Decided Against Elio

[JEBar]

Same boat . Wife has only seen pictures and is convinced it's not safe for her use . I really can't use it daily and was hoping to spend $7k on the purchase , drop a few hundo on Insurance and fill up 2x per month for her limited use . It's going to be a struggle but there will be an Elio in the driveway .......damnit

hopefully once she sees it, up close and personal, for a while, she will be willing to give it a try

 

[Coss]

Same boat . Wife has only seen pictures and is convinced it's not safe for her use . I really can't use it daily and was hoping to spend $7k on the purchase , drop a few hundo on Insurance and fill up 2x per month for her limited use . It's going to be a struggle but there will be an Elio in the driveway .......damnit

There may be a Elio in your driveway; let's hope you don't have to end up sleeping in it

 

[lnwlf40]

There may be a Elio in your driveway; let's hope you don't have to end up sleeping in it

Good point. Just got a really stupid Idea.......... kinda-looks like a mini pod camper (in a way), wonder if a 6 ft guy could lay out flat if the seat was able to fold down completely? And no I don't have any teenagers.

 

[ecdriver711]

Well lets face it, no one car is for everyone.

 

[Mike W]

Yeah,it's always been that way with cars. Not everyone likes or can afford every car. The Elio is no different, even though it may fall generally in the Model T category (revolutionary in design and in its business model) there are still a lot of others to choose from. Some cars promise traction in snow/rough terrain, some luxury, some capacity, some all three and more. It's one car among many on the market, although it's perceived uniqueness gives it a leg up.

 

[Lil4X]

Over 18 months of delays and new "estimates" of production starts haven't discouraged me, but reality dictates I have to find a new car soon - I can no longer wait on my Elio. There are now plenty of good used cars coming off lease and out of rental fleets that will return decent, if not spectacular mileage, and can serve as both a commuter car and a family car while reducing the old beater to "occasional" or "secondary" status.

It's sad, I really wanted an early production Elio, but circumstances, including the prospect of a new job far across town, are demanding I have reliable transportation sooner, rather than later - maybe MUCH later. I'll probably delay my Elio purchase now for a year or so after production begins - and I've had an opportunity to drive, if not just sit in one. We have a huge local population of some six and a half million just in the Houston/Woodlands/Sugar Land area alone, most of whom can be found on Houston's freeways at rush hour - and I'll never understand why EM has made NO effort to market here, but that's out of my hands and is no longer my concern.

Someday I'll have an Elio, but not today . . . or tomorrow.

Evening rush hour, Houston's I-10 West . . . the Katy Freeway, widest in Texas . . . still not an Elio market . . . .

 

[Ty]

My wife doesn't get-it either. At this point she's taking my word for it.
Hard to convince her that size doesn't mater. It's the accident rate, and injury rate that matters. But that's only available after a year+ of production.
Before that's it's crash testing results you rely on.

IMHO, I think one thing the Elio does better, while the view of the front is a bit narrow only at the top (still triggering an opposite driver's response), once an object clears the front wheels, there is less left to hit at the middle and back. I think this will mean some number of hits will become near misses instead, lowering that future accident rate just a bit.
Same goes for rear impact, there is still a good profile to view, but less to actually hit. So you know how when the freeway stops-dead, and cars dive for the shoulder or between lanes? The Elio will leave some extra space there, right?

Anyway, we'll all know for sure soon enough.

You actually brought up a couple of good accident points. I wonder how many of those "off center" accidents will basically kind of just push the Elio to the side. You'd be scraped all down the side from a rear collision but until they actually hit the front wheels, you won't feel much impact. Same from the front... If someone hits you slightly off center, there's a good chance they'll just shove the Elio to the side a bit and continue on past. In a dead center frontal strike though... Well, physics is physics. As they hit you, you'll have to decelerate (unless stopped) and then accelerate to the rear while they are decelerating (from the collision). It'll take more than a couple feet to make them stop and the Elio doesn't have a lot of mass to make that happen. While lower mass will mean that the Elio will slow in a hurry and begin accelerating to the rear, it won't be enough at any kind of speed differential. The Airbag will stop your head but it won't stop the grill of oncoming traffic. To be fair, most of those don't come out too good so the Elio really won't be much to blame there.

 

[Trusting]

Over 18 months of delays and new "estimates" of production starts haven't discouraged me, but reality dictates I have to find a new car soon - I can no longer wait on my Elio. There are now plenty of good used cars coming off lease and out of rental fleets that will return decent, if not spectacular mileage, and can serve as both a commuter car and a family car while reducing the old beater to "occasional" or "secondary" status.

It's sad, I really wanted an early production Elio, but circumstances, including the prospect of a new job far across town, are demanding I have reliable transportation sooner, rather than later - maybe MUCH later. I'll probably delay my Elio purchase now for a year or so after production begins - and I've had an opportunity to drive, if not just sit in one. We have a huge local population of some six and a half million just in the Houston/Woodlands/Sugar Land area alone, most of whom can be found on Houston's freeways at rush hour - and I'll never understand why EM has made NO effort to market here, but that's out of my hands and is no longer my concern.

Someday I'll have an Elio, but not today . . . or tomorrow.

Evening rush hour, Houston's I-10 West . . . the Katy Freeway, widest in Texas . . . still not an Elio market . . . .

You remarks about the picture are "almost" correct. Actually it's the widest stretch of freeway in the world. Houston is the forth largest city in the country with estimates it will become third in less than 10 years. The main growth is toward the west where this pic was taken. The more people who move there, the more they enlarge I-10, so more people move there, etc. etc. A viscous cycle. I live only about 5 minutes from where this pic was taken and I can tell you you don't want to be on it from 4 to 7pm on a weekday.... My Elio will run this stretch 2 or 3 times a week.

 

[Jeff Porter]

Proceed with caution on older Caddys. My son's last car was a one owner , low mileage , mint condition 2001 Seville STS . $4000. Literally perfect luxury in and out . Head gaskets on the NorthStar engine are notoriously sketchy . Because the heads are held on with studs, replacement gasket is approximately $3000 . Drove it as-is and eventually traded in for a new Jeep .

Yep, I hear ya, that's exactly what's up with my 2000 Deville. It's more the replacing of the stud threads, it was explained to me that the heating and cooling of the engine several thousand times makes those threads lose their bite. They have to be drilled out and replaced. Ugh.

It overheats when outside temp is above 70 and driving on the highway. Turn on heater, and engine temp goes back down. I've been quoted a price of between $3500 and $4500. Ain't happen'.

I will try to sell it and fully disclose the problems with it, otherwise will sell for parts or to an iron business.

 

[W. WIllie]

Sounds like a "cooling" problem. The heater core will give you extra cooling area. Start with the basics before abandoning.

Willie