Service & Maintenance Evora 400

[Evora54]

Hi guys,

as I just got my new Evora 400 - my first Lotus so far - I´m of course also interested in the annual service & maintenance costs this car "produces".

for sure it was and will not be a show-stopper, but I´m just curious how demanding the newer Lotus cars are regarding that?

thanks for your inputs & thoughts,

Hymo

[Colin P]

As you'd expect they are a bit higher than for your average runabout, but very reasonable compared to similar cars.

My Main Dealer charges £450 for a standard service. I've not looked but assuming that the 2 and 4 year services are the same as the S1 then add £200 and £300 respectively to that figure for the 2 and 4 year service. This is however regionally variable. The guys in Scotland seem to get a very good deal.

Independents will of course be less, even the 4 year on the S1 didn't tip over £500.

Tyres were the next expense on the S1 cars, as few got more than 10,000 miles out of a set of rears (and many got half that) however it seems that tyre life on the 400 is significantly better. Suggestions of 20/30K or even more being possible.

There is no reason to expect that you will need anything outside of the maintenance schedule if used as a road car.

The "big one" is however the clutch if you have a manual. Should it go then this is an expensive job. Suggest we don't turn this thread into another one about the clutch as there are 2 opposing schools of thought and it'll run and run - just search it. That said, I understand that the 400 has a completely different set up so only time will tell what the expected life span is.

[JayEmm]

My car had it's first service the other day. £497 is what Stratton quoted for it, I think MMC were advertising for £350-ish... it will vary where you go.

I believe Lotus are happy for anyone to do it as long as the proper parts are used. Obviously a Lotus specialist is preferable.

As @Colin P mentioned, tyre life on the 400 is greatly improved over the S1. I have 9000 miles on my vehicle now, including one track day, one airfield driving day and I've still got at least half on my rears, the fronts look barely run in.

Colin, can you recall what the extras were on the other services for the S1 that bump the price up? I don't have my owners manual to hand to check.

The good news is nothing bar the clutch requires the engine out as far as normal maintenance goes, I think. The engine is chain driven, not sure if the supercharger belt can be changed in situ... I expect that will need replacing some time soon.

[Colin P]

The extras are coolant and/or brake fluid (2 years each I think) then transmission at 4 years. 

[JayEmm]

It's nice to see those things being part of the schedule, far too many manufacturers now have this magic "lifetime" oil in some of their gearboxes.

I was shocked when I was looking at R8s that all of them were on this "long life" servicing nonsense. I would not want to own a 525+bhp car and not get it looked at at least once a year

[Colin P]

Had a chat with mini today. Son took his 4 year old MCS in for service yesterday. Other than inspection they did nothing.  Oil 2 years old which was my main issue, but lifetime coolant, when their own leaflet says 4 years.

They are now doing the oil, spark plugs, filters all within the service plan. Excuse being, the key stores the data and the low mileage it didn't read as being needed. Wonder how many people don't check what is actually done. 

[JayEmm]

Lot of dealers like that. Porsche do not include spark plugs, belts or coolants/brake fluid in the "major" service for a 911. 

[Big Ed]

Indeed JayEmm, my recent Cayman S brake fluid change was £115 on top of the first service done at 24 months.  Total bill £645.00.  Ouchhh!

[Evora54]

thanks for your thoughts & experiences! really appreciate!

this sounds all reasonable to me, somehow what I would have expected.

cheers, Hymo

[dalepearson]

Anyone had their 2 year service on an Evora 400 and able to comment on what was done.

Looking online and in the manual its not clear to me. Some say the supercharger belt is changed, some not. I do miss the clarity of A A B A, etc service info

[Hangar 111]

2 hours ago, dalepearson said:

Anyone had their 2 year service on an Evora 400 and able to comment on what was done.

Looking online and in the manual its not clear to me. Some say the supercharger belt is changed, some not. I do miss the clarity of A A B A, etc service info

Year 2 on Evora 400 is oil change, brake fluid, pollen filter. Everything else is based on inspection.

There is no recommended time interval to change the belt.

Dave

[dalepearson]

Thanks for clarifying Dave.

[JayEmm]

Just to add to what Dave said, I actually asked the factory on the supercharger belt and the official stance is "when it looks like it needs changing"

[James33]

Can anyone provide a PDF of the service guide?

[Spinney]

Re the supercharger belt change, I was told similar on my Exige V6, that it would only be changed if it looked like it needed it. The rationale behind it is that should the belt actually break and come off, it won't wreck the engine, unlike cam belts and so it isn't as sensitive.

A pal of mine with a Ferrari 355 has his cam belts changed every 3 years, despite only doing around 2000 miles a year in it. He admits the belts are probably still in good condition but, for obvious reasons I guess, he is quite paranoid about the potential consequences should one break. To make matters worse, they have to remove the engine to change the belts. You can only imagine the cost of that!

Makes me feel kinda smug about my humble Toyota lump. Similar performance but much less cost!

Edited February 23, 2018 by Spinney

[Bravo73]

5 minutes ago, Spinney said:

Re the supercharger belt change

FWIW, it’s not ‘just’ a supercharger belt. The engine only has one belt so it also drives the various other ancillaries. If it was to snap, the engine would get pretty unhappy pretty quickly. 

[Spinney]

2 minutes ago, Bravo73 said:

FWIW, it’s not ‘just’ a supercharger belt. The engine only has one belt so it also drives the various other ancillaries. If it was to snap, the engine would get pretty unhappy pretty quickly. 

Yes I understand that, but you would presumably get warning lights coming on and provided you stop ASAP, it shouldn't be an issue. Cam belts on the other hand will cause instant catastrophic damage.

[philcool]

Off topic I know but my company Vauxhall vivaro has only had 3 oil changes in 5 years and 75.000 Miles and the first service with pads and discs all round £856.93p 

And its also had 2 A/C condensors through corrosion a new turbo and throttle body the gearbox repaired and a new power staring pump and only once when its gone in ( always main dealer ) have I got it back within 2 weeks.

So any money saved on 25,000/two year service intervals for a diesal heavely loaded service van  has long gone