I4 price hikes from configurator/reconfiguration this month!

[GTti]

Hi Everyone new member i for a whine and a moan

So I placed the deposit 23 months ago nearly to the day. Always wanting the i4 configuration. I already have a GLA45 Merc so know what the engine is all about. Expected cost at time of placing the deposit was looking at the advertised from of from 62.5K (a bargain in my eyes, so got my deposit in fast).

Fast forward to configuration day earlier this month. Price has jumped up to 72.5K. With manufacturing cost rises and such like i fully expected this and its quite understandable. They are still trying to run a business at the end of the day.

Then Monday of this week i received a further email asking me to do another configuration where the price had jumped up to 78.5K. This didn't land well with me so I managed to get them to phone me by activating it through the on line chat. Where the guy said this was likely a computer glitch type mistake.................in coming days this proved to not be the case it was just a further way of notifying me indirectly of another price hike! Furthering from the the last guy i spoke to on the phone. He said even that 78.5K price could well change and we all know what he means about that.

 

[TomE]

Hi and welcome to the forum. The second price increase is unexpected and hasn't so far been reported by anyone else in the UK who has been asked to finalise their spec for upcoming build. It seems odd that they asked you to do your config earlier in the month and are now asking you to do it again at a higher price. Have they given any explanation for the second increase? Have they told you what month your build is due?

 

[GTti]

Hi and welcome to the forum. The second price increase is unexpected and hasn't so far been reported by anyone else in the UK who has been asked to finalise their spec for upcoming build. It seems odd that they asked you to do your config earlier in the month and are now asking you to do it again at a higher price. Have they given any explanation for the second increase? Have they told you what month your build is due?

Hi TomE. They were pretty cagey when i asked them to explain the price hike but my gut feeling is they simple need to charge more money for it in my honest opinion. The fact that he was saying that even that second price wasn't locked in and that it could well change was further fuel to my fire. Id did spit the dummy out a bit and say id be applying for a refund, then though about it for a night and decided to let it ride currently. As far as im aware i have basically until its rolling out the doors to cancel and get a refund anyway.

My build was due this November at start of May and was told it'll like be January/February now. I was hoping everyone cancelling would pull by slot forward if im truthful.

 

[simonb]

Earlier this month, there were no i4 FEs at £72500 were there?
£77795 for the FE without any extras since notification in February
Configurator still showing that price

 

[GTti]

Earlier this month, there were no i4 FEs at £72500 were there?
£77795 for the FE without any extras since notification in February
Configurator still showing that price

 

[GTti]

£71,995 was the price before i added to it. Making it roughly £72,500. Saved the configurator on the 10th of May.

 

[DerTheDer]

You alls configs are showing I4 pricing?

 

[TomE]

Hi TomE. They were pretty cagey when i asked them to explain the price hike but my gut feeling is they simple need to charge more money for it in my honest opinion. The fact that he was saying that even that second price wasn't locked in and that it could well change was further fuel to my fire. Id did spit the dummy out a bit and say id be applying for a refund, then though about it for a night and decided to let it ride currently. As far as im aware i have basically until its rolling out the doors to cancel and get a refund anyway.

My build was due this November at start of May and was told it'll like be January/February now. I was hoping everyone cancelling would pull by slot forward if im truthful.

Ah, I’m guessing it may be because your build is pushing in to 2024 and they have planned a price increase from 1 Jan. They should be more transparent about that.

 

[GTti]

Ah, I’m guessing it may be because your build is pushing in to 2024 and they have planned a price increase from 1 Jan. They should be more transparent about that

It seems madness that they are penalising customers due to company issues getting the cars rolling off the production line. After placing the deposit nearly two years ago. I dont see how Lotus choosing when to roll my car out should fall back on me cost wise! Matt Windle should be held accountable for his public promise.

 

[simonb]

£71,995 was the price before i added to it. Making it roughly £72,500. Saved the configurator on the 10th of May.

must be a glitch, have had a deposit from pre reveal, and was notified of that price hike in february, I think the system glitched on you rather than there being the earlier price available in May

 

[action_turtle]

Chatting to the guys on my collection and all the prices are going up. The example they gave me was that my car as a base edition will end up costing around £3k more than what i paid. So a V6 Auto, black pack and all the extras etc should cost around £93k. This will flow into i4s too. Expect that number to be even higher next year.

If you do not have your car, I would 100% expect you to be paying some form of hike from the reveal price, and if you are buying next year expect a further increase. Also keep in mind that if you are financing the car the current APR is going to go up too.

I have had many arguments about this with LCS, but it is what it is, basically. This is no longer a 'cheap sports car'. The deposits, in the UK at least, have zero to do with the price of the car and hold no promise on price, it's purely a marker to add you to the waiting list/build slot. They really should have made that clear to us imo. The price you pay is the price on the configurator come order time.

 

[TomE]

Chatting to the guys on my collection and all the prices are going up. The example they gave me was that my car as a base edition will end up costing around £3k more than what i paid. So a V6 Auto, black pack and all the extras etc should cost around £93k. This will flow into i4s too. Expect that number to be even higher next year.

If you do not have your car, I would 100% expect you to be paying some form of hike from the reveal price, and if you are buying next year expect a further increase. Also keep in mind that if you are financing the car the current APR is going to go up too.

I have had many arguments about this with LCS, but it is what it is, basically. This is no longer a 'cheap sports car'. The deposits, in the UK at least, have zero to do with the price of the car and hold no promise on price, it's purely a marker to add you to the waiting list/build slot. They really should have made that clear to us imo. The price you pay is the price on the configurator come order time.

The £3k increase is a different point, as that’s the extra cost of specifying a Base Edition to full FE spec, or the discount you get in an FE. OP is talking about a second increase on the i4 FE.

And Matt Windle did say in that video that the price deposit holders would pay would be the price they were quoted. That’s the promise that has been back-tracked.

 

[denk0815]

When I made the down payment, the salesman said that the i4 variant would cost under 90k swiss francs. According to the website, it is now 103k.

 

[action_turtle]

The £3k increase is a different point, as that’s the extra cost of specifying a Base Edition to full FE spec, or the discount you get in an FE. OP is talking about a second increase on the i4 FE.

And Matt Windle did say in that video that the price deposit holders would pay would be the price they were quoted. That’s the promise that has been back-tracked.

Sorry, I’m probably not being clear, not enough coffee!

They are expecting prices increases across the board. So, in my case the £6k hike we know about, but further increases should be expected. Nothing official, just mentioning what was bounced around during my collection Wednesday.

Also really worth driving home the point on deposits. They see the deposit as a build slot deposit. Zero connection to the vehicle apart from engine/trans type. Which makes sense when you look at how they do the confirm build and checkout process and how they can just adjust prices willy-nilly and not care, as it’s the point you submit and start paperwork that counts.

I think if they explain that your ‘deposit’ is just some money to assign/claim a build slot it would help when it comes to pricing expectations.

 

[action_turtle]

To follow on from my above comment, I just found this screen grab whilst sorting out my 'Lotus' folder. I took it after giving my original "deposit".

After reading it again, I guess I/we shouldn't really have any complaints about what the original payments were for, or about price changes. It is quite clear tbf.

 

[fellman3]

To follow on from my above comment, I just found this screen grab whilst sorting out my 'Lotus' folder. I took it after giving my original "deposit".

After reading it again, I guess I/we shouldn't really have any complaints about what the original payments were for, or about price changes. It is quite clear tbf.

As was Matt Windle’s video saying the price you’ll pay is the price quoted at the time you paid your ‘deposit’. Believe nothing.

 

[action_turtle]

As was Matt Windle’s video saying the price you’ll pay is the price quoted at the time you paid your ‘deposit’. Believe nothing.

I said the same thing, still had to pay the hike. They moved me / delayed me into the hike window!

That video never happened in the eyes of Lotus, they do not care about it at all. They say they are happy to give your build slot money back. Is what it is, big business.

At this point, everyone should be expecting that the final bill will be significantly higher than they once expected (6k hike, plus whatever they add on this year). Weigh it up, if it's still affordable and you are happy to wait then go for it. Good cars, fun to drive etc. But no car is worth dropping into financial difficulties over

 

[Flashback]

I said the same thing, still had to pay the hike. They moved me / delayed me into the hike window!

That video never happened in the eyes of Lotus, they do not care about it at all. They say they are happy to give your build slot money back. Is what it is, big business.

At this point, everyone should be expecting that the final bill will be significantly higher than they once expected (6k hike, plus whatever they add on this year). Weigh it up, if it's still affordable and you are happy to wait then go for it. Good cars, fun to drive etc. But no car is worth dropping into financial difficulties over

I'm thinking why not just cancel (at the very last minute before paying the balance), get the deposit/fee/whatever back then pick one up with delivery miles at a discount?

 

[action_turtle]

I'm thinking why not just cancel (at the very last minute before paying the balance), get the deposit/fee/whatever back then pick one up with delivery miles at a discount?

Yeah no harm in trying.

As I wanted/got an auto, I just held out for my build. They only started making the UK V6 autos, so waiting would just increase my finance costs even more. and also have a chance of not getting the exact spec I wanted.

Something else people are going to be annoyed with, finance costs. I was annoyed with each month they pushed me back the base rate increased. Ended up putting down £35k and payments are still £580 a month. I have been paying sub £600 a month on my cars for years so wanted to keep it that way as it’s affordable. A lot of people will be turned off once they start putting numbers into that calculator