CAWood
Active member
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2023
- Messages
- 40
- Reaction score
- 91
- Location
- Staffordshire/Cheshire
- Emira Status
- Emira Owner
Well, after almost 2 years of waiting, I finally collected my Emira from Hethel. Now before I get into the details and opinions of the car, I just want to give a little backstory to my buying journey.
This is the first car I have ever bought myself (been named driver on other cars in the past) and therefore the first car I have ordered from new, and I cannot say it has been the experience I had hoped it to be. First of all, the wait for the car, which of course we have all had to do, and some still are. Then there is the lack of communication from Lotus, which I know a lot of people have experienced too. There were a few things that, had I not chased them up about, I feel like I would never have taken delivery of the car
When Lotus first called me up to let me know my car was ready for collection, they had previously failed to let me know that my finance application was declined, so they wanted me to collect a car that they wouldnât let me pay for. So the car sat for about a month before I actually was able to collect itâŚ
Fast forward to collection day at Hethel. I made the journey down the night before which was around 4hrs drive, and stayed in a hotel nearby. I was booked in for AM collection, naturally I was up bright and early, in fact I hardly slept at all due to excitement. In the morning, we had the factory tour, plus an apparently rare tour of the F1 building (apologies for any FOMO) of which I will attach some pics. The tours were fantastic as Iâm sure those of you who have done the same will agree.
Moving on to the handover, which in itself is the best and worst part of this story. At this point, the finance lender I chose to fund the car, had not yet sent to funds to Lotus, which is last minute to say the least. Scott Walker was great, as he let us do the reveal and handover anyway. After waiting around for about 4hrs with the payment still not gone through, we found out that it had been sent to the wrong Lotus account. Ffs. So we decided to pack up shop stay in a hotel another night and try again tomorrow.
The next morning, the sun was shining and first thing I received an email from Scott saying it was all paid for and ready to go. Fantastic.
And what a car it is. It is, to echo a few on here, everything I had hoped for and so, so much more. Where to even start. The thing looks absolutely stunning in the metal, and I couldnât be happier with my spec. The presence it has both outside and from the inside looking out while driving, is immense. The build quality took me by surprise too, and for reference I am coming out of a Porsche 718 Cayman GTS. Naturally then, I was curious of the auto box I had opted for. So far, IMO it is great, yes not as sharp as the PDK, but for me it is more than enough and as stated in another thread, SO much fun! I could go on and on about the car, the noise it makes, the infotainment, the steering wheel, but I just love it all. And Iâm sorry to make this write up so long, but I just wanted (again to echo a few here) to really get my opinions across and actually spread some positivity on the forum, because I just love this car. So many people waving and giving a thumbs up, it also gives others joy. I have driven a few cars to compare to (2x Cayman, 488 Pista, Portofino M) and id take Emira in a heartbeat. As youâll see in the pics, when I parked next to the SF90, I honestly thought to myself, Iâd take the Emira any day of the week. And Iâll leave you with that, thanks for reading.
This is the first car I have ever bought myself (been named driver on other cars in the past) and therefore the first car I have ordered from new, and I cannot say it has been the experience I had hoped it to be. First of all, the wait for the car, which of course we have all had to do, and some still are. Then there is the lack of communication from Lotus, which I know a lot of people have experienced too. There were a few things that, had I not chased them up about, I feel like I would never have taken delivery of the car
When Lotus first called me up to let me know my car was ready for collection, they had previously failed to let me know that my finance application was declined, so they wanted me to collect a car that they wouldnât let me pay for. So the car sat for about a month before I actually was able to collect itâŚFast forward to collection day at Hethel. I made the journey down the night before which was around 4hrs drive, and stayed in a hotel nearby. I was booked in for AM collection, naturally I was up bright and early, in fact I hardly slept at all due to excitement. In the morning, we had the factory tour, plus an apparently rare tour of the F1 building (apologies for any FOMO) of which I will attach some pics. The tours were fantastic as Iâm sure those of you who have done the same will agree.
Moving on to the handover, which in itself is the best and worst part of this story. At this point, the finance lender I chose to fund the car, had not yet sent to funds to Lotus, which is last minute to say the least. Scott Walker was great, as he let us do the reveal and handover anyway. After waiting around for about 4hrs with the payment still not gone through, we found out that it had been sent to the wrong Lotus account. Ffs. So we decided to pack up shop stay in a hotel another night and try again tomorrow.
The next morning, the sun was shining and first thing I received an email from Scott saying it was all paid for and ready to go. Fantastic.
And what a car it is. It is, to echo a few on here, everything I had hoped for and so, so much more. Where to even start. The thing looks absolutely stunning in the metal, and I couldnât be happier with my spec. The presence it has both outside and from the inside looking out while driving, is immense. The build quality took me by surprise too, and for reference I am coming out of a Porsche 718 Cayman GTS. Naturally then, I was curious of the auto box I had opted for. So far, IMO it is great, yes not as sharp as the PDK, but for me it is more than enough and as stated in another thread, SO much fun! I could go on and on about the car, the noise it makes, the infotainment, the steering wheel, but I just love it all. And Iâm sorry to make this write up so long, but I just wanted (again to echo a few here) to really get my opinions across and actually spread some positivity on the forum, because I just love this car. So many people waving and giving a thumbs up, it also gives others joy. I have driven a few cars to compare to (2x Cayman, 488 Pista, Portofino M) and id take Emira in a heartbeat. As youâll see in the pics, when I parked next to the SF90, I honestly thought to myself, Iâd take the Emira any day of the week. And Iâll leave you with that, thanks for reading.
would like to give it a proper go now it is run in but now I am wary. Car is going in soon to have front bumper issue sorted and an update, hopefully this is just software related and not an actual issue. 
