[fragdude]

Originally Posted by spine911

There are 2 major things(Good &Bad) to consider when you are in the market for an Elise...The Good(probably the best) part is the Toyota engine which delivers in reliability, durability, performance, cost maintenance (not everything that is cheap/er has poor performance ....). The Bad (for some it is good because of the lightweight factor) is the carbon fiber body, most Elises that ive'd seen that suffered a significant (not major) damage is often given a Salvaged title by the insurance companies because of the high cost of body rebuilding.

http://autos.aol.com/cars-Lotus-Elise-2009/expert-review

The body is not made out of carbon fiber. Its a hand-laid specially made fiber glass, which is more expensive than your basic body parts, but not as expensive as carbon fiber.