Scotsdave

The car did come from a careful owner I just never sold it to them it definitely went to auction. I'm making the car sound worse than it is I'm a bit of a perfectionist. The car wanted for nothing. I changed all of the suspension as it was looking tired. The car was recently fully mopped to remove swirls from the paint, The only issue in my eyes is the oil leak make sure that is fixed and it should be if they inspected it. The water leaks can be resolved I'm sure and they only appeared in the last month of ownership. I've not had the car since March. I've spent a lot of money on the car in the last few months between brakes, Clutch mc and air con condenser from Lotus. The clutch still feels great and the car wasn't launched hard most of the miles are motorway like I said. Most clutch failures seem to happen early on in the early cars. I think following Colin's advice try and knock a couple of grand off or walk away. I would also ask about what they have fixed on the car to prep it to see if they mention the oil leak.

Also I have the plate on retention,if you do end up buying the car. If you're interested?

Once I spotted the oil leak when I was changing the compressor I gave up, so I never started to look at the water leaks. I traded the car in Scotland and the garage were sending it to auction hence it now being in Newcastle. I won't give an exact figure but it was under 20k. I had the car for 4 years and it lived outside the whole time I had it. Like I say the car was great it never let me down once. It was a daily driver so a lot of the miles are motorway (40miles a day). Also a bit more history it was a Caterham management car when it was new. I bought it from Murrays in Edinburgh the owner before me had it a year and did 1000 miles in it!

FJ11EVB was my old car it was on E10 VRA when I owned it. I traded it in a week before lockdown. It was a great car I did 40k in it but I traded it in as things were starting to go wrong. Don't let that put you off though, I recently did all the brakes, brand new air con condenser, brand new clutch master cylinder, new shocks all round, poly bushed front ARB, new drop links. Kenwood is Android auto and carplay the usb is hidden under the steering column. Bad bits, PPF has a tear on the front bumper. Front carpets are wet as is the boot (water is getting in somewhere) air con isn't working needs a new compressor I bought one and was ready to fit it and spotted an oil leak near the power steering pump. I sold the compressor once trade in was agreed. The front hatch was stuck shut after I didn't align the catch correctly after having the clam off to replace the seals and drier for air con. At this stage I lost interest. It doesn't have all the packs it's missing the tech pack. The parking sensors, camera, Tpms and cruise were all retro fitted by me only option that's missing is home link. If your interested I would check the oil leak is fixed it's not major and it's impossible to see unless the undertray is off. Give the passenger carpet a good check too. It's never had a clutch and the clutch was fine but the release bearing is noisy (it has been the whole time I owned it) Imo it's priced to high, I got no where near that as a trade in.

It took me a few goes to get all the air out of mine. Even with a pressure bleeder.

Sorry. I didn't have that bolt on mine! That's the switch for the cruise control/fuel cut for ECU. Just the single screw and off it comes.

If the AC is still cold your probably ok. Yes the condenser is the radiator. Mine was rotten and bent like a banana.

Just the AC condenser there not alot under there. The bolts are where you would expect nothing is really hidden. Splash guards out, Headlights out, front badge off. You'll find three bolts here. Each side of the bumper has three screws where it meets the clam behind the headlights. Open the front hatch and undo the bolts there holding the clam and washer bottle filler. Undo the 2 bolts that go through the hatch latch and release the cable. Leave the hatch on the clam no need to remove it. Then you have bolts behind the A panels you have a couple of options here. Remember to unplug the side repeaters. It should lift off now. It will take a couple of hours to remove and about a day to refit. Lining up the headlights is a horrible job. Once the clam is off you then need to remove the cowling on top of the radiator. Be prepared to swear at this point as all the fasteners are stuck or rotten. You can leave the bumper on and bolted to the undertray. The perfect lockdown job. Hope that helps Davie

I had this issue back in January. Its not possible to change the master cylinder on RHD cars with the clam on. You have to remove the clam and you need two people to remove the master cylinder as its held in with nuts and bolts that aren't captive. We did it with an easibleed on the master cylinder pushing the fluid out the slave cylinder. It took my dealer a couple of days to get a master cylinder they told me Lotus had plenty in stock at the warehouse. If your doing it I would also recommend replacing your mud flap brackets if you haven't already as they will probably be dust and flapping in the wind (They are made by a user on the forum but now sold on Ebay by a third party) . Also check out the condition of your A/C condenser as it makes sense to swap that at the same time as having the clam off. Davie

Could be a warped disk, could also be a worn balljoint or track rod end which is moving under braking.

The cheapest pads I found when look were from Ebay:- Fronts Rears Don't forget you will probably need new caliper pins too as they seize solid and require cutting to remove. Also buy some anti squeal compound from Euro car parts etc rather than using copper slip. It keeps the brakes quiet and moving nice. Dave

Hi Paul, You need 2 people for the actual swap but its a lot of striping. Headlights out, Clam off (which isn't too bad a job unless you have rusty fasteners). One person needs to be in the footwell with a socket on the bolts for the MC and another person needs to loosen the nuts holding the MC to the firewall. Access is a little bit fiddly but not terrible. You'll need a eazi bleed (available from toolstation or screwfix for about £20) to bleed the clutch when your finished or you'll struggle to get a firm pedal. The Clutch slave is on the passenger side rear of the car, you can see it next to the gearbox mount for bleeding. It is accessed from underneath the car but it sits on top of the gearbox. Some guides suggest splitting pipes to bleed the clutch but I wouldn't bother. It took me about a full day as I had some bolts I had to grind off, I also replaced my AC condenser as I had the clam off and it was wrecked. If you have any questions give me a shout as it's still fresh in my mind.

I've just had the same problem, Short journeys fine then longer journeys clutch goes soft or stays on the floor. I've replaced the Clutch Master Cylinder (Metal) Great job over Christmas! Now my problem is solved no more issues. The factory had 10 in stock and I got it in a couple of days!

Ah my door was showing as open on the dash. Sounds like your regulator has failed.

I had this recently on the driver's door. I sprayed copious amounts of wd40 in to the latch. I kept working the latch in-between sprays to try and free off the micro switch. It worked and has been fine for months. Worth a try as the latch will be on back order and expensive for what it is.

I'm also needing rears. Costco seem to be the cheapest just now at £150 each and then a further £50 discount at the till. Or £100 discount if you buy 4 tyres.

I wouldn't bother with a headunit with built in nav. Get a head unit that supports Apple Carplay and Android Auto. Then the maps are constantly kept up to date, you'll also benefit from live traffic data and police/camera hot spots. This also has the benefit of more choices of sources. Deezer, spotify, podcast and Tunein (radio). Tunein is a big advantage as your not relying on the poor aerial that Lotus fitted to the Evora for a signal. Look at the normal brands such as Sony, Kenwood, Pioneer and alpine. If your on a budget you'll get a Sony for about £260 with the above. Chinese head units look appealing with all the bang for buck you get with features. But the amplifiers are normally terrible and the bluetooth quality piss poor.

I was looking at the aftermarket solutions but as I'm in the UK I would need to import either them. Is one regarded better than the other?

Thanks for the replies guys, @agentdr8 no its RHD 3 Months to get a new master cylinder sounds fun.

Hi guys, This morning on the way to work my clutch pedal wasn't returning fully when I was in standstill traffic. I know people have had issues with the clutch master cylinder in the past, but from the reading I have done it seems to mainly affect plastic master cylinders fitted to cars after 2011/12. My car is late registered 2010 and the vin number seems to indicate it will have the metal master cylinder fitted. Is this likely to be the master cylinder or could it be a clutch failure on the way. The car is on 64k now. Any tips? Thanks David

Yeah they are fed from the interior. They are hidden behind the rear trim panels in the back of the car.

There is a big hose either side of the boot corners that fits in to the inside of the cabin behind the rear trim panels below the rear windows. Number 1 and number 2 in the drawing below.

My ones were delivered next day.

Looks like they have removed them all now They were there an hour ago.

Beat to it but that's them