TWO YEAR REVIEW! | Owning a Lotus Elan S2 | Part 12

Its two years since I bought the Elan. So in Part 12 it's time for a review of what its been like, the ups, the downs and the costs.
I hope you've enjoyed the journey with me. Please leave comments below, it would be great to hear your views.
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#LotusElanM100 #CarReviews #ClassicCars #ForTheDrivers

[@lp.tsiaou3561]

I am 11 and the elan is my dream car and by this review I think if I buy it I will love it

[@paulhunter123]

i liked these on the amiga intro lotus challenge

[@robfoale432]

Love the videos, thank you. We've had our S2 ("N"-plate, 47,000 miles) for 20 years now and we love it as much now as we did when we bought it. Similar experience to you in that, battery drain aside it has never let us down, which includes taking it on a three week romp around Europe; Cambridge to Vienna in one blast, then to Venice, Pisa, Monte Carlo, Cannes, Dijon, Paris and back home. No big bills and similar running costs to you. Only problem when we first got it was constant battery drain, so eventually fitted a dead switch and trickle charge socket and sorted ever since. Brilliant little car!

[@karlhurn]

Many thanks 🙏 Glad you enjoyed it. They are great cars, mine has been very reliable so far. I’d like to do the north coast 500, don’t think I’m brave enough for mainland Europe, especially without air con! 😂

[@thomascleveley5655]

Great video. I have had an Elan for just over a year and have had a similar experience. Looking forward to the next video.👍

[@karlhurn]

Thanks Thomas 👍 Hope you’re enjoying your Elan as much as I am!

[@pgibsonplat]

Awesome video, brings back memories of my Elan back in 1997. British Racing Green with mustard interior, H427 VRR wonder where it is now? Had it for 5 years sold it as a deposit for my first house :-(. Remember blasting round country roads in the North East & Yorkshire with the roof down and the sun shining, Happy memories!

[@karlhurn]

Thanks Paul. Glad you liked the video, more to come. I bought an MX-5 in 1998. So it’s taken a while to get to the Elan but it’s as good as expected!

[@JosephByrne]

H427 VRR is SORN now. Last MOT was 2016 so was on the road for 19 years after you sold it.

[@martinkeenan9638]

Add a m reg s2 picked it up when it was 6 months old, kept it 4 years and swapped it for a Elise 111s which I kept far 5 years, always wish I’d kept the Elan tho, great cars 😍😍😍

[@mrbagitos]

Great video. Very informative. Speaking of road tax it’s not bad on the Elan if we compare it to road tax costs in the 90s. I plan on getting a sports car myself. The Elan is on my list alongside a Porsche Cayman/ Boxster, Nissan 370Z, BMW Z4 & Toyota GT86 to test drive. A good mix of old & new. I do have a soft spot for the Elan though. I was made aware of the car from the video game Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 on the Amiga computer when I was 10 years old. It’s aged very well from the exterior.

[@karlhurn]

Game Racer Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video. Sounds like you've got a good list there. I had a Boxster Mk2 a few years ago and that was a great car. Might be worth considering an Elise as well, such as dramatic looking and exciting to drive car.

[@BlatentlyFakeName]

It's about £230 for my Elise. Insurance is quite cheap for what it is though at £260. The Elise will be much more expensive if it has a problem though. It's a simple car but labour costs loads, because for many things you need to remove the clams. It needs someone who knows what they are doing too, which means you need to take it to a specialist.

[@JosephByrne]

If you are looking to get your wheels refurbished, Lepsons in Kent will make them better than new for a really good price. Refurbished doesn't really describe the results.

[@karlhurn]

Thanks for the tip Joseph. I’ll take a look at them. They’re a little far away but I can live with that if they’re good 👍

[@svlagonda7417]

Terrific video. Loved these when I was younger (and couldn't afford them).

[@karlhurn]

Many thanks. I was the same, couldn’t afford one in the 90’s so still wanted one now. 👍

[@citizenfour9622]

It’s July again. Time for another update! 😎

[@karlhurn]

Thanks for noticing! Yes, just working on it now. Benn lucky to be busy with car reviews but a new M100 video is in the edit 👍

[@djaor]

I’m the owner of Elan m100 s1 and another s2 from Portugal , thanks for the videos

[@karlhurn]

Thanks djaor. It must be great to have an S1 and S2 to be able to compare them and see how good, or not, the S2 updates were. Thanks for watching!

[@drumtum]

The roadtax is zero here after 30 years. I am hoping to find one soon.

[@karlhurn]

Were are you drumtum? I must move there! 😂😂😂

[@juandef4115]

Always been a car I've fancied. Only sceptical of the isuzu engine (comment before the video got into things)

[@karlhurn]

Isuzu engine is strong. And Lotus is the best at taking humble components and making more of them. They’ve been doing the same with the Toyota V6 for years. 👍

[@juandef4115]

@@karlhurn yes. I agree. Toyota engines are exciting though. 2jz.. 4age... It's just that i own Del Sol Vti. The engine is bullet proof and makes me smile

[@drumtum]

Is the exhaust system stock?

[@karlhurn]

No. Its a Milltek Sport exhaust fitted by the previous owner at Paul Matty Sports Cars.

[@edgworth]

I see that you have removed your sun visors. Is that due to limited visibility or the fact that they dont stay up?

[@karlhurn]

It came without them! I can only imagine that they split apart or the foam decayed, or both. I’d like to get hold of some, but they are rare/expensive.

[@edgworth]

@@karlhurn my passenger side visor constantly drops down after a few miles of driving and ive read it to be a common issue. A number of owners seem to have removed them due to this reason. Looking forward to your follow up S2 review. Your first series helped my decision to buy one last year 👍🏻

[@karlhurn]

@@edgworth Cool, thanks Duncan 🙏. Yes, update coming soon 👍

[@rowanlewisuk]

These look awesome, im torn between this and a cheap elise as a sunday driving car. Think I have had enough of the horrendous mitsubishi evo running costs

[@JosephByrne]

I had a colleague with an Evo. He swapped it for a Focus RS. Said every time it needed anything doing it cost a grand.

[@rowanlewisuk]

@@JosephByrne thats very true. A cv boot is £80 and a set of front discs and pads are a grand for reference

[@juandef4115]

Ask yourself... Front drive or rear wheel drive. However the elan is now more exclusive

[@BlatentlyFakeName]

The Elise is a completely different thing, it's basically a racing car set up for road use and it's WAY quicker than the Elan. There are no cheap Elises now either, all are about £14k+ But do a lot of research before buying either. Problems on an Elise can be very expensive to fix and be careful of any with chassis damage. The stock suspension is also quite expensive coilovers (Koni for S1s or Bilstein for S2 onwards) and those don't last forever either. Front tyres are also getting harder to find as they use a unique size wheel and the special Elise tyres are no longer made.

[@astongreenhill4985]

Surely seen through glass does a video on the M100🤷‍♀️

[@karlhurn]

Unlikely! 😂

[@astongreenhill4985]

KHTV yeah shame though, the M100 is more interesting then a run of the mill Lamborghini at lest in some of ours opinion haha

[@karlhurn]

I’d still review a Lamborghini though if I had the chance 🤣

[@astongreenhill4985]

KHTV whilst I’ve got you, where from and how much was that illuminated lotus light from last video?

[@karlhurn]

aston greenhill It was £69 and I got it off of eBay. But the companies website is www.lightupwallsigns.com. They’re made in the UK.

[@antonyoantonyo7005]

I didn’t see the other vídeo !

[@karlhurn]

They’re all on the channel, take a look 👀

[@antonyoantonyo7005]

@@karlhurn I’m sure they are ! But I am reading now

[@BlatentlyFakeName]

The one fatal floor which killed this model.... They made it front wheel drive. While not as usable as a daily, the Elise was a huge leap from this car.

[@karlhurn]

Depends on how you look at it. I’ve owned both, and the Elise is a rubbish daily. Especially in the winter. The M100 is more like a proper car and it’s taken until the Emira for a Lotus not to feel just like a track/kit car. The price killed it, it was way too expensive and the US exchange rate was terrible.

[@karlhurn]

The front wheel drive is a non issue. If it had a roof and a hatch no one would care.

[@BlatentlyFakeName]

@@karlhurn Yea but this is a sports car and a Lotus. Also I've used an Elise over winter. It wasn't any worse than normal tbh. Mine is a later S2 with a Toyota engine/gearbox/clutch, so probably more reliable than the Elan :D

[@jamesgoodwin2450]

Just to be clear is it 2 years you’ve owned it 😂😂😂😂

[@karlhurn]

Did I say it a lot? 😂