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I think you're right but that in itself demonstrates what an omishambles Lotus is at the moment. They must have predicted that there would be a large number of disgruntled cancellations following the price increase and in light of Matt Windle's "promise"... so they could have planned for that...

I sent an e-mail cancelling my order on 2 March 2023. Four more e-mails later, I got the following response on 31 March 2023: I sincerely apologise for the delay in response. I understand, and I'm sorry to hear of this. I can confirm that I have requested for your deposits to be refunded to...

I've sent five e-mails over the past four weeks requesting the return of my deposits. Nothing. No response to the e-mails. No return of my deposits. I gotta say I'm getting seriously chaffed off now.

So it's three weeks since I cancelled my order and asked for the return of my deposits. Absolutely nothing from Lotus aside from an automatic e-mail reminding me complete my configuration. If I needed any confirmation that I'd made the right decision I have it right there. They just don't...

I have to say I agree. Historically Lotus residuals have been pretty poor - a hangover from the Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious reputation - but I think everyone is waiting to see if the Emira will buck that trend and I suspect it will. That said, I am surprised that the cars on autotrader are...

Oh I am under no illusion: there is no way that this will be escalated up the chain. I suspect whoever reads it will scan through the message looking for the action point and that will be that. I sent the message for me to be honest. It's my "Dear John" letter to Lotus. Very many years ago a...

E-mail sent - I'm officially out and have requested the return of my deposits.

It's official - I'm out. Just sent the following in response to the "Invitation to Configure Your Lotus Emira". I know it's salty, and I know it will have no impact but I feel really disappointed and wanted to tell them that. Dear Lotus Customer Care, Thank you for your invitation to...

I'm actually thinking I might investigate selling one of the Esprits and putting that and the cash I've been saving for the Emira into a pre-owned Huracan or a Gallardo... Scary running costs but they've done most of their depreciation. The wife isn't convinced by the angles, though, and I'm...

Yeah, as I say I'm not really looking for that kind of fun... maybe 20 years ago. In fact I used to have a Dutton Melos: Ford cross-flow from an Escort Mexico but the tranny from an Escort van. That thing was like a scolded cat. There was a very steep hill outside the city where I grew up and...

Lol - I'm sure mostly you're right. But for several reasons it actually wouldn't do me as a daily. My other Lotus cars are lots of fun. The Elise is one of the last S1s built and it's basically a go-kart... feels much faster than it is. The Esprits (an S4 and an S3 X180) are getting as rare...

Who said I was looking to punish anyone? Like I said, each to their own. You be you. For me, buying and owning this car would have been for the smiles - as with my other weekenders. I wouldn't own this car for a few years and then move on to something else; it's not the car I'd take to do...

I didn't say they treated me poorly in direct communication - I'm not sure I even understand what you mean by that - but I think the way they have behaved is obvious to all and has been well rehearsed in this thread. I am a loyal Lotus customer of 22 years. I bought my Elise new from a dealer...

Which - absolutely no offence to you - irks me even more since my first deposit was a month before yours. It makes little difference to me now in honesty. I really don't like the way I and others have been treated and what was supposed to be a really exciting and joyous experience now just...

Wonder if that was a cancellation of the same spec?

I finally got the e-mail inviting me to lock in my configuration and checkout today (I thought they did this by phone previously?) Apparently I have to confirm my configuration by 12pm 8 March to confirm a June build. I think I recall seeing that confirmation is requested 3 months before the...

I'm sure that Lotus might be tempted to run that as a justification but it really depends what time period you choose. It's absolutely true to say that the pound has fallen against the dollar from the time of the Goodwood reveal from ~1.4 in June 2021 to around 1.2 now (that's around 14% and is...

Which Goodwood? The video in question, as I say above, was recorded in June 2022.

He didn't need to be able to see into the future. When he made that statement he already knew about the war in Ukraine, the supply chain issues caused by COVID and Brexit, high inflation in the UK, production delays. The statement was recorded on 10 June 2022, not 2021. And in any event, he...

Weren't they talking about 17 cars a day or something? That's <5000 a year...

I feel just the same way. I haven't cancelled my order and asked for my deposit back yet... I'm going to wait until I get the call for my final deposit... but it's left a bitter taste and unless they proactively realise they've got this wrong (I'm not going to argue with them, but I most...

I think this is getting off-topic to be honest, but I think they probably meant that the production numbers will be low compared to many of the other cars they produce as a group. As an aside, over 28 years of production, Lotus only made a total of 10,675 Esprits. My S4 is one of 625 made of...

Sure he reports to someone else. He's also a director of a UK company with legal and fiduciary responsibilities but more than that he shouldn't have been making promises that he didn't have the authority to keep. There really is no justification for this course of events.

These are not mutually exclusive statements. It can be true that the price increase was a “global decision across all markets” but that the price increase implemented from that global decision was 8% in the UK and 0% in the USA. Course it blows a hole in the rationale given the costs of...

There may be "an awful lot of... i4 depositors" but there are plenty of us that have deposits down on V6 FEs too - I'd say it was about 50-50 tbh. My deposit was taken on Friday 13 August 2021 which I know is later than many. I do accept your argument regarding the i4... but then there is Matt...

So it's just UK deposit holders that are getting shafted is it? As recently as 24 November I was assured that my car was confirmed for production in May 2023. On 18 January 2023 I was told that this had been pushed back to June 2023. And I am supposed to accept that my order, which has been...

Yes but I'm afraid that legally the order isn't placed until you pay your third deposit, as others have said. I'm sure it could be argued that the first deposit constitutes an order but I'd strongly suspect that the Lotus small print covers them and is pretty water tight. I will admit that I...

Price increase on top of delays means that I am going to cancel my Emira order and the UK registration EM12 AMM that I'd purchased for the vehicle is no longer required. On retention with no further fees to pay. Please DM if interested.

I agree. My car (V6) has repeatedly been pushed back and the latest update is June build for July delivery. I too have been told I am affected by the price rise. That's not OK and is no way to treat customers. As others have said, the car should have been parked in my garage months ago but...

My car has apparently been pushed back to a June build with a July delivery. That's a problem for me since I was hoping to have the car for a special family event on July 2...

The E ratings are actually the amount of bio-ethanol in the fuel and the important thing is that the car can handle the higher ethanol numbers. As far as I am aware fuelling with a lower octane gas might impact performance but won't damage the car but best to check with your local dealer.

Hmmm getting concerned now. The e-mail confirming May build was November 24... e-mail confirming I can still make changes with no impact to build date was from Louts CS on 3 January...

No it's a V6 FE. And no, I've had no indication of when I'll need to pay the final deposit... been expecting a call for the past few months. Perhaps this just means that while they're still telling me May they already know it will be August, idk...

I am sorry, but yes this would wind me up. I already have a Jim Clark commemorative black and gold enamel badge that I am hoping to swap out on the bonnet - I may even ask the factory to do it - but if the lugs don't fit then I also have an adhesive version. And tyres can be painted. It'll be...

Nope. The last e-mail I had just before Christmas was still saying May build but I've not been contacted for my final deposit yet and Lotus CS confirmed last week I can still make changes to the spec and not lose my slot...

Sorry to hear. Incidentally, I am sold on your choice of Ice Grey leather - looks amazing so I'm switching from my black. But I think the lemon yellow callipers would annoy me so I'm switching those to silver, I think. It's that or black because I'm not fond of red callipers. Then again, if...

If the car is delayed beyond my latest estimated build date of May I may be reconsidering... I really don't want to get the car just in time for winter...

Thanks for sharing all of this. Your car is close to my spec except I have black wheels and black leather... but I must admit that ice leather looks lovely and I am on the verge of switching to it. How do you like the yellow callipers? Lotus told me that the difference in colour isn't really...

The Emira is now listed on comparethemarket.com. Oddly I am able to get a quote from Admiral via that website but not directly. Only quoted for 3,000 miles per year with access to other cars but it was substantially under £500 fully comp (no tracker).