Possible Newbie - ?S2 Running costs
Discussion
Evening chaps, hope you don't mind me hopping over from Wedge forum but after some Elise advice. My little Sis (27) is thinking of changing her BMW Mini Cooper and stumbled upon the Elise classifieds on PH. We were wondering what the yearly running costs would be for an S2 Elise if she was to use it every day, so @6-8k a yr? She is obviously used to very little outlay as she bought the TLC pack with her Coops. I would imagine should probably get hit hard with insurance but would be grateful for any rough ideas of how much it would be to run the car. Cheers. Jamie
>> Edited by JamieG on Thursday 9th February 19:58
>> Edited by JamieG on Thursday 9th February 19:58
Ok,
My S2 has cost me this year:
£1000 for the insurance
£210 two rear bridgestones
£1200 in GJOB mods (Exhaust, Hurricane, 52mm Throttle Body, CRP, braded hoses, Mintex Pads, GEO) scratching the mod itch is always the most expensive cost...
Next service due in 2k miles, 'a' service so should not break the bank
Unknown fuel costs, but does return at least 30 mpg
The costs are kept low if you do not buy silly toys, spank it constantly or crash (I have so far done all three). A good specialist (there are lots) will keep servicing prices down to a minimum. I would say most people buy a Lotus for the love of it and costs are a second to this. Not that I am rich n*b 'ed, far from it, but I would pay my last penny to keep the Lotus on the road...
My S2 has cost me this year:
£1000 for the insurance
£210 two rear bridgestones
£1200 in GJOB mods (Exhaust, Hurricane, 52mm Throttle Body, CRP, braded hoses, Mintex Pads, GEO) scratching the mod itch is always the most expensive cost...
Next service due in 2k miles, 'a' service so should not break the bank
Unknown fuel costs, but does return at least 30 mpg
The costs are kept low if you do not buy silly toys, spank it constantly or crash (I have so far done all three). A good specialist (there are lots) will keep servicing prices down to a minimum. I would say most people buy a Lotus for the love of it and costs are a second to this. Not that I am rich n*b 'ed, far from it, but I would pay my last penny to keep the Lotus on the road...
Hi Jamie - This sounds like a similar progression that I made recently - I changed from a Mini Cooper S to an S2 Exige in November last year, I too am a wee girlie aged 27 (28 as of 3 weeks ago!).
In terms of running costs, the Elise is going to be a little different to the Exige, but:
Insurance - I expect she'll be able to get insured for about £700-900 ish, depending on NCD, points, claims and what car you decide to go for etc.. I paid £1200, but that was with my boyf as a 2nd driver, although that was only £100 extra.
Servicing - You don't realise how amazing the TLC pack is until you're without it - I've just paid for my first service (£340) - yikes! Not sure if the Elise intervals are any different, but the Exige is every Year or 9000 miles, whichever comes first.
Economy - I find the Lotus better on economy than my Cooper S surprisingly. The Copper is going to be better than the Cooper S, but from what I've heard, not a huge difference. I probably get thru about £30 per week, with a bit extra if I go on a weekend jaunt. I don't have a very long drive to work, about 10 mile round trip.
Tyres - Elise tyres last for a good 10,000 miles, however that's probably without or with very little track use, depending on how many miles, you may need a new set per year (about £400ish for a set). Brakes - not sure, should last a long time if you're not using it much on a track.
Upkeep - you'll need to invest in some good quality cleaning products to keep the elise looking sweet! Depending on if you're in or out of warranty, you'd expect to pay for the odd thing or 2, and on top of that your general consumables - wipers etc...
So I reckon maybe £3500 per annum, not including the cost of the car & depreciation!
This is just my opinion, don't take it as gospel, after all I've only had the exige for 3 months, what do I know!! - this is just what I've learnt so far!!
Hope that helps a little!
In terms of running costs, the Elise is going to be a little different to the Exige, but:
Insurance - I expect she'll be able to get insured for about £700-900 ish, depending on NCD, points, claims and what car you decide to go for etc.. I paid £1200, but that was with my boyf as a 2nd driver, although that was only £100 extra.
Servicing - You don't realise how amazing the TLC pack is until you're without it - I've just paid for my first service (£340) - yikes! Not sure if the Elise intervals are any different, but the Exige is every Year or 9000 miles, whichever comes first.
Economy - I find the Lotus better on economy than my Cooper S surprisingly. The Copper is going to be better than the Cooper S, but from what I've heard, not a huge difference. I probably get thru about £30 per week, with a bit extra if I go on a weekend jaunt. I don't have a very long drive to work, about 10 mile round trip.
Tyres - Elise tyres last for a good 10,000 miles, however that's probably without or with very little track use, depending on how many miles, you may need a new set per year (about £400ish for a set). Brakes - not sure, should last a long time if you're not using it much on a track.
Upkeep - you'll need to invest in some good quality cleaning products to keep the elise looking sweet! Depending on if you're in or out of warranty, you'd expect to pay for the odd thing or 2, and on top of that your general consumables - wipers etc...
So I reckon maybe £3500 per annum, not including the cost of the car & depreciation!
This is just my opinion, don't take it as gospel, after all I've only had the exige for 3 months, what do I know!! - this is just what I've learnt so far!!
Hope that helps a little!
Take away the cost of buying it and insurance, and petrol and you're looking at:
• At least 1 service a year.
> 9k/1yr service intervals.
> Services are AABAAC and repeat
> A = about £150
> B = about £250
> C = about £450 (all assume independent specialist)
• Tyres depends on use and the brand you choose. Figure £450-500 for a new set all round. (BTW minid, your's won't last 10k! Those one's tend to last about 6k with mixed use AFAIK, and are more expensive than 'regular' S2 tyres).
• Disks/Pads - change roughly once every 20k mls I guess, about £700+ all round
They aren't Ferrari money, but neither are they hot hatch money IF things go wrong or need replacing. However, BMW dealers aren't cheap when things go wrong either so I doubt the actual costs of replacement parts will be more, after all lots of the Elise is pinched from various big manufacturers parts bins.
It will return better miles than a Cooper S (which I think does about 25mpg average?). She can expect 30+ with ease, more on the motorway.
Assuming neither she or you will want to get the spanners out, a slush fund of about a grand a year is sensible 'just in case'. Generally with Elises the labour costs rack up on things that are 'expensive' to sort out, as they usually involve getting the clams off to fix whatever's wrong. This isn't the norm though - as noted above, most of us tend to just p!ss cash away on upgrades - it's addictive!
>> Edited by S Works on Thursday 9th February 22:23
• At least 1 service a year.
> 9k/1yr service intervals.
> Services are AABAAC and repeat
> A = about £150
> B = about £250
> C = about £450 (all assume independent specialist)
• Tyres depends on use and the brand you choose. Figure £450-500 for a new set all round. (BTW minid, your's won't last 10k! Those one's tend to last about 6k with mixed use AFAIK, and are more expensive than 'regular' S2 tyres).
• Disks/Pads - change roughly once every 20k mls I guess, about £700+ all round
They aren't Ferrari money, but neither are they hot hatch money IF things go wrong or need replacing. However, BMW dealers aren't cheap when things go wrong either so I doubt the actual costs of replacement parts will be more, after all lots of the Elise is pinched from various big manufacturers parts bins.
It will return better miles than a Cooper S (which I think does about 25mpg average?). She can expect 30+ with ease, more on the motorway.
Assuming neither she or you will want to get the spanners out, a slush fund of about a grand a year is sensible 'just in case'. Generally with Elises the labour costs rack up on things that are 'expensive' to sort out, as they usually involve getting the clams off to fix whatever's wrong. This isn't the norm though - as noted above, most of us tend to just p!ss cash away on upgrades - it's addictive!
>> Edited by S Works on Thursday 9th February 22:23
Thinking baout my Elise numbers, costs per year for 4k road miles
Insurance £700
Tax £120
Scheduled Service £300
Road petrol at 40mpg @£4/gal £400
RE040 Tyres £350
Subtotal £1,870
And 3k miles on 18 track days
2 extra oil changes £200
OEM Disks & RS42 pads & fluid change £600
Track petrol at 10mpg @£6/gal £1,800 (yes 10Mpg is what I get)
Track day fees £2,000
Subtotal £4,600 <= Oooops didnt realise it was this mutch
Insurance £700
Tax £120
Scheduled Service £300
Road petrol at 40mpg @£4/gal £400
RE040 Tyres £350
Subtotal £1,870
And 3k miles on 18 track days
2 extra oil changes £200
OEM Disks & RS42 pads & fluid change £600
Track petrol at 10mpg @£6/gal £1,800 (yes 10Mpg is what I get)
Track day fees £2,000
Subtotal £4,600 <= Oooops didnt realise it was this mutch
10 mpg Hans? Holy cr*p. You have a supercharger or a V8 in there don't you? Can't be the same tired old VVC as mine - you are way too much faster than me for it to simply be about driver skills 
My basic running costs have been around £2200 over nearly 2 years. 1 service (serviced free when I bought it) 1 set of tyres, tax, insurance. Nothing mechanical wrong so far.
Of course that ignores the nearly 4K of mods.
My basic running costs have been around £2200 over nearly 2 years. 1 service (serviced free when I bought it) 1 set of tyres, tax, insurance. Nothing mechanical wrong so far.
Of course that ignores the nearly 4K of mods.
S Works said:
(BTW minid, your's won't last 10k! Those one's tend to last about 6k with mixed use AFAIK, and are more expensive than 'regular' S2 tyres).
I know
- I've got thru a set of rears in 3000 miles!! Well, they're almost done, I'll finish them off at the next airfield day. I've heard you can get 10k out of the Elise tyres though, so I was thinking of that when I was typing
I'm considering getting something other than the A048's as my next set, although I think they are cool as f***, they're gonna make me really poor if I have to change them twice a year...especially now I've got the taste for the airfield!
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