Owners have filed 66 complaints on the Lotus Elise, covering 2005–2009. The system named most often is Engine And Engine Cooling (39 reports). Worst years by volume: 2005, 2006, 2007; cleanest: 2009, 2007, 2006. 0 reports describe a crash, 2 a fire. On average the car was 4.7 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Lotus Elise
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 66 Elise complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine And Engine Cooling 39 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…
The contact owns a 2005 lotus elise. The contact stated that while driving 40 mph, smoke began to emit in and around the vehicle. The contact attempted to engage the brakes but the pedal sank to the floor. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the oil cooler line fractured causing a leak…
Driving in second gear and changing into third gear the radiator exploded and splashed hot coolant all over the windshield. Fortunately I had the roof on, otherwise the hot coolant could have landed on me or my 8 yr. Old son. Lotus uses a terribly designed radiator that has plastic edges, which become brittle and…
Engine 8 Read
Second time this has happened. Received new engine from lotus 4/21/2012 and had about 700 miles on new engine. Was driving on residential street in mid gears. Noted some odd engine rattling noises briefly. Seconds later, strong smell of gasoline which dissipated. Then saw flickering instrument panel warning lights…
I was on the freeway driving at freeway speeds in the #1 lane when I smelled burning oil. I hadn't noticed the car performing differently so I looked ahead to the forward cars for the 'gross polluter' causing the smell. I didn't see anyone with my first forward inspection. I then immediately noticed the oil light lit…
I was on the freeway and moved into the #2 lane and was accelerating. I looked out my rearview mirror and saw what I thought was a dust cloud behind me. I looked at the road in front of me expecting to see some dirt on the road, but there wasn't any. I looked back and it seemed that it was like a dirty brown smoke. I…
Power Train 5 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…
1) at first 1st to 2nd up shift and 3rd to 2nd down shift was grinding at about 5000 RPM. Shifting progressively got worse shifting from 1st to 2nd and 3rd to 2nd. Now 3rd to 2nd down shifting grinds at every RPM and 1st to 2nd shift is very difficult. Diagnosed by mechnanic as synhro failure. 2) 2nd gear synchro…
Manual transmission popped unexpectedly out of 5th gear during hard driving causing driver to select wrong gear in attempt to regain control of vehicle. The placing of the transmission into 3rd gear by mistake LED to catastrophic over-revving of the engine with engine failure (total loss). Dealer had been advised…
Suspension 4 Read
I was turning left out of a parking lot, accelerating in a safe but enthusiastic manner when I felt a violent shudder/vibration at around 30-35 mph. I immediately let off the throttle and felt increased drag as if I had a flat tire. I immediately pulled over into a gas station and found the my driver's side rear wheel…
Wiring on auto has been a mess since new, auto towed 15 times for mechanical reasons and addition times tow truck was coming and car would start. Shifter broke off at 2,000 miles, transaxle was replaced at about 20,000 miles alarm system, alternator,speakers,turn indicators, front steering box (rack), vehicle computer…
While making a left turn, a loud bang occurred with a strange feeling at the rear of the car and the car spun 180 deg. I got out of the car and saw the rear passenger car tire toed out at about 20 deg. The bolt connecting the toe control link to the chassis broke, causing the rear tire to move from its normal straight…
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…
Intermittent problem where the entire cluster gauge (speedometer, RPM, gas gauge, etc.) will shut down and later turn back on. The intermittent problem will become worse and the cluster gauge will shut down for longer periods at a time. There is no known cause of this. The only know fix is to replace the entire…
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…
The contact owns a 2005 lotus elise. The contact stated that the defroster was inoperative, which reduced visibility during cold weather. He took the vehicle to a dealer and was informed that the resistor pack corroded because of its location and needed to be replaced. The repair would cost $2,000. The manufacturer…
Service Brakes 1 Read
Momentary brake failure yesterday. This happened to my wife. She's commuted with the car to work 3 times a week, 90 miles round trip for 7+ months, logging many thousands of miles, and much more than I have. Also she has been driving stick for 17 years, and routinely drives sports cars (mini cooper s, z3). 70 mph (in…
Latches/locks/linkages 1 Read
On august 11, 2010 I took my 2005 lotus elise with 9105 miles on it to get the inspection done. The man doing the inspection was locked in the car. The car wouldn't unlock using the key fob or the center console release button. Tried both with the car running and off. Neither worked. The car window was down, but the…
Elise years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Service Brakes, Hydraulic | — | — | |
| 2007 | Engine | — | — | |
| 2006 | Engine | — | 1 | |
| 2005 | Electrical System | — | 1 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 27 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.4 |
| Worst single series | 7 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.7 years |
A model average of 2.4 hides a worst series at 7. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
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
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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.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Elise?
By complaint volume, 2005, 2006, 2007 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Elise years are the cleanest?
2009, 2007, 2006 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Lotus Elise have?
66 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2005–2009. Of those, 0 describe a crash and 2 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.