pads?)
So summing that, I'm looking at an annual upkeep figure (without fuel) of about £2000-2500?
I'm also aware / allowing the possibility of some big bills (clutch & gear selector cables notably). How much would people think reasonable to have in a kitty against such emergencies, £2000? I've run some relatively expensive things before (My current 944 isn't exactly covering itself in glory in terms of reliability / economy), so I hope I'm being realistic about what I can afford.
As such I'm mentally subtracting the running costs from the amount I can afford to allocate to a monthly "Evora fund" and converting that to a hypothetical finance payment, to shorten the wait. At the moment the two lines cross at about spring 2022.
I'm presuming prices stay about flat, and a good 2010 Evora NA will still be about £28K (See the 20K Evora thread. Prices aren't really moving at all, upwards maybe if anything.)
Am I correct on running cost allowances though?
Insurance - £500 (I'm ok on NCB, car history and age)
Tax - £325 (assuming a 2010 N/A car)
Service & MOT - £800-1000 (main dealer price?)
Consumables - £500-600 (pair of rear tyres or brake pads?)
So summing that, I'm looking at an annual upkeep figure (without fuel) of about £2000-2500?
I'm also aware / allowing the possibility of some big bills (clutch & gear selector cables notably). How much would people think reasonable to have in a kitty against such emergencies, £2000? I've run some relatively expensive things before (My current 944 isn't exactly covering itself in glory in terms of reliability / economy), so I hope I'm being realistic about what I can afford.
It is important to start with a sound car at the kick off. Was all the warranty work done ? The 2 big costs are clutch and gearbox . C/R box is a better choice to have , however I am not sure which is the cheapest to repair . Mileage per annum ? Set of 4 Michelin Sport would help the costs , fronts have a lot less wear than the rears. Should get 8 to 10 k from the rears . Geo is important to avoid excessive tyre wear . Pads and discs could be expensive , but check the prices with an Indie garage and cost of servicing which is linked to age of car and not so much to mileage . Perhaps 26 to 28 mpg driven spiritedly ?
Yeah, I should have said. This will be a second car, with likely low mileage of about 5-6000 miles per year, maybe 1 or 2 trackdays.
Agree that getting one with good state of service and consumables is key to keeping initial costs down. I have learnt that lesson after an E46 M3 presented me a three grand bill, six months after purchase... It needed everything (tyres, brakes, major service)
Hopefully, in 2022 a budget of 28K will be about right for such a vehicle. God only knows given Brexit, we might all be chewing rats and fighting over the last tin of spam by then, or alternatively riding unicorns around the sun-lit uplands. Who knows!
Agree that getting one with good state of service and consumables is key to keeping initial costs down. I have learnt that lesson after an E46 M3 presented me a three grand bill, six months after purchase... It needed everything (tyres, brakes, major service)
Hopefully, in 2022 a budget of 28K will be about right for such a vehicle. God only knows given Brexit, we might all be chewing rats and fighting over the last tin of spam by then, or alternatively riding unicorns around the sun-lit uplands. Who knows!
Edited by Ryvita on Tuesday 21st January 15:37
If, like me, you like to avoid wasting money then it would be pertinent to avoid main dealers. This along with buying smart, means that the running costs on my Evora have been next to nowt. Remember that because it's a Lotus it's a 'bitsa' which means that many parts are shared with other cars. Key from a Transit, mirrors from an X-Type, air filter from a RAV4 etc etc
I recently had a minor service done for £90 labour and £35 for oil and a filter. Spark plug changes are every 6 years but as long as you can find the plugs at Toyota or Lexus (£33 each at Lotus, £33 for 6 online from Lexus/Toyota for example) then it's not that much at all. It's just a Toyota engine after all.
Costs are:
F tyre Bridgestone Potenza P-Zero £85 each, fitted
R tyre Bridgestone Potenza P-Zero £134 each, fitted
Discs/pads - unsure as I've not needed to replace mine yet but you can be sure that they're from another car and are available at ECP or the like
When I get home I'll put a more comprehensive list of spending in this reply for you and others who were in the same position as me, but your servicing costs are miles higher than I'd ever pay! In the meantime my Readers Cars thread is here
Clutches are £3K all in though, and my research tells me that there's little/nothing else you can do to get around that as the majority of the time is spent realigning the rear clam shell. Ridiculous really.
I recently had a minor service done for £90 labour and £35 for oil and a filter. Spark plug changes are every 6 years but as long as you can find the plugs at Toyota or Lexus (£33 each at Lotus, £33 for 6 online from Lexus/Toyota for example) then it's not that much at all. It's just a Toyota engine after all.
Costs are:
F tyre Bridgestone Potenza P-Zero £85 each, fitted
R tyre Bridgestone Potenza P-Zero £134 each, fitted
Discs/pads - unsure as I've not needed to replace mine yet but you can be sure that they're from another car and are available at ECP or the like
When I get home I'll put a more comprehensive list of spending in this reply for you and others who were in the same position as me, but your servicing costs are miles higher than I'd ever pay! In the meantime my Readers Cars thread is here
Clutches are £3K all in though, and my research tells me that there's little/nothing else you can do to get around that as the majority of the time is spent realigning the rear clam shell. Ridiculous really.
Edited by p4cks on Tuesday 21st January 15:47
p4cks said:
When I get home I'll put a more comprehensive list of spending in this reply for you and others who were in the same position as me, but your servicing costs are miles higher than I'd ever pay!
Clutches are £3K though, and my research tells me that there's little/nothing else you can do to get around that.
Thank you for taking the time. I did do a dig back through the archives and there's little discussion / hard fact regarding running costs in the last couple of years.Clutches are £3K though, and my research tells me that there's little/nothing else you can do to get around that.
I think my strategy will be to get myself in a position where I'm ready to go with a purchase, and then talk to the usual suspects (Will Blackham gets a good report, my local MD is Bell & Colvill) and wait for the right car. Could be 6 months, but as you say, finding one with clutch done, and maybe the MY12 gear cables done, will pay for itself in the long run.
Had a read through your thread, you've done an impressive amount of work yourself on that. You seem to have a knack for finding cheap (but effective) fixes! Garages must hate you.
My proudest (?) Lotus moment was fixing a crumbled plastic contact support on my Exige's indicator with a bent paperclip.
My proudest (?) Lotus moment was fixing a crumbled plastic contact support on my Exige's indicator with a bent paperclip.
Yeah I'd not be able to afford to run one if I wasn't a good Googler that's for sure!
Home now and a quick look at my spreadsheet and it's pennies really... largest one time expense was the TC light (which turned out to be a faulty steering angle sensor which needed refitting and calibrating) and two front tyres at £400 or so. Interior dye was not necessary so not indicative of the running costs as such.
Some quick scribbles:
Powerflex ARB bushes £35 (fitting was £40)
Service £140
Spark plugs x 6 £42 (incl delivery from USA!)
Battery £52
Gearknob £52
Bilstein rear shockers x 2 £108
These cars are very, very reliable and incredibly cheap to run.
Home now and a quick look at my spreadsheet and it's pennies really... largest one time expense was the TC light (which turned out to be a faulty steering angle sensor which needed refitting and calibrating) and two front tyres at £400 or so. Interior dye was not necessary so not indicative of the running costs as such.
Some quick scribbles:
Powerflex ARB bushes £35 (fitting was £40)
Service £140
Spark plugs x 6 £42 (incl delivery from USA!)
Battery £52
Gearknob £52
Bilstein rear shockers x 2 £108
These cars are very, very reliable and incredibly cheap to run.
The n/a is quite a bit cheaper to run than the S. I have had both.
P4cks numbers look about right. The Elise Shop does discs that are better than the Lotus ones for half of the price, but go for the lotus pads, the others, even the same fereodo ones dont have the anti squeal backing.
Geo on my n/a was spot on, but it ate rear tyres, twice as fast as the S does.
There are some typical niggles you may want to budget for:
Re-lacquer headlamps - £120 a side
Pre 2012 car door lock mech £200 ish
A pillar trim £50 a side
P4cks numbers look about right. The Elise Shop does discs that are better than the Lotus ones for half of the price, but go for the lotus pads, the others, even the same fereodo ones dont have the anti squeal backing.
Geo on my n/a was spot on, but it ate rear tyres, twice as fast as the S does.
There are some typical niggles you may want to budget for:
Re-lacquer headlamps - £120 a side
Pre 2012 car door lock mech £200 ish
A pillar trim £50 a side
Like everyone has said, be very aware of the likelyhood of clutch and gearbox issues.
The fact that it has just had a new clutch is good, but their lifespan seems to vary massively. I bought one with the original clutch, and it lasted to around 30k. Clutch number two only lasted 15k (and this wasn't down to driving style!).
Gearboxes are of course an even bigger expense, so make sure you get a decent warranty - I was glad I did when mine failed.
Aside from that, normal servicing, tyres, fuel etc aren't too horrific.
The fact that it has just had a new clutch is good, but their lifespan seems to vary massively. I bought one with the original clutch, and it lasted to around 30k. Clutch number two only lasted 15k (and this wasn't down to driving style!).
Gearboxes are of course an even bigger expense, so make sure you get a decent warranty - I was glad I did when mine failed.
Aside from that, normal servicing, tyres, fuel etc aren't too horrific.
p4cks said:
If, like me, you like to avoid wasting money then it would be pertinent to avoid main dealers. This along with buying smart, means that the running costs on my Evora have been next to nowt. Remember that because it's a Lotus it's a 'bitsa' which means that many parts are shared with other cars. Key from a Transit, mirrors from an X-Type, air filter from a RAV4 etc etc
I recently had a minor service done for £90 labour and £35 for oil and a filter. Spark plug changes are every 6 years but as long as you can find the plugs at Toyota or Lexus (£33 each at Lotus, £33 for 6 online from Lexus/Toyota for example) then it's not that much at all. It's just a Toyota engine after all.
Costs are:
F tyre Bridgestone Potenza P-Zero £85 each, fitted
R tyre Bridgestone Potenza P-Zero £134 each, fitted
Discs/pads - unsure as I've not needed to replace mine yet but you can be sure that they're from another car and are available at ECP or the like
When I get home I'll put a more comprehensive list of spending in this reply for you and others who were in the same position as me, but your servicing costs are miles higher than I'd ever pay! In the meantime my Readers Cars thread is here
Clutches are £3K all in though, and my research tells me that there's little/nothing else you can do to get around that as the majority of the time is spent realigning the rear clam shell. Ridiculous really.
Out of interest what sort of mileage did the rear shocks need replacing and what were the symptoms?I recently had a minor service done for £90 labour and £35 for oil and a filter. Spark plug changes are every 6 years but as long as you can find the plugs at Toyota or Lexus (£33 each at Lotus, £33 for 6 online from Lexus/Toyota for example) then it's not that much at all. It's just a Toyota engine after all.
Costs are:
F tyre Bridgestone Potenza P-Zero £85 each, fitted
R tyre Bridgestone Potenza P-Zero £134 each, fitted
Discs/pads - unsure as I've not needed to replace mine yet but you can be sure that they're from another car and are available at ECP or the like
When I get home I'll put a more comprehensive list of spending in this reply for you and others who were in the same position as me, but your servicing costs are miles higher than I'd ever pay! In the meantime my Readers Cars thread is here
Clutches are £3K all in though, and my research tells me that there's little/nothing else you can do to get around that as the majority of the time is spent realigning the rear clam shell. Ridiculous really.
Edited by p4cks on Tuesday 21st January 15:47
My NA has only done 25k but the rear seems to go quite 'light' on a crest as if there's little rebound resistance - it's knocking/'pattering' at the rear too but I put that down to ARB bushes or drop links.
I'm going to Sorn it at the end of this month and do some jobs on it, including the serpentine belt - having a 2 post lift certainly helps
Cheers
Lotobear said:
Out of interest what sort of mileage did the rear shocks need replacing and what were the symptoms?
My NA has only done 25k but the rear seems to go quite 'light' on a crest as if there's little rebound resistance - it's knocking/'pattering' at the rear too but I put that down to ARB bushes or drop links.
I'm going to Sorn it at the end of this month and do some jobs on it, including the serpentine belt - having a 2 post lift certainly helps
Cheers
Whilst it was in for a service the mechanic noticed some very light misting on one of the shocks, so I found some OEM ones for very cheap (£108 delivered for a pair and they came from Lotus themselves) and had them both replaced. I hadn't noticed any difference whatsoever when driving so sadly I won't be much help. Car had done 26K miles My NA has only done 25k but the rear seems to go quite 'light' on a crest as if there's little rebound resistance - it's knocking/'pattering' at the rear too but I put that down to ARB bushes or drop links.
I'm going to Sorn it at the end of this month and do some jobs on it, including the serpentine belt - having a 2 post lift certainly helps
Cheers
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