Clutch gone at 16,000 miles. Not covered by Lotus - Don't panic!

[Whitey]

100 per cent as above. I’ve taken my Evora over the last 14 years from 3k to almost 50k miles, no issues at all, infact never even had to adjust the linkage or cables at all. It gets used on b road blasts, done a few track days, but with mechanical consideration. Never done any drag race starts and the car is still superb, which is why I can’t sell it, even after getting the Emira.
You reap what you sow, but you have a You Tube outlet for clicks……..

 

[RevMonkey]

Vastly all on me. I say that.
I hear different accounts on clutches so now know not what to believe.
Some say weak,. some say not. At the time of the video I was told BY LOTUS it was 40 to 60K and you don't buy a Lotus to drive it like a milk float.

 

[NicolasB]

...or to rent it to strangers to do clutch-drops

 

[RevMonkey]

Not saying that has not happened but I suspect Turo is different over here with the limitations and expense on hire. Just been men and a couple of ladies as old as me using it for Prom, weddings and birthdays. All the others were Americans.
The majority were scared to go above Sport...

Still, it is my risk and I live with that. I'd wager I am responsible for 85% of the clutch wear, Turo 10% and Carwow might have added a whole 5% and that was the one that killed it.

I think some people are getting the wrong end of this here. It was all statements and information.

I put my hand up to the abusive driving. The disaster was finding out that the whole rear of the car had to come off and the engine and gearbox out with a bill that was over £5000. I have never mentioned the clutch being weak. I have said it was all on me but was hoping, in my ignorance, that Lotus or the Warranty might cover some of it. I am fine with it. 3 years, epic car and I love it.

People need to know that the clutch is a minimum £5k job. It was just another informational video like all my others going back 4 years.

I could have kept quiet about it but people should know this.
Seems like there are many people who wish I had said nothing.

My 3 year video out shortly. I will speak more about it whilst going into all the running costs.

 

[F1 SML8R]

...People need to know that the clutch is a minimum £5k job. It was just another informational video like all my others going back 4 years...

Trust me, you are in the minority on this. Anyone that has purchased a Lotus, has done some minimal level of research. Why would I say this? Because anyone new to Lotus, likely doesn't even know the Brand and would have Googled "Lotus Cars", "Emira", "Evora", etc. That would have yielded a lot of "issues".

Now, if you did know the brand, that likely means you've likely spent months/years on all the various forums which let's be honest, is largely littered with everything "wrong" with Lotus (and a little of what's right). Lastly, if you just look in the engine bay, intuitively most can come to the conclusion that anything outside of basic maintenance or items easily accessible from above or below will likely require major dismantling to get to (it's not exactly "roomy" in there).

 

[VR1]

I mean I didn’t know a clutch job was like $9k until after I bought the car and I did a few months of research on the Emira. I don’t see it widely publicized either and this car is so new it’s only a relatively small share of owners who have this experience to report.

 

[vanillathunder0210]

I can't believe I was fooled by this post. Turo rental and Carwow drag races and we're supposed to be sympathetic that the clutch needs replaced
I could destroy a clutch in an afternoon if I wanted to.

 

[RevMonkey]

Trust me, you are in the minority on this. Anyone that has purchased a Lotus, has done some minimal level of research. Why would I say this? Because anyone new to Lotus, likely doesn't even know the Brand and would have Googled "Lotus Cars", "Emira", "Evora", etc. That would have yielded a lot of "issues".

Now, if you did know the brand, that likely means you've likely spent months/years on all the various forums which let's be honest, is largely littered with everything "wrong" with Lotus (and a little of what's right). Lastly, if you just look in the engine bay, intuitively most can come to the conclusion that anything outside of basic maintenance or items easily accessible from above or below will likely require major dismantling to get to (it's not exactly "roomy" in there).

I completely disagree with this. We are talking about the Emira, a new car, a supposedly modern car with lots of money thrown at it.

Buying an Exige... for sure, Evora.. yeah.

I imagine a very small percentage of global buyers have an older Lotus. That was the whole point of the car.

A new person to Lotus visiting a dealer will likely have the hatch opened, nod, and close it without a thought to the ramifications of the design. The dealer won't mention it and the person would not likely ask about clutch replacement costs.
More fool us of course.


The vast majority of Emira buyers will have no expectation at all of seeing the back half of the car fully dismantled for a clutch change. There it not enough info on the Emira about clutches and even those are mixed signals.
It is just not common knowledge with the Emira.

The only cars most petrolheads know about is older Ferraris, most Lambos, the SLS and the Carerra GT.

 

[RevMonkey]

I can't believe I was fooled by this post. Turo rental and Carwow drag races and we're supposed to be sympathetic that the clutch needs replaced
I could destroy a clutch in an afternoon if I wanted to.

?? I never asked for sympathy?
I owned it.
The disaster is that unbeknownst to me, the clutch replacement is horrendous, especially as a value of the car. The clutch lasted 3 years, nothing wrong with the clutch - it's the design.

 

[F1 SML8R]

I completely disagree with this. We are talking about the Emira, a new car, a supposedly modern car with lots of money thrown at it.

Except that it's not a "new car." It's essentially a re-skinned Evora. The closest thing to a new car would be the i4 that actually had to have the rear sub-assembly re-engineered to accommodate an entirely new engine/drivetrain. BTW, not really an argument, simply stating that you are very much in the minority here when it comes to the Toyota drivetrain that's been in a Lotus for 16+ years.

 

[VR1]

Except that it's not a "new car." It's essentially a re-skinned Evora. The closest thing to a new car would be the i4 that actually had to have the rear sub-assembly re-engineered to accommodate an entirely new engine/drivetrain. BTW, not really an argument, simply stating that you are very much in the minority here when it comes to the Toyota drivetrain that's been in a Lotus for 16+ years.

Maybe we should do a poll on the FB owners group of what % of owners know that a clutch job is $9k+. I’m willing to bet that 70% have no idea since many buyers like myself have 0 history with any other lotus.

 

[RevMonkey]

Don't worry, it's a good conversation.
I am talking about perception.

The perception of somebody buying a Lotus Emira would not consider it needing a £5k clutch bill. This is the crux of the video.

Lotus people know. I now know. I believe the majority of Emira buyers/owners had no idea it was this drastic.

 

[RevMonkey]

Maybe we should do a poll on the FB owners group of what % of owners know that a clutch job is $9k+. I’m willing to bet that 70% have no idea since many buyers like myself have 0 history with any other lotus.

Well, this was my whole point but people seem to have got hung up on thinking I misled them about the clutch and the car had an easy life. I clearly say the opposite. How it got there is then not the point.
The point is awareness.

 

[Colin P]

£5k for a clutch in 2026 isn’t that far out of whack, especially for a car of this nature. Plenty of cars of this nature need the engine out to do a clutch. The thing with the Evora/Emira (and exige for that matter) is that it’s relatively easy to remove the body panels rather than finessing the engine in and out of a tight and one piece body shell…. So it looks bad, but reality is that removing these panels is not the time sink, it’s the engine removal.

For context a headlight these days can be £3k or a set of tyres >£1k, a mini windscreen is £2k .

My Emira just had a new rear light cluster under warranty for one failed LED. Now 8 hours to replace a rear light unit, that is thoughtlessness because to do it needed all these same body panels removed!!

 

[1031ent]

I was quoted 12k for a clutch replacement and immediately decided I’d rather have an auto V6 even if it’s slightly slower just for the maintenance cost difference. Has made it difficult to find a car, but I will eventually.

Should get the DCT i4 if you are going auto. It's much faster

 

[vanillathunder0210]

?? I never asked for sympathy?
I owned it.
The disaster is that unbeknownst to me, the clutch replacement is horrendous, especially as a value of the car. The clutch lasted 3 years, nothing wrong with the clutch - it's the design.

I don't mean to be combative, but you said you were disappointed that it wasn't covered under warranty. I don't think any clutch, ever, has been replaced under warranty. It's a wear item, obviously "worn to the rivets" from abusive driving. I wouldn't do a bunch of track days and then ask Lotus to replace my pads and rotors.
I do appreciate the info on the clutch replacement however, because I was assuming that a clutch job in one of these would be $3-$4k or something. I don't expect to ever have to replace it, but it's nice to know.

 

[MikeR]

Should get the DCT i4 if you are going auto. It's much faster

Not so, 0-60 maybe (the Lotus published numbers did not include use of the V6 Auto ‘launch’ feature), but in the real-world 49-74 mph band the V6 Auto is the quickest at 2.67 secs.

I4 Turbo (both 360 and 400 bhp variants) 3.1 secs
V6 manual 3.3 secs
Source: Lotus product specs.

 

[Tteape0]

Should get the DCT i4 if you are going auto. It's much faster

It is faster 0-60, much slower 25-70 time, which is what I will be doing in real life driving. Also the V6 sounds better and has better residual values.

 

[David s]

Don't worry, it's a good conversation.
I am talking about perception.

The perception of somebody buying a Lotus Emira would not consider it needing a £5k clutch bill. This is the crux of the video.

Lotus people know. I now know. I believe the majority of Emira buyers/owners had no idea it was this drastic.

Most people buying a lotus know how to drive. I’ve owned several lotus car from new since 2005. Never blew any clutches, drivetrains or gearboxes. Track all of them and still hold a bunch of lap records in my class. The only people talking crap like what you talk about, are dickheads that can’t drive and try blame everything else but that.

Also. What’s the multiple posting one after another. Are you 4 years old?

 

[OliverB]

I regret opening this thread.