Evora S gear box rebuild / replacement cost

[pkn]

I'm currently looking for an Evora S and have been informed that the the 4, 5, 6 gears in pre-mid 2012 cars are more prone to failure (various posts on Lotus Talk, the playground and TLF confirm this) which requires a gear box rebuild or replacement.

Has anyone had the misfortune of having to repair or replace a gear box or have an estimate of the cost to sort the issue?

I'm trying to figure out if it's worth paying an extra £3 - £4k for a mid 2012 on-wards car to mitigate the risk however small it may be. Thanks!

[MattyB]

There's a couple I've found, one on the playground and one on here. Needless to say, both were "expensive". Guy on the playground paid £2k after warranty company paid a "major part". Guy on here said Lotus chipped in and did him a good deal on a new box but didn't give figures. The issue is you're looking at replacing the clutch too, so I doubt you'd see much change from £6k.

https://forums.the playground.org/viewthread.php?tid=446803&page=1

and on here:

 

 

[sellman]

I thought this issue was only on models sold with the optional close ratio gearbox??? 🙄

[agentdr8]

4 hours ago, sellman said:

I thought this issue was only on models sold with the optional close ratio gearbox??? 🙄

West-of-Hethel on LT had this happen, and found out it shouldn't affect too many vehicles:

Quote

Later CR boxes, after gearbox serial #1564, have an updated gearset and might not have this issue, I believe. If I'm correct about that, then it's probably only model years 2010 and 2011 that are affected. "Regular" Aisin gearboxes (the ones with the intergalactic ratios, which I think were only available in the US in 2011-12) and IPS are not at risk.

And nick911 had some testing done on his after experiencing the failure:

Quote

Hi Guys,
I've taken the guess work out of the 4th 5th gear failure, I had the dreaded failure at 34k on my 2010 N/A Evora with sport option gearbox. I replaced the box but had the original disassembled and inspected, everything in the box was perfect except the fourth gear splines had rounded off, and the gear was spinning on the shaft. Hardness testing was carried out which clearly showed the gear had been reworked after hardening, it was measured at 40 -42 HRc with the gear itself measuring a harness of 60 - 61 HRc. We strongly suspect the gear was made in error with the smaller spline of the 5th gear, then reworked to the larger 4th gear spline and not retreated.
I personally feel pretty aggrieved at this as Lotus are denying the issue exists, in my opinion this could be a killer, when my 4th gear failed I was overtaking and lost drive, luckily I had time to react and deal with the situation, others may not have the same reactions and time to deal with this, and have a head on crash.

OP, I would say if you can swing the few extra k for a MY12+, then I doubt anyone's going to fault you for that. They have some nicer additions over the earlier cars, and maybe a bit more peace of mind. Not that the earlier S1s are ticking time bombs just waiting to surprise their owners, but you either put forth a few extra bills up front to get newer gears and a lower potential of a rebuild, or you save those extra bills on the off-chance it happens to an earlier S1. 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

I very much doubt Lotus would help out with the cost of replacing a gearbox in a 6 - 7 year-old car, no matter what went wrong. For what it’s worth, changing the clutch when the gearbox is out is only a minor additional expense, so always do both together should you ever have to remove the gearbox, then you shouldn’t have to worry about clutch wear for a long time. If the later cars are supposedly stronger with regards to gearbox, then spend a bit more up front and go with one of those. You’ll presumably get most of the extra cost back when you come to sell anyway.

[EGTE]

Is there an easy way to determine if you've got the CR box, or not?

[Bibs]

 

[tim_marra]

IIRC, in the long box 6th is geared for 260+mph, close ratio brings it down to below 200

[andyj007]

 

a few months back

i made contact with the  technical director at factory re some info i discussed the uprated gearbox from serial number ****, basically they were not upgraded, but  gear set suppliers were changed as original suppliers could not  provide quantity  when qr became standard fit 

no difference in design/ detail or specification..

if anything was a manufacturing defect then it would be isolated to a very small number.. 

 

its a toyota gearbox, just get it repaired or get one of ebay should the need arise.

 

 

 

 

[EGTE]

Thanks, Bibs 👍

[AlistairFuller]

I have explored this topic with dealers and indeed there are a few clutch and gearbox issues.  I have a MY11 Evora S and there was a change to the clutch for later cars. Of course all these things will eventually wear out or break so driving with mechanical sympathy  will help longevity.  

Silverstone Lotus can do a good deal on new gearboxes from the factory should the worst happen, but they said they had only a few and I suspect in more heavily tracked cars.

Should the worst happen I know it will cost say c£6k for clutch and box which is way less than depreciation on a newer model.  

Drive smoothly!