There are 1 stored owner reports matching the brakes leading-label group for the 2009 Lotus Elise in our NHTSA-sourced dataset. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
This group counts stored reports whose component label starts with one of this site's matching prefixes, ignoring case. Each matching report counts once within the group. Components mentioned later in the label or only in the narrative are not searched. How component counts work
Loaded 1 of 1 matching reports.
Open the full vehicle complaint log (all categories)MOMENTARY BRAKE FAILURE YESTERDAY. THIS HAPPENED TO MY WIFE. SHE'S COMMUTED WITH THE CAR TO WORK 3 TIMES A WEEK, 90 MILES ROUND TRIP FOR 7+ MONTHS, LOGGING MANY THOUSANDS OF MILES, AND MUCH MORE THAN I HAVE. ALSO SHE HAS BEEN DRIVING STICK FOR 17 YEARS, AND ROUTINELY DRIVES SPORTS CARS (MINI COOPER S, Z3). 70 MPH (IN 70 ZONE) CRUISING IN #2 LANE REASONABLE FOLLOWING DISTANCE. TRAFFIC AHEAD BEGINS TO SLOW QUICKLY. APPLIED BRAKE. NOTHING. BELIEVE PEDAL DID NOT TRAVEL ALL THE WAY TO FLOOR. CHANGED TO #3 LANE TO AVOID COLLISION WITH CAR IN FRONT. REAPPLIED BRAKE. NOTHING. CHANGED TO #4 LANE. TRIED MOVING FOOT OVER IN CASE WRONG PEDAL WAS BEING PUSHED, AND THROTTLE REVVED CONFIRMING SHE HAD BEEN APPLYING BRAKE PEDAL. APPLIED BRAKE A THIRD TIME, AND IT WORKED CORRECTLY, AS IF THERE HAD NEVER BEEN A PROBLEM. I CHECKED FLUID IN RESERVOIR (FULL, COLOR VERY CLEAR, LAST CHANGED 9 MONTHS AGO WITH MOTUL 5.1 SYNTHETIC FLUID(NOT 5, NOT SILICON)). FRONT PADS WERE CHANGED 1 MONTH ~800+ MILES AGO. SHE CAN'T BE POSITIVE THAT THERE WAS ZERO BRAKING EFFECT, BUT SHE WAS VERY SURE THAT THE BRAKES WERE NOT WORKING IN THEIR NORMAL FASHION. AT NO TIME DURING HER HARD BRAKE PRESSURE DID THE ABS GIVE THE PULSING SENSATION IN THE PEDAL. NO IDIOT LIGHTS FOR BRAKES OR ABS CAME ON. DEALERSHIP TOOK THE REPORT SERIOUSLY, BUT WAS UNABLE TO REPLICATE OR FIND ANY FAILED COMPONENT OR THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE. *TR
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
NHTSA source checks for this vehicle year
Checks are recorded separately for each dataset, not for the whole page. Dates use UTC. A missing check date does not mean no records exist.
Vehicle import recorded: Sep 8, 2026. This is the stored import date, not confirmation that every source was successfully refreshed.