A&Q about Lotus
Q:
The front of my Elise met up with a trailer hitch on a pickup truck in a parking lot. It appears the hitch impaled the front clip of my car. Fortunately, the headlight and turn signal assemblies were not damaged or scratched, but I fear the front clam is shot. The plastic grill was cracked, so I removed it. The tow hook attachment was not damaged and since the impact was minimal in force, there isn't any frame damage or injury to vital structures or components in the front of the car. I am attaching a picture.
Basically, I am looking at replacing the front clam, center grill, front Lotus badge, and starsheild. I know I am not the first to run into this type of problem and I also know I can rely on you Elisetalk members for information. How much do you think repairs are going to be to replace the damaged components?
A:
DEAN - NOOOOOOOOOO, Fvck... I have a great shop here in Orlando that does alot of fiberglass restorations and ground up builds or I know Dave Eldridge in Sarasota (Eldridge bodyshop) but for anything Fiberglass I would take it to Pro Street Customs here in Orlando. 407 291-3331 Tell Bob that you are a friend of Nick's
A:
Try to save the clam. Otherwise figure 4k or so with no other damage.
But I think you can save it
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My guess is around $10K with a stock clam.
A:
Originally Posted by Rugbyduck
My guess is around $10K with a stock clam.
At least. Lotus policy is to replace the clam when the damage is above the center intake. The clam IS a torsion body. It flexes in a very specific way, unlike, say, an old corvette. I'd be wary of settling on a repair which may undo itself down the road.
Also, the clam should come off and the crash structure should be examined for damage.
My .02 - Take it to a qualified shop for inspection.
A:
Originally Posted by Serebo1
At least. Lotus policy is to replace the clam when the damage is above the center intake. The clam IS a torsion body. It flexes in a very specific way, unlike, say, an old corvette. I'd be wary of settling on a repair which may undo itself down the road.
Also, the clam should come off and the crash structure should be examined for damage.
My .02 - Take it to a qualified shop for inspection.
+1
And...
- the clam also functions as an additional crash structure.
- it's very easy to damage the underlying (black) crash structure due to the shape of the leading edge.
Best of luck!
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My car was backed into by a Honda Accord at approximately THREE miles per hour. Dead center, right below the badge. New crash structure was required.
xtn
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My '05 is in the shop right now. It had less visible damage than does yours. The total tab for my car is about $7.5k for the front clam, StarShield, grill, labor & paint.
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As others have said, repairing the stock ELISE clam isn't much of an option. Most sources will tell you that cracks will show themselves down the road. You can however repair an exige clam since it's "real fiberglass"... Much thicker and more substantial piece. On that note, it also is about 250% more expensive for the parts. Labor should be about the same though...
Dad always told me that if the labor is the same, always buy the best parts you can...
another 2 pennies for the jar.
Best,
Phil
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My (uneducated) estimate: $3000 in parts, $3000 in paint and labor.
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My ex-wife backed into mine. I had it fixed at Dimmitt. Including starshield, it was about $5300. The only thing I didn't have was damage to the grille or the badge, which I am sure is not all that costly.
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I don't know where you guys are getting your work done to come up with such high prices. I went to HRM- had my front clam replaced and painted, my crash structure fixed, my oil cooler replaced($700 part), a couple of under clam parts replaced and my ac unit replaced(also $1k) for a grand total of $7,000. That was with NO haggling on my part.
Actually if you look at the cost of the parts and the hours involved it makes sense. My guess is that a lot of shops want to charge 'exotic' prices just because they feel they can.
Also, like I said, fibreglass is fixable. If nothing under the clam is damaged (and that is a big IF)you might get away with a cosmetic repair. As for the clam being part of the crash structure.....given the fact that it can't take a 3mph impact what use is it in reality.
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My repair is about $13K and one month so far (plus rental car at $40 per day, diminished value, etc). No crash structure damage at all, purlely cosmetic. I lost the headlight too. Pics can be found under some kind of title with CO and suburban in it.
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I'm having my front clam repaced right now because my wife backed into it. Clam + paint + starsheild + blending paint with door panels and access panels up front right at $6500 total cost.
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Thank you to everyone who replied with information and advice. That's why I love this site. I took my car into Dimmitt today for the Lotus technician and body shop manager to look over. No structural damage, no crash structure compromise, no damage to lighting or cooling system, only cosmetic damage fortunately. It appears as if the trailer hitch impaled the fiberglass and ripped it up, sparing anything vital. They gave me a quote on replacing the front clam for the repair as well as a quote for repairing the fiberglass. There was about a $3000 difference between the two and the bodyshop manager and Lotus tech felt the front clam didn't need to be replaced. I am going to take their advice and have the area patched and repaired. It is still going to set me back into the low $3000 range to get it all fixed, but I am glad the damage was not worse. It is refreshing to have a bodyshop recommend taking the less expensive route for repair. I have always been happy with the Dimmitt Lotus dealership.
Thanks again for everyone's help and I will let you all know how the repairs go with the final out the door cost.
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It's expensive because you have to harvest it:
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Here's an update. Talked with the Lotus service manager today and got bad news about trying to repair/patch the fiberglass of my clam. They were unable to save it, so I will need to replace the front clam. That basically doubles the repair costs into the low $6000 range, which was very close to your predictions. At least the clam replacement will make it as good as new as possible.
At this point, all I want to do is get my car back soon so I don't have to drive around in my minivan.
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Out of curiosity, did they say why it could not be repaired? I'm not doubting them, just trying to learn what some of the problems may be for those who try to do repair work like that.
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Same thing happened to me. Cost 23k to replace at Cars Dawydiak.
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Dean, see if you can get the clam and take it to my buddy's shop to let him have a look at it! They build custom rod's from the ground up and are experts at Fiberglass - At the very least you can have an extra clam
I think it's BS that it is difficult to fix, they have been doing Vette's for years! Granted, I am glad you are getting a new one for your baby but this whole thing about our clams being difficult to fix just boggles me...