Now $105k in the USA. I’m not seeing the value

[HotRide]

Yes I want a Lotus. I am still in. It's not the great deal it used to be, but I am still firmly in. However, at that price I could kick myself if an Emira variant comes out and I could have waited and for a little more got something better. Who am I kidding, I won't come close to reaching the limit on the Emira so I won't need more power or less weight. The next car I want is the Lotus/Alpine EV sports car.

I want new
Mid Engine
Manual
No C8 or Porsche's
No Budget for McLaren or other mid engine cars

Explore Miata young Skywalker. Supercharger or turbocharger... Let the force guide you!

 

[Pegasi]

Explore Miata young Skywalker. Supercharger or turbocharger... Let the force guide you!

I love Miatas and even considered getting one as a track car but no interest has a weekend car at this time. Doesn't check the mid engine box.

 

[LotusB]

What a joke. You guys are comparing a brand new car, of which there are no homologated copies in the US, to a bunch of "lightly used" cars? Just wait a few years and you'll get a "lightly used" Emira for less money as well. There's always a premium for buying new. Haven't you heard the old saying: a car loses 20% the minute you drive it off the lot? I know recent economic events make people think cars are a financial investment, but just wait. It's like buying a house: it's a lifestyle investment, not always best financially.

 

[lion shf]

What a joke. You guys are comparing a brand new car, of which there are no homologated copies in the US, to a bunch of "lightly used" cars? Just wait a few years and you'll get a "lightly used" Emira for less money as well. There's always a premium for buying new. Haven't you heard the old saying: a car loses 20% the minute you drive it off the lot? I know recent economic events make people think cars are a financial investment, but just wait. It's like buying a house: it's a lifestyle investment, not always best financially.

You’d buy a 20k mile used Emira? Not me bro there must be a reason behind 3/36.

 

[VL3X]

You’d buy a 20k mile used Emira? Not me bro there must be a reason behind 3/36.

I can only imagine how painful warranty claims will be for owners, especially outside of the UK. One of my biggest fears concerning Emira ownership is something going wrong early on and it sitting at the dealer for months while Lotus drags their feet.

 

[lion shf]

I can only imagine how painful warranty claims will be for owners, especially outside of the UK. One of my biggest fears concerning Emira ownership is something going wrong early on and it sitting at the dealer for months while Lotus drags their feet.

I know main line would be there for me (us). That was a huge part of why I really wanted the car. At $80 I could keep the TT, at 105 I couldn’t, another consideration that pisses me off

 

[Pegasi]

I can only imagine how painful warranty claims will be for owners, especially outside of the UK. One of my biggest fears concerning Emira ownership is something going wrong early on and it sitting at the dealer for months while Lotus drags their feet.

Has then been the experience with Evora owners in the USA and outside of of the UK? Or are you referring to the existing Emira issues being on cars not being addressed in a timely fashion?

 

[~el~jefe~]

lotus can be your only car. it is the only sports car, true one, that is meant for crappy roads and environment, as well as built with edelbrock supercharger and a toyota engine and gearbox. An unusually tall clearance for snow. A super sticky suspension and flexible Lotus style as well.

That is meant to beat into submission and drive non-stop on regular crap NY roads

$105 is reasonable considering I bought a 718 T, 2023 model, fully spec'd properly for $101k.

This is worth $4k more or the same as what I ordered.

I do not know if i will be able to afford it at the exact time they ask me to deliver it, I cannot predict 20 years into the future very well

 

[lion shf]

lotus can be your only car. it is the only sports car, true one, that is meant for crappy roads and environment, as well as built with edelbrock supercharger and a toyota engine and gearbox. An unusually tall clearance for snow. A super sticky suspension and flexible Lotus style as well.

That is meant to beat into submission and drive non-stop on regular crap NY roads

$105 is reasonable considering I bought a 718 T, 2023 model, fully spec'd properly for $101k.

This is worth $4k more or the same as what I ordered.

I do not know if i will be able to afford it at the exact time they ask me to deliver it, I cannot predict 20 years into the future very well

My T build:

718 Boxster T | Porsche Car Configurator

configurator.porsche.com

funny I just finished before I read your post.

 

[~el~jefe~]

My T build:

718 Boxster T | Porsche Car Configurator

configurator.porsche.com

funny I just finished before I read your post.

I recommend, for a light nice build the following to be added:

extended fuel tank
clear tail lights

The clear tail lights will match the front lights and side markers. No red visible. If you can afford that bump, it will look cool.

extended fuel tank I am loving. i was on the fence about it. But I can drive 500 miles without filling up I mean, i can drive 500 miles, and not need to rush to get more gasoline. That's whacky in a fast car.

 

[lion shf]

Agree on tank don’t dig the 1980 lites
My fav part of your build is the goth girl (s)
and those seats …..sigh

 

[NicolasB]

The thing is, Porsche can charge what they want, Ferrari can charge with a lot, etc. Their order books will still be full and dealers will still be able to charge and markup on top of those high prices. There are enough wealthy people out there that continuously buy a new cars that this is not a problem for them. It's just like everything right now, like going to ski at Vail or Breckenridge without a season pass and it is $280 for one day of skiing. However, you go there and the place is packed and the lift lines are huge because they can still afford it. If they charge lower prices then their order books would be so overly full that they would have upset people not getting their orders on time.

You can either be like Walmart and sell a thousand of something for $10, or be like Nordstrom and sell 10 of something for $1,000. It's that much easier to have smaller production lines and less inventory, and you make a larger profit margin.

 

[VL3X]

I know main line would be there for me (us). That was a huge part of why I really wanted the car. At $80 I could keep the TT, at 105 I couldn’t, another consideration that pisses me off

RDS is a great dealer, but their sole Lotus tech is a Porsche tech who's currently training for Lotus double duty. That doesn't concern me as much as HQ being slow with official fixes, TSBs, recalls, etc... not to mention parts supply! If they aren't proactively communicating to paying customers and US dealers now when they want our money, how do you think it'll be once they already have our money? If it's anything like what's been going on in the UK, there will be lots of lemon law suits filed.

 

[VL3X]

Has then been the experience with Evora owners in the USA and outside of of the UK? Or are you referring to the existing Emira issues being on cars not being addressed in a timely fashion?

The late model Evoras are typically considered reliable. But I've heard horror stories about long down times when work is needed due to parts supply (not just since covid). The proven powertrain is something that attracted me to the Emira... thinking it'd be mostly worry free and cheap to fix if/when the time comes. But it certainly seems like nearly every owner who's active on these forums and social media has ran into issues.

 

[Hell4Leather]

The late model Evoras are typically considered reliable. But I've heard horror stories about long down times when work is needed due to parts supply (not just since covid). The proven powertrain is something that attracted me to the Emira... thinking it'd be mostly worry free and cheap to fix if/when the time comes. But it certainly seems like nearly every owner who's active on these forums and social media has ran into issues.

That’s why they’re actively posting. Half the people on the forums just come on to talk crap and don’t even have a car in order, have never owned a Lotus, or probably both.

 

[datfrog]

I was very much "in" until I saw this pricing news. For $110k+, along with my dealer experience, I'm more swayed back to a 911 Turbo.

There are a few reasons I never pre-ordered. First, I don't want to be part of the first rollout of any vehicle. Second, I refuse to put money down on a vehicle I won't see for 1.5+ years. Third, in the interim of that wait, it's likely Lotus will come out with additional trims, of which I'd likely prefer.

I drove the Emira demo car and it was an impressive vehicle, but I had a few concerns. The manual transmission feel was sub-par, as was the clutch, but it may have already been fried. The build quality seemed good overall, else wise, as did the paint. For ~$90k, it was a bit of a stretch for what it is, but I was still very interested and ready to buy. The obvious production issues made that impossible for the next ~2 years, so it's a moot point anyhow. I'm also someone who would rather wait for the different trims to be released (carbon roof, hood, etc), which are sure to come.

The overall dealer experience was pretty lacking. The dealer I went to was a combination Aston Martin dealer, but had various other Ferrari's and Lamborghini's in the showroom. Even so, the test drive situation was a mess and I didn't really feel like they cared much about me as a customer. I own VW's, Audi's, and Ducati's. All of those dealer experiences have been significantly better. Stepping into a Porsche showroom is an equally nice experience to Audi. I can go more into the dealer issues, but I don't really see a benefit in that.

 

[Balboa]

Would wire the money tonight + $10K ADM if one was available in the US

 

[LotusB]

I was very much "in" until I saw this pricing news. For $110k+, along with my dealer experience, I'm more swayed back to a 911 Turbo.

There are a few reasons I never pre-ordered. First, I don't want to be part of the first rollout of any vehicle. Second, I refuse to put money down on a vehicle I won't see for 1.5+ years. Third, in the interim of that wait, it's likely Lotus will come out with additional trims, of which I'd likely prefer.

I drove the Emira demo car and it was an impressive vehicle, but I had a few concerns. The manual transmission feel was sub-par, as was the clutch, but it may have already been fried. The build quality seemed good overall, else wise, as did the paint. For ~$90k, it was a bit of a stretch for what it is, but I was still very interested and ready to buy. The obvious production issues made that impossible for the next ~2 years, so it's a moot point anyhow. I'm also someone who would rather wait for the different trims to be released (carbon roof, hood, etc), which are sure to come.

The overall dealer experience was pretty lacking. The dealer I went to was a combination Aston Martin dealer, but had various other Ferrari's and Lamborghini's in the showroom. Even so, the test drive situation was a mess and I didn't really feel like they cared much about me as a customer. I own VW's, Audi's, and Ducati's. All of those dealer experiences have been significantly better. Stepping into a Porsche showroom is an equally nice experience to Audi. I can go more into the dealer issues, but I don't really see a benefit in that.

"Dealer experience?" LOL... who gives a shit? Salespeople are a means to an end. Once you sign on the dotted line, you don't see each other anymore. Even for the (hopefully rare) service you'll be dealing with different people or can take your car elsewhere.

I don't know that Lotus will come out with too many trims, considering they effectively have 5-years of production and this is going to be their last ICE car. They won't be investing much into the platform. Here's my prediction: First Edition 1.0 V6 this year, First Edition 2.0 V6 for a good part of next year, then they'll build the V6 base, meanwhile finally flaunting the I4 First Editions. Then a year more of base offerings of both engine configurations and we roll into 2027/2028 Final Editions. These cars may come with a few carbon fiber options (definitely not a roof, more like seats) and a token 10-20hp (revs will increase from 6800 to 7k). Custom colors will be available by that point as well.

Lastly, if pricing is a problem, just wait for the base model and get minimal upgrades - not like the car really needs the options of the First Edition. It'll look equally great without the KEF system, the "ultra-lightweight" wheels, nappa leather, 18-way adjustable seats, Alcantara roof liner, two-piece brakes, dimming mirrors, etc. etc. Used cars will be available as well, for those looking for a better deal.

 

[datfrog]

"Dealer experience?" LOL... who gives a shit? Salespeople are a means to an end. Once you sign on the dotted line, you don't see each other anymore. Even for the (hopefully rare) service you'll be dealing with different people or can take your car elsewhere.

I don't know that Lotus will come out with too many trims, considering they effectively have 5-years of production and this is going to be their last ICE car. They won't be investing much into the platform. Here's my prediction: First Edition 1.0 V6 this year, First Edition 2.0 V6 for a good part of next year, then they'll build the V6 base, meanwhile finally flaunting the I4 First Editions. Then a year more of base offerings of both engine configurations and we roll into 2027/2028 Final Editions. These cars may come with a few carbon fiber options (definitely not a roof, more like seats) and a token 10-20hp (revs will increase from 6800 to 7k). Custom colors will be available by that point as well.

Lastly, if pricing is a problem, just wait for the base model and get minimal upgrades - not like the car really needs the options of the First Edition. It'll look equally great without the KEF system, the "ultra-lightweight" wheels, nappa leather, 18-way adjustable seats, Alcantara roof liner, two-piece brakes, dimming mirrors, etc. etc. Used cars will be available as well, for those looking for a better deal.

Obviously 'I' give a shit, or I wouldn't have said it. Some people really can't get out of their own heads.

 

[Magicman]

I’m buying an Emira because it has a better interior and exterior look compared to say a 2020 Evora GT. However, if pricing were to normalize and I could pick one up sub 20k miles and below $80k in the right colors and configurations, I’d probably grab it. The Evora GT, much like a young lady I used to work with, looks absolutely fantastic from behind.

Come on, eye of the beholder and all that but that's 25k of extra fine ass right there

Like comparing jLo to Lizzo!