U.S. Update: Allocation & Order Date

[Maurice R]

Depends on your state’s dealer laws and the dealer’s policies.

In California mine is $2500 deposit, refundable up until purchase of car, no additional deposit necessary after I placed my configuration order in April.

I have only had to pay the $2,500.00 deposit fully refundable. Asked my dealership this week if I had to put more down and was told no not at this time.

 

[Elisesquared]

I believe the FE orders are in, and locked, so those are no longer refundable...

My dealer said that if I back out they will refund my deposit once they're able to sell my car to someone else. This, of course, would happen almost instantly, so in that sense I consider it a refundable deposit with virtually 0 risk of not being refunded. I hope other dealers would do the same.

With that said, it means the previous guy who made a deposit of $15K would be out his $15K for 12-18 months, but still...

 

[TomE]

With that kind of arrangement wouldn't you be tempted to take delivery of the car and sell it on yourself? You know if you don't take delivery and ask for a refund, the dealer is likely to offer it to someone with a markup added.

 

[p.rob]

With that kind of arrangement wouldn't you be tempted to take delivery of the car and sell it on yourself? You know if you don't take delivery and ask for a refund, the dealer is likely to offer it to someone with a markup added.

here there is so much taxes to be paid on a new car, hard to make that work. You pay 20k in taxes that you don't get back when you sell... Better sell for a huge premium to make it worth

 

[Cachaco131]

My west coast dealer said November for the Base configurator to go live.

 

[Nlsmith2123]

I got an email from them yesterday telling me my formerly November build is now scheduled for March along with my order ID #. I suggest reaching out to your sales guy in case you slipped through the cracks.

I got the same Email from Naples, but mine was originally May 2022 production and now March 2023. So likely wont see that car until Next summer. I am debating on buying something in the meantime. I sold my 2018 Jag F type once I got confirmation I was getting a FE. I was told at that time probably 4-6 months and I would take possession of the car. I might just say screw it and buy a 2022 F type with the V8 or maybe a 718. Sucks waiting 2 years for a car, but it is what it is.

 

[Lotustoronto]

My west coast dealer said November for the Base configurator to go live.

I have heard from Lotus CS that the base configurator is to go live last week of September... Who knows... but I imagine if they want to lock in specs in January 2023 for base they would need to have more than 60 days of having the configurator running I would think?

 

[Cachaco131]

I have heard from Lotus CS that the base configurator is to go live last week of September... Who knows... but I imagine if they want to lock in specs in January 2023 for base they would need to have more than 60 days of having the configurator running I would think?

Hard to say. My dealer said most news were disappoint (timing wise).

 

[Lotustoronto]

Hard to say. My dealer said most news were disappoint (timing wise).

I am guessing that the dealers realized they will not be able to fulfill their order books of 2021/2022 depositors in 2023, likely 2024 is now full as well or close to it. 1,900 allocations is not a lot for 50 dealers... That is 38 cars per dealer per year.... I imagine they are filling in 2025 delivery at the moment.

 

[Balboa]

Never give up on something that you can't go a day without thinking about. ~ Winston Churchill

 

[Eagle7]

I am guessing that the dealers realized they will not be able to fulfill their order books of 2021/2022 depositors in 2023, likely 2024 is now full as well or close to it. 1,900 allocations is not a lot for 50 dealers... That is 38 cars per dealer per year.... I imagine they are filling in 2025 delivery at the moment.

They're also supposed to be adding 10 more dealers in the U.S., so they have to get some amount of the allocation too.

 

[R1272]

So are cars arriving in the US starting in January? or March? My FE order was officially put in in May of this year. On the chart it says March "Production", not "Delivery".

 

[VL3X]

So are cars arriving in the US starting in January? or March? My FE order was officially put in in May of this year. On the chart it says March "Production", not "Delivery".

Production for US starts Jan. If you ordered in May then your new prod month is March, so you can hope to get it in ~May now (assuming you ordered a V6 manual).

 

[LotusB]

Haven't received mine yet 😥 Maybe it's a sign.

I had the same problem; contacted customer support and they said I wasn't on the list because I checked the box that said I don't want "marketing" emails. I explained that anything related to my order isn't "marketing," but I've been added to the list and have received surprisingly no marketing... or not enough marketing. Sheesh!

I also got the same email from Lotuscars.com, which is Lotus Cars USA, with my personalized reference number. It's a lovely number. So there's that.

Edit: I missed the cut-off for first edition and my dealer indicates that I'm likely near the front for Base V6 orders, so it looks like Jan/Feb 2023 for orders, and June/July for production, and I guess Aug/Sep/Oct for delivery in the US?

So about 12 months from now. My wife thinks this is very funny.

It seems the number of FE's was increased from 1300 to 1900 now... so maybe you haven't missed the cutoff yet. Something to discuss with your dealer.

Well my $15k deposit is non-refundable... so that test drive will decide whether or not to keep the car or sell it. 🙄

No such thing... they can't hold your money hostage forever. It's refundable. Unless they want to pay legal fees as well

I believe the FE orders are in, and locked, so those are no longer refundable...

The orders are locked in, but technically, until you have the car, either side can renege. Laws vary by state, but until you take possession of the car everything is up in the air. By the way, this works in both directions. In theory, a dealer doesn't have to deliver a car to you either. It'll be hard for them to pull that with the first few/numbered deliveries, but past that? I'm sure they're going to start playing games. Some dealers already started with cancellations.

 

[kitkat]

Got a call from Tom @ Boardwalk Lotus on Sunday afternoon checking in with me. Jan production, February/March delivery. Says they'll have two Emiras in September or October for test drives for reservation holders only. Says it will likely not be appointment only and just first come first serve.

We doing a meet up 😀?

 

[Leonard]

I had the same problem; contacted customer support and they said I wasn't on the list because I checked the box that said I don't want "marketing" emails. I explained that anything related to my order isn't "marketing," but I've been added to the list and have received surprisingly no marketing... or not enough marketing. Sheesh!

🤦😅

 

[2001f4s]

The email with the revised production schedule from Gator also mentioned additional colors to be released sometime in the Fall of 2022. Not sure if these might apply to FE cars or Base cars only, but might be open to a color changes if they offered some interesting ones.

 

[scarzie]

The email with the revised production schedule from Gator also mentioned additional colors to be released sometime in the Fall of 2022. Not sure if these might apply to FE cars or Base cars only, but might be open to a color changes if they offered some interesting ones.

The additional will be base only, the FE colors will likely be a cost option for the base

 

[eriegz]

the FE colors will likely be a cost option for the base

If this is supposed to make me feel better as an FE depositor, well... it doesn't. 😆

 

[2001f4s]

The additional will be base only, the FE colors will likely be a cost option for the base

Thank you for clarifying