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Because we're here talking about Lotus, and the topic title is "Future of Lotus" and for a change I am staying on topic. Lotus, has made life significantly harder for dealers with the Agency changes to date, the continuing and ever lasting issues re parts availability, etc etc. I get you have to be +ve as you're the CEO Bibs, but at the end of the day not all of us have to drink the Kool-Aid and use a different shade of spectacles to look at things. In my time as a Lotus owner, I have seen things mostly deteriorate. I have heard lots of promises. Seen lots of dreams. But nothing that has really progressed as part of the ownership experience (TLF excepting of course). I doubt Lotus is bothered, or, indeed, really listening. It is chasing a new market, and new types of customers, and no one wants to tell the Emperor his new clothes are, well, you know....

I agree @Kimbers hence the "irony" in that article and my comment re the disinformation that is being constantly spread.

Sorry that comment "shocked" you @Bibs but feel free to educate me on any UK Lotus Dealership that has survived independently, without combining their showroom with at least one other brand. I had thought maybe Allon White, but then remembered they had Morgan too. I then thought Silverstone, but they have Caterham too. I then remembered Murrays in Edinburgh, no longer there but they shared the showroom with Volvo. Given the new "agency" model, the lack of a future should not be a surprise or shock.

Never really been a "future" in Lotus dealerships has there? They've always been a "tag on" to something else.

And yet when I clicked on the link above for the Ratcliffe story this pooped us as the next story! Part of the issue is this confusion in the market place.... https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/could-electric-vans-be-the-next-big-revenue-stream-for-your-dealership/301381

When you look at human rights abuses like this, it really pisses me off that people in the UK, and from outside the UK, slam our Human Rights performance here. We live in one of the safest democracies in the world, and yet we are constantly under attack re our so called abuse of Human Rights. It's pathetic. And yet a lot of people who come here from that region then seem to want to insist we adopt the values, laws, etc of that region. Bonkers. Imagine how long I'd last there, before I was beaten and put in jail, for demanding UK level human rights protections, free housing, free money, free food, and the right to follow a Christian religion and use whatever door I wanted to go into McDonalds. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68945445 Footnote: This is not meant to tar all the same, as ever, there will always be a minority that spoil it for the majority.

You could look at the Sport 410 too. A seriously undervalued model and the rarest! (apart from the 1 off UK model GT430 Sport - the one without the spoiler and front clam aero holes).

Now, now @Bruss. I'd hate for you to sound like me.....

@JimmytheTurbo I was convinced @Kimbers was going to say "wives". Wendy must have been within ear shot of his keyboard!

Is this the end of cars for the drivers? I'm struggling to see the attraction of buying a new sports car after July, and in an era where 2.5 ton 700bhp+ SUVs seem to be all the rage one has to ask why would you want one? This relentless assault on "drivers" is hugely disappointing, to the point where I am seriously considering getting rid of my Evora and going "old school" for fun with something like a Fezza 308/328. The only upside is for cars bought pre-July 24 that don't have this tech. I suspect all Emiras could be retrofitted through software, thankfully not Elise, Exige, Evora, the last of the analog Lotus cars. https://www.evo.co.uk/news/22326/mandatory-speed-limiters-to-be-fitted-to-all-new-uk-cars-in-2024 So sad.

I can think @LotusLeftLotusRight of quite a few people I'd happily see hanging around in a 100% plastic, air tight, bubble package!

You need to start a campaign @Bibs. Maybe something like Black Plastic Matters would work. I'd also think about a support group to aid those Coke bottles to deal with their mental health issues and anxiety brought about by their exclusion from the recycling movement. At some point our Councils will need to wise up to diversity issues and create more inclusive policies.

It's Australia, I'm not surprised as this was the country who voted down rights for the indigenous people in the 21st Century. Someone will eventually turn the light on. 😜🙄😂🤣

I thought they'd been taken over?

I would agree and would love to see it. Think it would be a great service for the Lotus community from a trusted supplier @21gg

Where there is a will, and some willing engineers, there is always a way, but often at a cost. Take your GTE - what happens when you need new wishbones etc. or even, a new wheel or front bumper? Not trying to be doom and gloom, but our cars are a lot more "bespoke" and complex than some of the earlier "classics" that were simpler etc. It's just the way. For example, I bet a TVR will be easier to keep on the road (well, not obviously from a handling point of view) than a Lotus in many ways due to the fact that they used more generic parts more of the time, where more simply built, and the bespoke stuff was mainly cnc machined so easily recreated - granted bodywork will be equally as hard.

The issue is cost and number of cars buikt. When the spares dry up you then need to get stuff fabricated in single/very small quantities. This pushes the prices way north. No issue if the value of the car has also gone north, but a big issue when the car values are falling, or have flat lined. With a very small production run, you have a limited number of crashed then dismantled cars to get spare parts from. MOT failure items like headlamps become key to a car being used. Using "sealed" units just makes things harder to fix and source. None of this is unique to Lotus but over time I believe the longevity of cars built in the early 2000's will not, due to the complexity of some parts, be anywhere near as good as "simpler" cars built before. Take the VX220. The light switches (head, side, fog, hazard) were boggo standard Vauxhall items from the Vectra and Omega and Opel equivalents (millions made) yet the ones with the LED inside are practically unobtainium. A part costing pennies to make now goes for £20 plus on ebay with no guarantee it will work. Type116 has produced a bespoke set of buttons that work brilliantly, look good, but are not OEM looking for those that crave originality. Enthusiasts will keep the cars going but at what cost? We need innovative, smaller companies to make solutions as original parts dry up, but they need us to support and buy from them.

So another Lotus own goal. I never did say it couldn't be a daily driver, but, pointed out that owners who wanted a DD would not be happy with having to wait for 4 months due to "parts availability" issues, systems or physical.

I think it would be reasonable to ask re the warranty extension given the delays where not in your control and you have effectively been both denied use of the car for that period, and denied the benefit for that period of the warranty. I thought the Emira was designed to be a daily driver, to tackle head on the Cayman and Porsche, but if this is the "service" level owners can expect I cannot see it being fit for purpose.

Evo have already decided that the Porsche won!

Lotus willingness to support its older cars is disappointing. However, when I consider my VX220, which is 24 years old, there is a great "community" that has grown up around the car and with great independents like Max88 Performance, Type116, Lotus Hardtops, and others there is a thriving community that is creating solutions for the things we cannot get from OEM. I hope that these companies can perhaps widen their scope to include the Evora in the solutions that they work on and develop. There is a great community around our cars, even if Lotus doesn't give a shit, and we need to support those companies that develop solutions and take care of us, and our cars. Loads of them out there from Seriously Lotus, Eltech, Hanger 111, ES Motorsports etc. Use them or lose them...

@Jedifar it's not necessarily the distance that is the issue. Our roads are a lot smaller (width and number of lanes) and what seem like a quick 50 miles on the map can translate easily into a 2 hour journey. That's what you need to bear in mind, especially in the South West etc...

No they don't, but cyclists have been successfully prosecuted for "wanton and furious" cycling and so I have no idea why they did not opt go for a prosecution under that. The law is, quite often, an ass. It was used in 2009 to prosecute a death caused by a cyclist collision, which would have fallen outside other laws as it is the closest equivalent to dangerous driving for cyclists. It was used again in 2017 for similar reasons.

Your P/X will be a minimum of £3k, probably a maximum of £5k, LESS than what you could get for it, selling it privately. That money would cover any works needed on your car, likely a service, and to cover a warranty and the prep required for the new owner. There'll be some profit in there too of course. Alternatively, they'll offer around £5k less, as their objective would be to just pass it on in the trade, and the new garage will still need to do and provide etc.... So the real important question is, what is going to happen to Evora and Emira prices in the next year or two, as the real issue is the price to change, not the value of x or y, but the value of both x AND y.

Same here @NAC63 - paid taxes since I was 15 and saved hard, and worked all over the place. I know you know I was taking the piss hence the three emoji's.