Selling a dead or junk Lotus

Below: the five Lotus nameplates on this site and when each was sold, what owners have reported to NHTSA about them, and how a sale works when the car is parked for good.

Five nameplates, four decades

The EPA's fuel economy list carries Lotus from the 1984 model year through 2027. Five models have pages here, and their runs barely overlap:

• Esprit, 1984-2004. The longest run of the five, twenty-one model years.
• Elan, 1991-1993. Three model years, inside the Esprit's run.
• Elise, 2005-2011. It arrived the year after the Esprit's last.
• Evora, 2010-2021. It overlapped the Elise by two years, then carried on alone.
• Emira, 2024-2027. The newest, and the only one of the five still on sale.

So for most years in the list, a US buyer had one or two of these Lotus models to choose from. The years are model years, and the newest ones are still filling in.

Complaints owners filed with NHTSA

Here is how many complaints Lotus owners had sent the federal safety agency about each model when we pulled NHTSA's file on October 10, 2026.

The Elise draws the most by a wide margin: more than the other four models put together. Each one is an owner's report; NHTSA has not ruled on it, and a tally like this does not score how dependable a car is. Every count here is small, because Lotus builds cars in small numbers. The Emira's single complaint says little either way. It dates only from the 2024 model year, so its owners have had a short window to write in, far shorter than an Elise owner has had. The Esprit's 3 cover a car that left the list more than twenty years ago, from a time when far fewer owners filed online.

Selling a Lotus that will not move

A dead Lotus gets bought complete. You do not pull the engine, the wheels or the seats first.

1. Note which Lotus it is, its year and the odometer figure.
2. Describe its state: dead battery, seized engine, cracked fiberglass, a missing top, flat tires, whatever applies.
3. Check who the title names. If you cannot find the title, start with selling a junk car with no title.
4. Give the spot: a home garage, a storage unit, a carport, the shop that last worked on it.

A two-seater left parked under a tarp for a decade is a common case. Our guide to a car that has sat for years covers what tends to go wrong, and selling an old project car covers a half-finished build. The truck comes to the car, and pickup is free anywhere in the US. Afterwards, handle the plates and the paperwork.

Rather talk to someone? Call (877) 421-6008.

Every Lotus model on this site