MattyB

So this: https://collectingcars.com/for-sale/2015-lotus-evora-400 Which previously "sold" for £38k but now reporting as "Unsold" (wonder why the buyer pulled out?) is now back up for sale a bit cheaper: https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/16757152 "Open to offers" so could make for a good buy if you're after one for a bit of track work too.

As mentioned, when you start getting to the £40k+ bracket, private sales are difficult....major one being that people who have that kind of money that aren't really bothered with the hassle of a private purchase (or sale!) for the sake of 1-2k, especially when you add in the security and simplicity of a dealer. When I was shopping for an Alfa 4C I even offered one chap £1k more than his P/X price he was getting but he just said it wasn't worth the hassle for him. Me, on the other hand, being a tight Midlander who didn't grow up with a massive amount of money would happily go private even for a few hundred 😄 It does help that Lotus people tend to be a smaller, social circle so I find there's a bit more trust and an easier transaction. (Conversley, I'd never sell a BMW M, or Audi RS car privately...)

Price of the orange one was dropped slightly to £48k but someone on FB has bought it. I thought it was a high price, but brightly coloured 400's are few and far between, so guess it demands the premium!

So looks like it sold this weekend - who took the plunge, or did it send up at Motorway/WBAC?

Motorway are up for £33k....he's nuts if he doesn't let them have it (and even more nuts if he doesn't take the mods off beforehand!). Ultimately going to be a £40k car if you pay someone to do all the work that's realistically needed, so it's not that cheap.

I don't understand...he can get more than that giving to Motorway/WBAC? Why go through the hassle of a private sale?

Agreed on the advert, it's not great - I'm also going to get on my soap box and explain he should be listing the bad stuff in the advert, and why you should when you sell yours: 1. Saves everyone time. Most Lotus owners are pretty switched on and will do alot of research in the history, condition, and maybe ask for inspections. Just list them now and save everyone the time. 2. Weeds out timewasters. Anyone serious and who knows the cars will know the issues and look past it anyway 3. [This is the most important] - if you talk the car down, people are usually suprised to find its better than expected due to the slightly negative advert, leading to a far more positive reception. How many times have you seen a car listed as "Mint!" with "FSH!" and "As new condition!" and getting there and find it's not that bad, but worse than expected? Puts you in a negative space on the car already. What else are they bull****ing you about? So do the oppostite. Sets a genuine tone. All but one of the 15 cars I've sold over the years have sold to the first viewer. I've no idea why everyone tries to make selling cars so difficult for themselves.

If I were him, I'd strip the suspension and exhaust off it, give it to Motorway (circa £33k, probably £32k once they've haggled) then sell the bits - they're probably worth £2k second hand. He'll get closer to that price and it'd be a much, much easier time for him.

GT430 on 430 miles....need to roll it everywhere to maintain the odo 😄

Not a fan of Orange cars usually, but does look great on an Evora. Googled the plate, that car has been spotted in a few places!

I've spoken to Andrew (who owns the Silver 400) a couple of times. He originally wanted £44k for it before Christmas, but he wasn't sure if he was planning to sell, and I thought it was too expensive at the time. He hasn't owned it long himself, about a year I think? He got back in touch about 6 weeks ago, said it would be for sale soon and he'd let me know when (in all fairness, I've just checked and I'd missed an email from him asking if I was still interested). It looks like a really well looked after car from the pictures. Brakes were given a green light on the last service (he showed me the sheet). Another service is due very soon (July/August?) which is around £600. I've been hesitant over the car for a couple of reasons, mainly the colour, the owners, and the mileage. I suspect it'll be over 50k when I sell, and I'll be the 8th? owner. NEITHER of these things bother me in the slightest, but I do try to buy with resale in mind so I don't end up taking a massive bath on the price....so I've been waiting to see what happens with the price. (Footnote: no offense to those with Silver Evoras!)

The really interesting part will be in the next 12-18 months, once Emira's are available for low 50's At that point, it starts to get a bit muddy. Will people still be paying £45k for Evora 400s, or £60k for GT410's when you can get into a much more modern car, with less mileage for similar money? And I'm talking about you're more mainstream, non-forum-visiting general population who (lets be honest) dictate a large portion of the market. I don't know the answer....just wondering.

£35,500+Fees (£38k) seems like really strong money for a 2+0 IPS which looks like it's not had a particularly easy life. That being said, I suspect the suspension is worth a pretty penny alone. Ohlins for the Evora are £8k!

The value is £33k on Motorway - even if they knock him, he'll be better off doing that. Note, the same car was £36.5k in Feb (just checked my valuation email when I was looking at it)....so there's been a big drop in Evora prices for the last 2 months.

Dave, that was the reasons I walked away I didn't want post the info here, Aaron sounds like a nice bloke and he's just unfortunate that there are lots of things need doing at the same so didn't want to do the dirty and post it all here. Most of what you've listed isn't too difficult to sort, but the disk/pads are an easy £3k and the wheels are difficult to get hold of, so I was going to assume I'd have to replace all 4. Lower arms are £1500 as well, so it quickly adds up. If you can DIY a lot of it, you could have a good car, and I reckon you could get £2k back selling the bits as well. But yes, as always, do your research and get an inspection.