Checking in from the Pacific Northwest (USA)

[JonnyD72]

My curiosity is peeked! What an amazing looking car at a very reasonable price-point! I'm just dipping my toes in the pool (have yet to visit or talk to a dealership...coming soon), so bear with me. Lots of great info here, I must say. Without having to scrub every single thread, I was hoping to get a couple quick answers;

1. I'm trying to get a feel for the "1st Edition" and exactly what that means. Is it a low production run, limited to the first model year? How long will the 1st edition be available I guess, is what I'm asking. The natural follow up question wold be, once the 1st edition is done, what, if any, changes or differences will there be?

2. Also, for those in the US, are dealerships tacking on an ADM, or are most locking in at MSRP? I'm in between weekend cars at the moment (did an early trade @ a Porsche dealership on my '21 Boxster T) so I'm not really in a massive hurry. I can use that trade money however on my next daily driver when my Macan GTS lease is up in Jan of '24.

3. When you place a deposit at a dealership, do you have to have your engine option selected or do you have time (like you do with Porsche) to make build changes along the way until your allocation is locked for production?

I've got my initial build in mind.....just undecided on which engine to go with. I love manual transmissions (Boxster T was a manual) but I'm leaning heavily toward an auto this time. Paddle shifters for when I want to take the helm. The Dual Clutch in the i4 might be the road I travel as long as it's not too inferior to the V6 and all it has to offer (HP, sound, etc.)

Anyway, just wanted to say hello and hopefully get a couple questions answered.....build pic below

Shadow Grey
Black Pack
Red Leather
Alcantara Steering Wheel (Red Stitch)
Black Wheels
Black Calipers
Sport Suspension
Goodyear Eagle F1's
Homelink

 

[Cachaco131]

Welcome! Nice spec.

1. Yes, limited run and fully allocated already in the US. But you'll likely be able to spec a Base car like a FE but at some premium.

2. No, most are agreeing to MSRP ( here in CA at least).

3. Yes, from what I recall

Suggestion: Stay positive, understand it's a new car with issues being sorted, acknowledge Lotus is a minuscule manufacturer, don't pay much attention to certain folks that focus on the negatives.

 

[Concept24]

Hello, Jonny.
I was told that if I selected an I4 version, I would most likely get the car sooner than if I selected the V6. However, I did find some youtubers with the same engine-equipped Mercedes, who spoke about boost failures. And since I am 80 miles from the closest dealership, I would like to minimize any reliability concerns. Of course, since my order is not due until at lease the 4th quarter of 2024, I've got plenty of time to change my initial selection of V6 with manual.

 

[JonnyD72]

Hello, Jonny.
I was told that if I selected an I4 version, I would most likely get the car sooner than if I selected the V6. However, I did find some youtubers with the same engine-equipped Mercedes, who spoke about boost failures. And since I am 80 miles from the closest dealership, I would like to minimize any reliability concerns. Of course, since my order is not due until at lease the 4th quarter of 2024, I've got plenty of time to change my initial selection of V6 with manual.

Appreciate the insight.

When you say your order is not due until the 4th quarter of 2024, what exactly does that mean? Will it still be a "First Edition"?

Also, when you placed your deposit (assuming that's what you did) were you forced to make an engine selection? If so, would changing your selection at any given time negate your place in line? In other words, if you initially selected an i4 and then you decided to move to the V6, would you have to go to the back of the line of the V6 wait-list?

I'm assuming allocations at dealerships are in two separate buckets. One for the i4, and one for the V6, and are not a flex buckets? What I mean by flex bucket is, when an allocation becomes avalable to build, you can either select the i4 or the V6 for that specific build slot.

 

[MPD]

Welcome. If you just spend countless hours reading through all the posts then it will keep you entertained for awhile )))) There are 700 FEs allocated to NA and those already done as orders had to be placed 1H2022. Due to be delivered .... soon, sometime in 2023 .... hopefully.

It seems every dealer does things differently so you will have to talk to whomever you plan to work with but most put you on the i4 or v6 list but I recall at least one dealer that just a single master list to go down and ask people what they wanted.

Are there ADMs .... also depends but the top dealerships are not doing that, just MSRP

Also note that different dealerships also require different $$ for deposit. I think most are now $5k now and then some additional amount once actual order goes in.

Good luck but I suspect you are looking at mid-late '24 unless they get things cranking which hasn't happened yet.

 

[Concept24]

Appreciate the insight.

When you say your order is not due until the 4th quarter of 2024, what exactly does that mean? Will it still be a "First Edition"?

Also, when you placed your deposit (assuming that's what you did) were you forced to make an engine selection? If so, would changing your selection at any given time negate your place in line? In other words, if you initially selected an i4 and then you decided to move to the V6, would you have to go to the back of the line of the V6 wait-list?

I'm assuming allocations at dealerships are in two separate buckets. One for the i4, and one for the V6, and are not a flex buckets? What I mean by flex bucket is, when an allocation becomes avalable to build, you can either select the i4 or the V6 for that specific build slot.

First edition slots have long since been filled. I placed a deposit of $3000, over a month ago, and at the time the estimated delivery would be 18-20 months. However, it looks like 2025 is more likely.
Since there are far more V6 orders (after the first edition allocations were booked) than i4s, those who initially choose the i4, according to my salesperson, would most likely receive their Emiras, earlier. So it does look like my dealership has two buckets. At the time I can "build" my slot, some number of months before delivery, my choices will be "locked in".
At least that's the way I understood things, just before transferring the deposit, which is fully refundable.

 

[JonnyD72]

First edition slots have long since been filled. I placed a deposit of $3000, over a month ago, and at the time the estimated delivery would be 18-20 months. However, it looks like 2025 is more likely.
Since there are far more V6 orders (after the first edition allocations were booked) than i4s, those who initially choose the i4, according to my salesperson, would most likely receive their Emiras, earlier. So it does look like my dealership has two buckets. At the time I can "build" my slot, some number of months before delivery, my choices will be "locked in".
At least that's the way I understood things, just before transferring the deposit, which is fully refundable.

Got it. So, from what I gather, you're on a wait-list for a V6, however, it won't be a First Edition and you basically have no idea at this point at least, what options will be available (more than likely a base that you can option)? Did your dealer tell you what that might look like now that the "First Edition" allocations are all taken? I've seen info that they are expanding the color pallet as well.

Does your dealer have a demo to look at/test drive?

 

[digilotus]

Hi @JonnyD72 , welcome to the forum!

Great spec choice! Similar to mine (Shadow with Red leather) so great taste I must say.

 

[OneThreeOne]

Welcome Jonny!
Where in the PNW are you located?

 

[JonnyD72]

Welcome Jonny!
Where in the PNW are you located?

 

[4MIR3]

View attachment 22096

My bad... viewing via iPhone... doesn't preview locations.

 

[Concept24]

Got it. So, from what I gather, you're on a wait-list for a V6, however, it won't be a First Edition and you basically have no idea at this point at least, what options will be available (more than likely a base that you can option)? Did your dealer tell you what that might look like now that the "First Edition" allocations are all taken? I've seen info that they are expanding the color pallet as well.

Does your dealer have a demo to look at/test drive?

Yes, my perception is that the base model and options (similar to what are included in the first edition cars) will be available to select when I am notified by the dealership Sales M anager with whom I have so-far communicated.
There are said to be seven additional colors, including white, black, some kind of vivid red, and four others. There is a list floating around, but no definitive color pallette.
The Sales Manager told me upon initial contact that the dealership is expecting to have their own test-driver Emira in March or April. I believe that most or all dealerships had borrowed Emiras, last year. At the time, I was unaware that they were offering test drives.

 

[TomE]

Hi and welcome to the forum, great spec!

For North America, dealers pitch for an allocation of cars each year so most will only know exactly how many they have for 2023 and can only give an approximation for 2024 onwards. All dealers are sold out on 2023 and V6 First Editions. Different dealers have different sized queues, so you might find your nearest dealer has a queue to end 2024 and another might be well into 2025. Roughly speaking, the queue is about 18-22 months for a deposit placed today. Many dealers will commit to selling at MSRP when you pay your deposit and if they don't mention it then it's worth asking for that assurance. Mark ups have been applied by some and I suspect any cancelled FE orders will be sold with mark ups to anyone who is prepared to pay more to jump the line.

It will be possible to option-up a Base Edition to the same spec as First Edition, apart from the FE badges, but it will be at a premium of maybe $3-5k like for like. You can get an idea of the differences on the Lotus website, where the Base Edition base spec and First Edition full spec and options are listed - you can assume that anything listed as FE-only will be an option on the Base. There will be 7 extra colours available for Base. I'm expecting the Base/options info to be published in Q2.

So far Lotus have been asking people to finalise and lock in spec about 6 months before build date, but that may shorten if supply chains improve.

 

[dgrace]

Welcome! If you’re buying from Bellevue the 40 FEs they were allocated were sold out by July 10 2021, and none have been built yet as far as anyone can tell. Given that the orders have been locked in for so long, there’s a good chance some will be up for sale immediately following delivery. Last I heard the deposit list was up around 200.

 

[KaizokuCoder]

If you’re buying from Bellevue the 40 FEs they were allocated were sold out by July 10 2021...

I am in that group of 40 at Bellevue and I think a few others on the board are as well. Welcome @JonnyD72! We should have quite a group in the greater Seattle area once they start shipping.

 

[Eagle7]

Welcome to the forum Jonny. Park Place Lotus in Bellevue Washington is close to you, and they should have a drivable demo car sometime in the next few months. To place a deposit with them, they require a $5,000 deposit which is refundable, and if you decide to turn that into an actual order, when you do that they want an additional $10,000 which is added to the 5, and that total amount is not refundable. They do not add an ADM, they sell at MSRP. Alan Grana is the salesman I placed my order with there, and he's been great. If you happen to meet him at the dealership, he's a good guy to deal with.

The First Edition (FE) was the launch spec that included virtually all the options you could get on the car. It was a special price. As others have stated, those were all sold almost immediately. You had to place your order within the first week of the car's debut to get an FE allocation, and even then that depended on which dealer you placed your deposit with.

Lotus originally had allocated 700 FE's to North America, with approximately 500 of those being for the U.S. Those could be with either the V6 or the i4. Those were divided up among the 40 dealers in the country. Park Place is the 2nd biggest dealer in the country, and they were originally allocated 45 cars, although now some are saying 40 for some reason. I'm not sure which is more accurate, but either way all their cars are already accounted for. Last year Lotus met with the dealers from North America and announced they were increasing the allocation for North America to 1,900 cars for the next production run (the FE is the first production run). That will however, depend on their ability to get early manufacturing issues sorted out, and start producing cars at the rate they originally said they would.

The FE is simply the base model with all the options at a special bundle price. You should be able to order a base model and add all the options yourself, but it will be more than the FE, so for the U.S. I would expect a do-it-yourself bundle to be over $100k. The FE is about $94k, but that was with the original pricing before inflation had hit. We're expecting a price bump of some kind for new orders, but Lotus hasn't said anything about that yet.

 

[4MIR3]

Lotus originally had allocated 700 FE's to North America, with approximately 500 of those being for the U.S. Those could be with either the V6 or the i4. Those were divided up among the 140 dealers in the country.

According to Lotus... there is only 41 dealers for all North America... target to be 50 by 2025.

 

[Eagle7]

According to Lotus... there is only 41 dealers for all North America... target to be 50 by 2025.

Hah! I swear sometimes I think I'm typing one thing and later it's not what I thought I typed. Don't know if I did that or auto-correct did it. 40 not 140 was what I wanted. I know they're adding dealerships. Supposedly Reno, NV is getting one and there wasn't one there before. The only 2 that were serving the entire pacific northwest was Park Place in Bellevue, up in the northwest corner of Washington, and Las Vegas at the bottom of Nevada. Adding one in Reno is a slight improvement, but they still need one in at least Salt Lake City Utah, and probably Boise, Idaho. They should have at least one in every state if they want to have even halfway decent customer support coverage.

 

[JonnyD72]

Welcome to the forum Jonny. Park Place Lotus in Bellevue Washington is close to you, and they should have a drivable demo car sometime in the next few months. To place a deposit with them, they require a $5,000 deposit which is refundable, and if you decide to turn that into an actual order, when you do that they want an additional $10,000 which is added to the 5, and that total amount is not refundable. They do not add an ADM, they sell at MSRP. Alan Grana is the salesman I placed my order with there, and he's been great. If you happen to meet him at the dealership, he's a good guy to deal with.

The First Edition (FE) was the launch spec that included virtually all the options you could get on the car. It was a special price. As others have stated, those were all sold almost immediately. You had to place your order within the first week of the car's debut to get an FE allocation, and even then that depended on which dealer you placed your deposit with.

Lotus originally had allocated 700 FE's to North America, with approximately 500 of those being for the U.S. Those could be with either the V6 or the i4. Those were divided up among the 40 dealers in the country. Park Place is the 2nd biggest dealer in the country, and they were originally allocated 45 cars, although now some are saying 40 for some reason. I'm not sure which is more accurate, but either way all their cars are already accounted for. Last year Lotus met with the dealers from North America and announced they were increasing the allocation for North America to 1,900 cars for the next production run (the FE is the first production run). That will however, depend on their ability to get early manufacturing issues sorted out, and start producing cars at the rate they originally said they would.

The FE is simply the base model with all the options at a special bundle price. You should be able to order a base model and add all the options yourself, but it will be more than the FE, so for the U.S. I would expect a do-it-yourself bundle to be over $100k. The FE is about $94k, but that was with the original pricing before inflation had hit. We're expecting a price bump of some kind for new orders, but Lotus hasn't said anything about that yet.

Thank you for the detailed response. Exactly what I was looking for.....

 

[dgrace]

BTW I think Eagle’s right, it was 45 FE’s, sorry!