Lotus owners have filed 97 complaints with NHTSA across 5 models. On average the car was 5.04 years old when the problem happened, and 25.3% of reports fall inside the first three years — while the factory warranty was still running.
What breaks on Lotus
The systems Lotus owners report most, and how often each failure ended in a crash.
| System | Complaints | Share of Lotus | Ended in a crash |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine And Engine Cooling | 36.1% | 0% | |
| Fuel System, Gasoline | 12.4% | 0% | |
| Engine | 9.3% | 0% | |
| Suspension | 9.3% | 0% | |
| Power Train | 7.2% | 0% | |
| Unknown Or Other | 4.1% | 0% | |
| Visibility | 2.1% | 0% | |
| Electrical System | 2.1% | 0% |
When Lotus problems show up
| Measure | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Average age at failure | 5.04 years | How old the car was when the problem happened |
| Reported inside 3 years | 25.3% | Share of complaints filed while the factory warranty was likely still running |
| Complaints describing a crash | 1 | Of 97 total |
| Complaints describing a fire | 3 | Of 97 total |
A low average age does not automatically mean a fragile car: a brand with a young fleet on the road will always skew early. Read it next to the share reported inside three years.
Which Lotus models draw the most complaints
Volume follows sales, so a bestseller will always top this list. The columns worth reading are age at failure and how many reports ended in a crash.
Lotus complaints by model year
A bad generation shows up here as a block of years, not as a single spike. Recent years look quiet simply because those cars are young and still under warranty.
| Model year | Complaints | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | — | — | |
| 2018 | — | — | |
| 2017 | — | — | |
| 2014 | — | — | |
| 2013 | — | — | |
| 2012 | 1 | — | |
| 2011 | — | — | |
| 2010 | — | — | |
| 2009 | — | — | |
| 2007 | — | — | |
| 2006 | — | 1 | |
| 2005 | — | 1 | |
| 1995 | — | 1 | |
| 1994 | — | — | |
| 1991 | — | — |
What Lotus owners report
Grouped by the system owners named. Open any row for the full reports, in their own words — one per model so the same fault does not repeat.
Engine And Engine Cooling 35 Read
The contact owns a 2006 lotus elise. The contact stated that the oil line hose fittings connection failed causing the oil to spill onto the engine. While driving 65 mph the interior of the vehicle filled with smoke from the oil that spilled on the engine. The contact drove the vehicle to the side of the road where he noticed the engine compartment of the vehicle was on fire. The contact put the fire out himself and no one was injured. The vehicle was towed to a local mechanic who confirmed that the oil line hose caused the failure to occur. The vehicle will not be repaired for at least four weeks. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 35,000
Fuel System, Gasoline 12 Read
When gas tank was filled fuel leaked on ground and fumes entered vehicle. Fumes were so strong that consumer felt sick and pulled over. Vehicle leaked so much fuel in gas station that employee was going to bill the consumer. Dealer, lotus was not admitting there was a problem. Fuel tank would have to be replaced. If vehicle was in an accident it would diffintently blow up. *ak top of fuel tank has a crack in it, consumer states this seems to be a common problem with all 1991 elans
Engine 9 Read
For the second time, a Throttle Actuator code forced an engine shutdown while on a busy freeway with only very narrow breakdown lane stranding the car. Attempts to reset the code(s) failed for about 30 minutes whereupon codes reset and have not recurred indicating the code was only transient but very dangerous
I have an inquire in regard to my 2006 lotus elise (VIN [xxx]) oil line issue that happened on 12/11/13. I was driving normally and the engine light came on all the sudden. I pulled over shortly after. While waiting for the tow truck, I already can see that the engine oil was leaking from the front right side. My car was towed to a local repair shop and found that the oil line was dis-attached from the connector. I had been trying to the called the lotus usa # 1800-245-6887 since the incident (12/11/13). I called on 3 different days (12/11/13, 12/20/13, and 12/23/13); called 5-6 times, and left 3 voice messages to [xxx] with my name, the inquiry, and my phone #, and until to date (11/24/13) no one ever called back. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)
Suspension 9 Read
The contact owns a 2017 Lotus Evora. The contact stated that there was a clunking sound coming from the rear suspension. The vehicle was taken to a certified mechanic who was certified to work on Lotus vehicles, but not associated with the dealer, and the rear suspension arm was inspected and diagnosed with a fracture in the casting of the suspension. The suspension arm and bushing were replaced. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 69,000
Failure: broken toe link bolt. Event's leading to the failure: normal driving of the car on public streets. Consequences of the failure: rear wheel will move freely causing total loss of control of the car. This can cause an accident from minor injuries to both the car's occupants and innocent drivers around the car to severe penalties such as death(s). What was done to correct the failure: proper removal and cleaning of galvanized clumps (manufacture defect) where the toe link bolts to the chassis. Moreover, replacement of the toe-link joint, nuts and bolts, and ensure they are properly torqued to manufactures specification
Power Train 7 Read
The 2007+ lotus elise/ exige are all equipped with a shifter that is prone to failure. I have personally had a broken shifter while driving on the highway and was stuck at the 3rd gear and almost got into a car accident. Many have also reported the same situation. It's believed to be true that the ball joint structure at the pivot point on the bottom of the shifter is the main reason to this failure. Almost every case that has surfaced on internet has shown the identical broken structure which we called the "blue ball". It is made with plastic and is commonly shattered in pieces, and that happens, the entire shifter is loose and broken
The car is a manual transmission. Enginering/design defect causes engine heat to boil hydraulic clutch fluid, leading to hydraulic clutch fluid decay over time, leading to failure of master clutch cylinder and clutch pedal stock in down position while driving. This ultimately makes it impossible to get into neutral or shift gears. If this had happened on the highway in fourth gear, who knows what would have happened. Lucky for me it happened in a parking lot. The car was in first gear at 5 mph and the clutch pedal was stuck in the down position. I could not shift gears or get the car into neutral. I had to stall the car to stop it. The car dealer is repairing it now with a retro fit device to prevent engine heat from boiling the bydraulic cluthc fluid. I think a reall is necessary becasue this problems happens to other lotus evora owners as I have heard from the local mechanic and the owner blogs on the internet
Unknown Or Other 4 Read
During a tire routine tire change, it was observed that there was an unusual oil stain creeping up the inside of the fender well on the left front of the vehicle. It was later determined the oil cooler was leaking at the fitting and a new fitting was installed to correct. The leak occurred rather suddenly as the car had just been in the body shop to have some minor bodywork fixed (non-stuctural and not able to have caused the leak). At the time of the bodywork repairs time, less than 300 miles prior, the leak was not present. If the leak had been present, the subsequent oil would have caused poor paint finish. Which was not the case. Did not think to report the incident until now, because I just became aware of a ny times arcticle reporting on nhsta investigation of other similar model year lotus elise/exige cars experiencing the same issue
Visibility 2 Read
The contact owns a 2005 lotus elise. The contact stated while driving the vehicle during a rain storm the front defroster would not operate, which subsequently reduced his visibility as a consequence his risk for serious injury and crash were increased. The vehicle was taken to the dealership where the contact was informed that the fan motor pack needed to be replaced. The current and failure mileages were 23000
Electrical System 2 Read
Instrument cluster is intermittent and turns all on or all off without warning, masking speed, fuel, rpms, mileage, etc. (all data). From researching the issue on www.elisetalk.com, it appears this is a problem common to 2005 lotus elise automobiles. Severe possibility of incident by not knowing how fast your going or how much fuel you have, and, this problem can happen at any moment without warning or apparent cause
Unverified owner reports filed with NHTSA. Percentages are shares of all 97 Lotus complaints.
Lotus against the rest
| Measure | Where Lotus sits | Out of |
|---|---|---|
| By complaint volume | #0 | 29 brands with 3,000+ complaints |
| By age at failure (later is better) | #0 | 29 brands |
| Complaints ending in a crash | 1% | across all 97 reports |
Ranking by volume says more about how many cars a brand sells than about how they hold up. Age at failure is the fairer of the two.
Compare Lotus with the rest
Lotus problems by model
5 Lotus models have owner complaints on file. Pick one for its worst years, failing systems and what owners actually wrote.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
- No ads, on every page
- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Go deeper
Frequently asked questions
How reliable is Lotus?
Owners have filed 97 complaints across 5 Lotus models. On its own that number reflects how many Lotus cars are on the road — compare the average age at failure (5.04 years) instead.
What breaks most often on a Lotus?
The most reported system is Engine And Engine Cooling with 35 complaints.
Do Lotus problems show up under warranty?
25.3% of Lotus complaints describe something that happened in the first three years, while the factory warranty was likely still running.
Which Lotus model has the most complaints?
See the model list above — each card shows its complaint count, and the model page breaks it down by year and by system.