Lotus Elise - What kind of insurance price?

[inachu]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iyr9yZbQPII

Just curious.

Thanks

 

[mikeymikec]

In the UK, my 1.6 Mazda 323 is in insurance group 15.

A 1.2 Nissan Micra is insurance group 5.

A 2.0 Subaru Impreza is group 26 (lower than expected considering its rally car / boy racer rep).

A 1.8 Lotus Elise S CR is group 48!

Though having said that, I just got an insurance quote for one and (after ignoring a detail regarding a no-fault claim that most companies want to penalise me for), I've got pretty similar figures to what I'm paying at the moment (with a company that doesn't penalise me for the no-fault claim).

Which leaves me wondering how insurance group ratings work, but hey ho.

 

[qr25nismo]

It really depends on your insurance company, driving records, and where you live. But since the car is considered a "sports car" it wouldn't be cheap. I would get an insurance estimate on the car for a confirmed price. Talk to your insurance company.

 

[shortylickens]

IF you can get insurance for a sports car, it will be ridiculous, probably almost half the price of your payments. Some cars cant insured at all, in which case you need to make an escrow account with about a hundred grand it in.

In fact, since that account gains interest and insurance is just throwing away money, you may with to consider the escrow account anyway.

 

[tweakmonkey]

Not only is it a sports car but they are very fragile and expensive to replace when you damage something. The whole front and rear halves are single pieces of fiberglass. That's why there are so many Salvage title Elises on the market.

 

[satyajitmenon]

Not only is it a sports car but they are very fragile and expensive to replace when you damage something. The whole front and rear halves are single pieces of fiberglass. That's why there are so many Salvage title Elises on the market.

^^ What he said.

I think there's a company (BOE?) out there that makes aftermarket shells in carbon fiber. But by and large, they're not repairable, and you have to import the whole front/rear half from Ol' Blighty. So even a bit of damage to the body often becomes so expense that insurance goes straight into full write off mode.

 

[HarryLui]

My friend's father has Elise and did a slow speed collision with a Jeep inside a parking structure. Damage was $15,000.

 

[Wuzup101]

IF you can get insurance for a sports car, it will be ridiculous, probably almost half the price of your payments. Some cars cant insured at all, in which case you need to make an escrow account with about a hundred grand it in.

In fact, since that account gains interest and insurance is just throwing away money, you may with to consider the escrow account anyway.

Why would you not be able to get insurance on a sports car? Obviously some young / high risk drivers might be told "no" by their insurance companies; however, the vast majority of us won't have any problems.

It's not as expensive as you might think. My (maxed out coverage) insurance on a 15 corvette and an 08 evo is under 2k per year (31yo single male) and the evo is more expensive than the corvette (you know the one that's twice the price and actually a true sports car).

 

[Viper GTS]

If you are reasonably old and have a clean record it's really not that bad. My 2001 Viper costs less to insure than my 2013 C-Max. Approximately $100/mo for $500k CSL coverage with Progressive.

Viper GTS

 

[JulesMaximus]

^^ What he said.

I think there's a company (BOE?) out there that makes aftermarket shells in carbon fiber. But by and large, they're not repairable, and you have to import the whole front/rear half from Ol' Blighty. So even a bit of damage to the body often becomes so expense that insurance goes straight into full write off mode.

I looked into getting an Elise many years ago and this is absolutely true regarding the front and rear clams. They are each one piece so if you damage one (and they aren't repairable) you have to replace the entire thing which costs $15k each. This is not a car that is like any other car in this respect and this is why you can't really compare insurance rates between other sports cars and this one.

Hell, I have a 400hp Mercedes coupe with a twin-turbo V8 and it costs half what an Elise would cost to insure. Even the most minor of collisions could cause an insurance company to just write an Elise off... and there are a lot of salvage title vehicles out there.

 

[MongGrel]

I personally would no want one myself, even if I had a billion dollars to be honest.

I used to work with a guy that was pretty high up in the Lotus manufacturing food chain.

If you purchase one, probably expect higher maintenance bills than a Porsche, on top of the insurance.

But I have never owned one myself.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I personally would no want one myself, even if I had a billion dollars to be honest.

I used to work with a guy that was pretty high up in the Lotus manufacturing food chain.

If you purchase one, probably expect higher maintenance bills than a Porsche, on top of the insurance.

But I have never owned one myself.

The thing that killed it for me is that they're just too damned small which makes getting in and out of it difficult if you're over 5'4" tall (I'm 5'11"). They also have a tiny fuel tank so even though it gets decent mileage you're still stopping to fill up every 190 miles or so.

It's an insanely fun car to drive though. It just begs you to push it and the steering feel is just perfection. No power assist, tons of feedback. It's a real drivers car.

If I had a billion dollars I'd buy a Ferrari 458 Italia. I think that is one of the best looking cars ever made. The Jaguar XKE is probably a close second.

 

[MongGrel]

The thing that killed it for me is that they're just too damned small which makes getting in and out of it difficult if you're over 5'4" tall (I'm 5'11"). They also have a tiny fuel tank so even though it gets decent mileage you're still stopping to fill up every 190 miles or so.

It's an insanely fun car to drive though. It just begs you to push it and the steering feel is just perfection. No power assist, tons of feedback. It's a real drivers car.

If I had a billion dollars I'd buy a Ferrari 458 Italia. I think that is one of the best looking cars ever made. The Jaguar XKE is probably a close second.

I'd buy a Jag XKE in a heartbeat as a first choice myself, if it is the one I remember.

I knew a guy in the late 70's inherited a 12 cylinder Jag that looked wicked, and he was not even old enough to drive it at the time.

Was British Racing green also, with Tan leather interior.

That was a sweet car, I used to drool just looking at it.

But there have always been hot looking Ferrari's that are classic 🙂

I'd still like an old school decked out Jag though, even over a Buggatti.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I'd buy a Jag XKE in a heartbeat as a first choice myself, if it is the one I remember.

I knew a guy in the late 70's inherited a 12 cylinder Jag that looked wicked, and he was not even old enough to drive it at the time.

Was British Racing green also, with Tan leather interior.

That was a sweet car, I used to drool just looking at it.

But there have always been hot looking Ferrari's that are classic 🙂

I'd still like an old school decked out Jag though, even over a Buggatti.

Yep, absolutely gorgeous.

 

[MongGrel]

Yep, absolutely gorgeous.

I'm having flashback drools even looking at that thing.

Smexy.

 

[freeskier93]

I personally would no want one myself, even if I had a billion dollars to be honest.

I used to work with a guy that was pretty high up in the Lotus manufacturing food chain.

If you purchase one, probably expect higher maintenance bills than a Porsche, on top of the insurance.

But I have never owned one myself.

Oh yeah, the build quality on the Elise was (is?) terrible. In the time we had ours the engine blew (faulty oil pump + not so good downshift), shift cables broke, shifter snapped off mid shift (granted fixed on recall), paint peeled off if you looked at it wrong, and the list goes on.

But the thing is it's 100% worth it, the driving experience is that good.

 

[Meghan54]

Yep, absolutely gorgeous.

That's always been, at least in my opinion for what it's worth, the sexiest car ever sold to the public. Just wish I'd bought one when they were new. Too damned expensive to buy one that barely runs these days.

 

[mikeymikec]

That's always been, at least in my opinion for what it's worth, the sexiest car ever sold to the public. Just wish I'd bought one when they were new. Too damned expensive to buy one that barely runs these days.

This is what I don't get about modern cars. Admittedly American cars have looked samey for decades, but all cars these days look rather samey. Even the distinctive Mini now looks like a squashed 4x4 / range rover build. I wonder whether a focus on crash test survivability results in beefier and less elegant designs (ie. heading in the vague direction of a tank), but I would have thought at least for people who just want something that looks truly beautiful at possibly any price, we would have had some classic car remakes. A Jag E-type, the Ford Capri, etc.

 

[agent00f]

I personally would no want one myself, even if I had a billion dollars to be honest.

I used to work with a guy that was pretty high up in the Lotus manufacturing food chain.

If you purchase one, probably expect higher maintenance bills than a Porsche, on top of the insurance.

But I have never owned one myself.

Oh yeah, the build quality on the Elise was (is?) terrible. In the time we had ours the engine blew (faulty oil pump + not so good downshift), shift cables broke, shifter snapped off mid shift (granted fixed on recall), paint peeled off if you looked at it wrong, and the list goes on.

But the thing is it's 100% worth it, the driving experience is that good.

The elise used a toyota engine and transaxle. Not exactly their most trouble free but hardly comparable to other exotics.

 

[freeskier93]

The elise used a toyota engine and transaxle. Not exactly their most trouble free but hardly comparable to other exotics.

It's still cheaper to replace the whole engine on the Elise then it is to replace the clutch on a Gallardo! The older Gallardos had lots of clutch issues too, so you were guaranteed to have to replace it.