2012 Lotus Evora

Owner complaints

What owners report most

1. Engine1
2. Power train1
3. Service brakes1
4. Steering1
5. Suspension1

Latest complaints

• Feb 21, 2022CA
  Suspension
  The rear upper control arm or wishbone developed a crack. The spherical joint in the wishbone started to slide forward and back under braking and acceleration. In my case, it was caught quickly and before there was an accident. However, this wishbone is one leg of a tripod that attaches the wheel…

  The rear upper control arm or wishbone developed a crack. The spherical joint in the wishbone started to slide forward and back under braking and acceleration. In my case, it was caught quickly and before there was an accident. However, this wishbone is one leg of a tripod that attaches the wheel to the car. If the crack were to develop into a break, it could cause a catastrophic failure leading to injury or death. Essentially, a rear wheel could fall off. The problem is clearly a pattern failure in these forged aluminum parts. Some have failed with relatively few miles on them. The failures have been confirmed through discussion on on-line forums Lotus Talk and The Lotus Forum. Evidently, the failed parts have been inspected by Lotus. There is a TSB out on the problem: From S.O.P, NA auto from MY12, see TSB 2011/19 - S/Charged (man & auto). No warning lamps related to this failure. Many owners have heard a clunk. I did not hear anything. I disco verde the failure during a routine inspection.

• Jul 15, 2013NY1,500 miCrash
  Engine · Power train · Service brakes · Steering
  I was coming to a stop, applying the brakes and shifted the car into neutral, the car just shut off. The brakes became rock hard I had to use both feet to slow the car steering locked and I rear ended the car I front of me at 2-3 mph. The car was damaged the car was checked by the dealership I was…

  I was coming to a stop, applying the brakes and shifted the car into neutral, the car just shut off. The brakes became rock hard I had to use both feet to slow the car steering locked and I rear ended the car I front of me at 2-3 mph. The car was damaged the car was checked by the dealership I was told that there was nothing wrong with the car. The condition occurred again at nearly a complete stop and a third time with my wife in the car. Fortunately there was no contact with another cars. I brought the car to the dealer and they reflashed the software. There have been no subsequent incidents since the software upgrade. One the lotustalk blog numerous lotus evora owners have experienced this condition. So it appears this IS prevalent there are only 1000 of these cars in the USA . I think all owners should be contacted and updated as to this possible condition. *tr

Service bulletins

Technical service bulletins and other communications the manufacturer sent dealers about this vehicle. Ask a dealer for the full document by its number.

• 10209516Standard information required and procedures to be followed when reporting ECU & TCU faults. There is often insufficient, or inconsistent information received from dealers when reporting ECU & TCU related faults, this can lead to unacceptable delays in repairing vehicles.
• 10198785There is often inconsistent or insufficient information received from dealers when reporting ECU and TCU related faults. This bulletin aims to standardise the information when filing a claim to After Sales.
• 10180671Air conditioning compressors failing due to oil starvation. TSB reminds dealers of correct replacement and running-in procedures.
• 10175849Any unauthorised modifications, including fitment of non-approved after-market air filter resulting in generation of diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) P0101 & P1109. We have had several instances where DTCs P0101 & P1109 had been set and the car recovered into the dealer, only for them to find that the original equipment engine air intake filter had been substituted for a non-approved after-market type (applicable to both dry and oil coated types).
• 10143133Procedure to recover the ECU if an ?ECU Comms Failure? message appears in the instrument panel display screen. Under certain conditions such as a discharged battery or an interrupted programming procedure, the vehicle ECU (Electronic Control Unit) may lose communication with other engine management systems.
• 10143131The latest Lotus TechCentre release (V5.14.0) is now available as an online update and includes programming enhancements for Evora S and Exige S ?12MY models onwards.
• 10143129Application of silicone grease to brake light switch plunger to improve durability. Several instances of brake light switch renewal under warranty have been reported due to the illumination of the ABS (Anti-Lock Braking System) tell tail lamp accompanied with the generation of diagnostic trouble code C0340 - brake light switch.
• 10143128Confirmation of updates to the Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC) sections of the Technical Service Notes concerning the necessary procedures required to ensure that that the air conditioning compressor is correctly ?run in? after any major HVAC repairs/replacements have been carried out.
• 10143127Clarification of air conditioning compressor ?Running-In? Procedure. Insufficient lubrication will result in compressor failure due to seizure, reducing air conditioning performance and also generate diagnostic trouble codes.
• 10143126To reinforce the importance of checking and clearing stored fault codes at time of PDI (Pre-Delivery Inspection). The increased frequency of battery disconnection/reconnection that vehicles are subjected to during transportation from the factory to the dealer or in some instances the prolonged storage, vehicle inactivity and resultant battery discharge may result in DTC?s (Diagnostic Trouble Codes) being generated by the vehicles ECU (Electronic Control Unit).
• 10143122Brake hose/pipe inspection. The routing of all brake hoses and pipes is set during production to ensure that they cannot come into contact with any other ancillary components regardless of the vehicles suspension travel range or steering movement.
• 10143121Potential causes of cruise control deactivation without intentional driver intervention.
• 10143120The latest TechCentre release (V5.1.0) released as on online update on 11 June 2013. Includes important TCU software program updates
• 10143119Instances of ABS (Anti-Lock Braking System) tell tale lamp illumination accompanied with fault code C0460 (pressure sensor failure) have been reported back to Lotus Cars. Although the pressure sensor located within the ABS module is non-serviceable; another potential cause of this problem is the brake light switch plunger being incorrectly set. Incorrect setting of the switch plunger will result in the ABS brake line pressure being too high at the time of brake light activation, thus generating a fault code and illuminating the ABS or Service tell tale lamp.
• 10143118Some Evora owner?s have reported difficulty in engaging or changing gear as well as other symptoms such as very little or no resistance required to depress the clutch pedal or the clutch pedal has failed to return to its original position when released.
• 10143117Because of CARB legislation requirements, the most recent version updates of Lotus Techcentre have changed the fault code look up screen to describe the fault type by one of 3 terms.
• 10143116The latest update for Techcentre V4.16.00 has a feature to prevent unauthorised variant code alteration.
• 10143115To increase it?s durability, the single piece steel VVT pipe originally fitted as a production running change to all Evora ?S? and ?S-IPS? models from ?12MY VIN CH_10159 is now further retained to the engine assembly by the use of an additional fixing.
• 10096474To increase its durability, the single piece steel vvt pipe originally fitted as a production running change to all evora s and s-ips models from 12MY vin ch_10159 IS now further retained to the engine assembly by the use of an additional fixing.
• 10096383To increase its durability, the single piece steel vvt pipe originally fitted as a production running change to all evora s and s-ips models from 12MY vin ch_10159 IS now further retained to the engine assembly by the use of an additional fixing.
• 10054031Lotus: information provided regarding the inspection of all brake pipe/hose, on some vehicles, based on scheduled maintenance and the positioning of pipe/hose. Models elise, exige, evora, europa. No years listed.
• 10047599Lotus: the retaining clip IS retrofitted for rh cylinder bank variable valve timing (vvt) pipe to increase durability and to retain engine assembly. Models 2012-2013 evora s and s-ips.

Every Lotus Evora model year

Bars are owner complaints, dots mark years with recalls. Select a year to open its report.