1998 Lotus Elise: MOT pass rate and reliability

84.4% of 1998 Lotus Elises pass the MOT first time, measured across 601 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 62,408 miles.

How the 1998 compares

  • Against all Lotus Elises (87.9%, 4,931 tests): -3.5 points
  • Against all 1998 cars (70%): +14.4 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Lotus Elise model year

Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 1998 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Lotus Elise:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
1997 79.1% 215 56,154
1998 84.4% 601 62,408
1999 87.1% 626 59,533
2000 85.2% 473 54,282
2001 88% 258 53,485
2002 87.8% 403 51,657
2003 87.6% 283 56,918
2004 87.2% 227 53,793
2005 92.1% 240 51,171
2006 88.2% 229 46,852
2007 89.2% 213 46,388

What this means if you are buying a 1998 Elise

The 1998 is a weaker year for this model, passing 3.5 points less often than the Lotus Elise average. Some of that is simply age, so compare it against the 1998 figure for all cars above rather than against newer examples. Check the exact car with the free MOT history checker before you buy, and run its VIN and mileage through our free VIN decoder and clocking check.

What a 28-year-old car fails on

A 1998 car is 28 years old now, and age drives the failure mix more than the badge does. Across all cars tested, these are the categories that actually cause failures:

  • Lights and electrical: 10.36% of all cars tested
  • Suspension: 8.65% of all cars tested
  • Tyres: 6.23% of all cars tested
  • Brakes: 6.1% of all cars tested
  • Visibility: wipers, washers, glass: 4.65% of all cars tested
  • Body, chassis and structure: 3.18% of all cars tested

That is around average, so condition and service history will tell you more than the odometer does. On a 1998 Lotus Elise the average at test was 62,408 miles, so treat anything far above that as a car that has worked harder than its peers, and anything far below as one worth checking for the faults that come from standing still.

The strongest year for this model is 2005 at 92.1%, and the weakest in our data is 1997 at 79.1%. That 13.0 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 1998 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All Lotus Elise MOT data · Every model