I may be joining this thread soon, depressingly. I really, really, really wanted this to be at least a neutral experience and I have waited for a little under 2 years already. Between spending years 25 and 26 of my life not being able to drive a nice car, constant concerns about breakdowns and tows to the dealership, long wait times at the dealer for parts, underwhelming Dyno and 0-60 results (even for a guy who doesn't particularly care about those things, it has been a bit of a let down), an 11k price hike, and extreme lack of communication from corporate. A huge factor for me in particular is the repeated breakdowns... the US is a large country and it is not unheard of for me to drive 2 consecutive 12 hour days when travelling.
This was my first introduction into the realm of high performance vehicles, and it has been a pretty shocking let down how the customers have been treated. I have loved Lotus as a brand and always cheered for the underdog since I was a kid, but the reality is if any other car brand behaved this way I would have been out long ago. I am genuinely saddened, and I hate to say I understand why they are the underdog, and they may deserve it.
I am keeping my deposit in and will probably start looking for pre-owned R8 V10 manuals (gen 1), but if I manage to find one that is a reasonable price and moderately low miles, I will lock it in and pull my Emira deposit.
Truly, the only positive part of this experience has been the 20 minute test drive and learning from people on the forum. So I am around still, but likely not for too much longer.