Hello from Glasgow, Should I buy an Emira to run beside a Ferrari?

[Celticstevie]

Hello from Hamilton , near Glasgow, Scotland

I live 2 miles from nearest Lotus main dealer and pass these cars in the Lot daily. Ive previously owned a titanium 1999 Gen 1 Elise bought new and had an Ardent red Evora for a couple of years 2015-17.

Ive got a Bianco 458 Italia which is the last N/A Ferrari and sounds amazing. Ive been thinking about a V6 manual Lotus as an addition and my local dealer gave me a go in a sports suspension Verdant Green car

I liked it, handling was lovely and much better interiors. Noticed in the stock sitting bubbles on doors including brand new un registered stock! Car felt planted, working the manual was great even with a lowish rev limit sub 7k.

Pricing seems all over the place and the dealer has offered

0% finance at list price on a PCP for 60 months - man maths kicks in and says ah ok,. smallish deposit and pay down on 0% apr good for cash flow, rather than pay out £90k day one

versus

£73k pre registered 2024 stock with 10 miles on clock, big drop and now seeing used ones sitting at £61k!

My use would be weekend blasts on Scottish B roads and therefore some questions

- Sports suspension felt harder than my Ferrari - which is like a magic carpet on bumpy road setting.....Have not tried tour yet. I Is sports suspension too hard?

- Diamond cut alloys look lovely - every car ive had has problems with Diamond cut wheels loosing their look with corrosion.....how are these ones holding up?

- Ive had Lotus before and know they have issues from time to time....the paint bubbling gives me the fear. How quick are they fixing the doors?. I was shocked to see an un registered car sitting with bubbles on the drivers door

- where do folks see these sitting residually in UK market. I would have thought these may see a floor at £55K retail in time?

 

[RoryBellows]

I have only driven touring and it seemed fine over city like bumps. Whether right or wrong my salesman put me into an Evora GT as an example of what sport was like and it was noticeably harsher around city type bumps and imperfections. I decided to go with touring for this reason. Its also always easier to find a stiffer replacement if I want one later.

 

[Cwolf]

The answer is Yes!...you should buy one. Why not get a nice used one and save some money? ; )

 

[Gooner]

Hello from Hamilton , near Glasgow, Scotland

I live 2 miles from nearest Lotus main dealer and pass these cars in the Lot daily. Ive previously owned a titanium 1999 Gen 1 Elise bought new and had an Ardent red Evora for a couple of years 2015-17.

Ive got a Bianco 458 Italia which is the last N/A Ferrari and sounds amazing. Ive been thinking about a V6 manual Lotus as an addition and my local dealer gave me a go in a sports suspension Verdant Green car

I liked it, handling was lovely and much better interiors. Noticed in the stock sitting bubbles on doors including brand new un registered stock! Car felt planted, working the manual was great even with a lowish rev limit sub 7k.

Pricing seems all over the place and the dealer has offered

0% finance at list price on a PCP for 60 months - man maths kicks in and says ah ok,. smallish deposit and pay down on 0% apr good for cash flow, rather than pay out £90k day one

versus

£73k pre registered 2024 stock with 10 miles on clock, big drop and now seeing used ones sitting at £61k!

My use would be weekend blasts on Scottish B roads and therefore some questions

- Sports suspension felt harder than my Ferrari - which is like a magic carpet on bumpy road setting.....Have not tried tour yet. I Is sports suspension too hard?

- Diamond cut alloys look lovely - every car ive had has problems with Diamond cut wheels loosing their look with corrosion.....how are these ones holding up?

- Ive had Lotus before and know they have issues from time to time....the paint bubbling gives me the fear. How quick are they fixing the doors?. I was shocked to see an un registered car sitting with bubbles on the drivers door

- where do folks see these sitting residually in UK market. I would have thought these may see a floor at £55K retail in time?

To answer your question in the paint bubbling, mine was approved with no issue. If the door(s) are in stock it’s usually about a 6-8 week wait to get it booked in, but if the doors are on back order, it could be many months (just ask some of the guys in here!).…….

Mine took 3 weeks from drop off to collection and the Lotus approved paint body shop did a great job of blending the paint. I also ended up with a few light scratches next to the air intake behind the door being sorted, which was a bonus.

All that said, I am more than a little concerned that you saw a new (or at least nearly new) car with the issue. I was told by the dealer that the newly designed doors had sorted the problem, but this doesn’t appear to be the case if the issue is present on new vehicles……….That is enough to give me pause for thought. If it happens after the warranty period (which we still don’t have confirmation on whether it’s 3 or 5 years in the UK), it’s an expensive repair. It’s fair to say, this issue (and specifically the concern that it will happen again) has taken the shine off what is an otherwise outstanding car.

 

[Ryder35]

To answer your question in the paint bubbling, mine was approved with no issue. If the door(s) are in stock it’s usually about a 6-8 week wait to get it booked in, but if the doors are on back order, it could be many months (just ask some of the guys in here!).…….

Mine took 3 weeks from drop off to collection and the Lotus approved paint body shop did a great job of blending the paint. I also ended up with a few light scratches next to the air intake behind the door being sorted, which was a bonus.

All that said, I am more than a little concerned that you saw a new (or at least nearly new) car with the issue. I was told by the dealer that the newly designed doors had sorted the problem, but this doesn’t appear to be the case if the issue is present on new vehicles……….That is enough to give me pause for thought. If it happens after the warranty period (which we still don’t have confirmation on whether it’s 3 or 5 years in the UK), it’s an expensive repair. It’s fair to say, this issue (and specifically the concern that it will happen again) has taken the shine off what is an otherwise outstanding car.

Unregistered does not mean new though, who knows when the car was built and how long it has been hanging around? Quite a while I would imagine since paint bubbling does not seem to appear right away.

As an i4 owner I am really hoping it is fixed!