Interested in an Evora

[IanD]

Nice write up, I do fancy an Evora to get me back to a Lotus, wish they had done a roadster version as surprised how much I enjoyed my first soft top the Elise.
Just need my latest purchase a 968 Club Sport to appreciate a bit to boost my man car fund to fund a Evora

[tut]

Time that we had one of these on S_E.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/ ... le/3869774

tut

[campbell]

You buying?

[tut]

Not unless I sell the house and we move into a caravan.

tut

[pete]

Not unless I sell the house and we move into a caravan.

tut

As my daughter would say, "Do it. Do it. Do it."
(I've found this artist's impression of your new lifestyle, you'll have to imagine the Evora for yourself.)

[H8OAG]

[/quote]


Tut and that Traveller could have been separated at birth................

[tut]

See what you mean but one big difference..........

tut

[Lazydonkey]

Now if you can just help me work out how to use mine less

No, no, no. You have to use your car MORE so that i can use mine too.

[Sanjøy]

See what you mean but one big difference..........

tut

Hung Tut has hands on him.

[Lazydonkey]

Well another 12 months have passed taking me to 2 years with the car so i thought i'd update this thread for anyone interested.

Annual mileage has dropped to around 6k a year thanks to the introduction of the fastra and LazyDonkey Jnr and the odo has just ticked over 46k.

Overall I still LOVE the car. Even opening the garage to do something as mundane as cut the grass is brightened up when i see the car sitting there looking all supercar esq. It's my "go to" car every weekend and if the weather isn't looking horrible it's the car i take to work. Not running it everyday has probably made me love it even more in fact. When DonkeyJnr was super small he used to come out with me in his group 0 car seat in the front and the airbag off and from 9 months on he's been able to sit in the back in a lovely forward facing recaro. Could get more space if i removed the seat padding from the bench seat but haven't felt the need yet. At the moment, myself, donkey jnr and 5'2 mrs donkey can go out for the day quite happily. Our Bugaboo buggy doesn't fit in the boot but it can go in the seat beside him at a push....but we've just bought a rucksack and a maclaren buggy and both fit fine. Wouldn't be perfect for a long weekend but as a day out car it's proving excellent.

Other costs have been a bit more as this year i needed big service at 56k (all fluids and sparks every 5 year - call it £600something from CMC), new rears (£140 each fitted) and when i was in CMC i was told i could really benefit from changing the clutch as it was getting super super heavy. Craig was great and basically said it wasn't essential but he felt i'd enjoy the car a lot more. Much has been written about the evora clutch but at the end of the day with craig its a £1,900 job and it's the only big bill you seem to get on the car. At the same time i also changed discs and pads all round.....again not 100% needed and could have put cheaper brands on but felt it was best to get it all done and enjoy the car for the summer. Clutch did indeed transform the car and the one that came out was pretty fcuk.

So the scores on the door since i bough the car 2 years and 16k miles ago?
- Servicing, tax, clutch, tyres, pads etc - £4,485
- MPG is averaging 28.4mpg measured with a high of 34.8 and a low of 23.4

So that's 28p per mile running costs excluding insurance and fuel. 48p per mile including fuel (based on 110p per litre) . Obviously i've incurred a lot of cost recently and the next 10-20k miles should be significantly cheaper which will take the cost per mile down significantly. Overall it isn't too bad when you consider i paid £32k for the car and they are still retailing at £30k for my age and miles.....maybe a touch more considering most haven't had the clutch changed. Early S cars seem to have plummeted in value but the NAs are stilll bumping around the £30k mark. There are some that go cheaper than that but there do seem to be a few dodgy ones

As i said above the clutch sounds really painful at £2k but there are a load of people who've never changed a clutch and if the worst case is £2k every 50k that's not that bad. It's also more than offset by the bombproof the engine is and how easy the car is on tyres (8k for the back), brakes etc. A mate in work has a '05 997 and i'm happy that over the next few years the evora will cost me a lot less sleepless nights and financial heartache. He's just had a full service at Hartech and the bill was £2k to get it up to the level they would warranty it. The warranty is then £100 a month. Put the evora in that context and it's Yaris costs.

I've never had the top up the oil and the bodywork still looks brilliant. It's never failed to start and it's never failed to get me home. Interior has a few scuffs but thanks to the "vanity" plate most people think it's almost brand new and closer to £100k then £30k. Now that the weather is nicer i've been doing my annual "want a shot?" in the car with people at work and no-one steps out thinking anything other than "my god that's brilliant".

As most of us probably do i go on PH from time to time and evaluate the dream garage and i simply can't envisage a time in the next few years where i will sell the car, unless i lose my job or a limb or something. It does everything i want it to do and the +2 brings genuine usability that means i never get any complaints when i suggest taking my car out to go for a family day out.

So there you go - other mileage may vary but this may be of interest to people.

[campbell]

Thoroughly enjoyed your writeups on this, Martin. As a fellow Evora NA owner, I can only echo the same excellent ownership experience and sense of smug satisfaction at what £30k can buy you!

I haven't reached clutch territory yet, but have just given CMC the green light to conduct a 6-year service (56k mile equivalent, as you quote above). I'm only at 34k miles, of which I've added 15k and loved every one of them. Non-routine issues on my car have also been few. Window regulator (warranty), couple of fuses (hot temps in south of France last year!), and a battery (original was 5 years old...no objections there).

Only had to refresh brake pads despite spirited driving through France for the Frolic in 2015 (and three track days' worth of wear too...). Now on a 2nd set of rear tyres, using Avon ZZ-5s which are fantastic, and outrageous VFM (£100 each or thereabouts).

I couldn't have done it without the insight of Craig Moncrieff, now managing director of CMC, and the support of Brandon Ware, now uber dealer principal at Murray Lotus. As well as the encouragement and real-world owner experiences of people on here like Martin, Father Gibson "ruadh08" and Kenny "flyingscot".

Sadly my elder daughter is starting to find the rear seat a little neat, at 11 years old, albeit she is a little tall for her age. The fundamental selling point of the Evora for us was it that it's truly a family Lotus. However when the family can no longer fit in, it's time to reconsider (otherwise the Elise would have to go...and that ain't happening any time soon!!). So it's on the market again once it's been serviced.

But make no mistake, the four of us have had a blast.

What are you waiting for?!


PS - see Classifieds

[c8rkh]

Hope you don't mind Martin but thought I would chip in too. April 2015 and I met Brandon for the first time. Test drive in a red 2010 NA +0 and around 30 minutes later the deal was done at £31k for a 15k miles example. My kids are all older and I have no dog, and the car was just for my personal pleasure. Call it a reward after 33 long years of paying the tax man! My car did not have the tech pack, so off it went to an ICE dealer in Perth for a new Alpine nav head unit and reversing camera. Kit has been superb, never let me down, and reversing camera far better than OEM. It did however have the essential sports pack, CR gearbox and the Lotus Titanium tipped sports exhaust with a 2bular decat pipe already fitted to remove the 3rd cat. Lovely sound.

This was my first true and proper grown up fast car. I can honestly say I have loved every single minute of ownership, whether driving it, staring at it, or polishing it! It's become an obsession and from that I have become obsessed with everything Lotus. A hobby for an old timer some might say. The car has been almost 100% reliable, the only fault has been a failed driver's window regulator replaced under warranty by MMC. I've now done 6k miles in here. All of them road apart from one SIDC track day in March of this year which showed me just how much better the car was than I was a driver. Totally loved it though. Most of my miles have been in Perthshire, Stirlingshire, Angus and Aberdeenshire, usually on minor A roads and B roads, and probably mostly in 3rd or 4th gear, with the windows down and the V6 supplying the soundtrack. Totally sublime.

I've upgraded my little baby, bit by bit. First mod was to get MMC to supply and fit the Lotus barge boards. They really add to the looks of the car, but boy, do they attract the dirt and dust and are a bugger to keep clean!
Then, got the steering wheel recovered in nappa and perforated leather with red stitching. Would post up a picture but no idea how to do so here. The wheel is gorgeous and really lifted the interior.
Next, I added a new front splitter from @TBD from TLF. It just makes the front a little more aggressive and really ties in nice with the barge boards. No idea if there is any performance benefit at all
This has been followed by an interior re-trim. I managed to pick up 2 brand new venom red sports racer seats from Lotus at a bargain price. Fitted them and wow, what a difference to the interior. This then led to me driving from Perthshire to Bedfordshire to Allon White's the Lotus dealer and renowned trimmer. The drive itself was superb with only really the M74 on motorway (went through Dundee, Fife, Forth Bridge, M74 to Carlisle then all A roads / back roads from there through the lakes, pennines and peak district - wow!). I wanted the sport premium interior look, so went for colour matched Alcantara (Lotus used Suedetex but the Alcantara is better apparently), contrast red stitching and venom red accents on MY12 door pulls (the MY10 and 11 ones are not good) and centre tunnel. I think the car looks the complete dogs bollocks on the inside now to be honest.
She's in right now at CMC - 6 year service (the biggie with Spark plugs - tip: spark plugs from Lotus are £250 for six, same ones from Elise-Shop are £86 - massive saving) AND probably my last mod - a set of 2bular headers and single sport cat to connect to the Lotus Sport exhaust.

I'm a little older than most Evora owners I guess. No kids or dogs to lug around, so for me the +0 is absolutely perfect and great for me and the missus for trips away. Bags of storage and space. My Evora is probably going to be a long term keeper, hence the mods. I will probably continue to do around 5-6k miles a year in her. All of them smile miles as no commuting at all, and I'd like to think I'd get her back on track to improve my driving skills. I looked at an Evora 400. I lusted after an Evora 400. But as I discussed with CMC, we agreed that Lotus did such a fantastic job with the S1 Evora that it is hard to justify the £40k+ price uplift. I mean, I could have an Elise 250 Cup almost for that, sat alongside the Evora! Wow...

I usually average between 20 and 24 mpg, but that's a reflection of the use of the car, smile miles, not commuting etc. Never needed to add any oil and she has always started on the button, every time, even after being left for 3 weeks at a time in the garage.

There is not a day goes by when I regret buying this car. It has brought me so much pleasure and introduced me to the Lotus club - I have not met a "bad" Lotus driver yet on my many travels in Scotland. The brand seems to attract genuine motoring enthusiasts who like a beer, like to take the piss and have some banter / a laugh and who most of all, just love driving their cars.

You cans till get a really great 2010 NA for £30/£31k. The price has stayed stable with only higher mileage / dubious history pushing the values down to a low of about £26/27k. It's a lot of car, a lot of fun, and a damn lot of fine engineering and reliability at that price. Oh, and has been said before, forget the sh~te snobbery of "must be a 2013MY and an S". A really good early NA is great value and great fun. And remember, get the rarer +0. It's not for babies!

[mxvx]

Everything I can think of has been said on this car. Martin/Campbell - thanks again for your advice / views on the car. All turned out to be true! I have managed 4,000 miles in 4/5 months with mostly weekend use (no commuting) and includes 2 track days.

Mine now has a tubular exhaust and wheels painted gloss black since I bought it. It came with upgraded sound system, heated seats, sport function and reverse sensors. All nice extras which really makes the car for me. Got to get the car in for the big service and clutch too but I don't want to be without the car just now so will wait for the colder winter and get my cruise control parts fitted too.

Campbell - you said you really like those tyres you have. Did you have the p zero's before? I have no complaints about the p zero's.

[campbell]

Your car sounds absolutely perfect. Enjoy.

Persian Blue was a must for me but I'd consider red in future...

[c8rkh]

@mxvx MMC fitted cruise for me when I bought the car as part of the deal. It's worked perfect ever since and is a nice mod with all the average speed camera zones up here.