Lotus Type 131 - The Rumour Mill

[jep]

I gave Bell and Colvill £1000 deposit on the new Esprit in around 2005....I eventually used it against a 2010 Evora in 2018.

Justin 

 

[697OK]

1 hour ago, worldwidewebs said:

Anyone here placed a 'deposit' on an Emira and care to share who with and how much? Just been in to Oakmere and they wanted £1k, which seems a little 'toppy' given the factory aren't thing orders yet

Yes my deposit was £1k. Refundable if don't like the look of it.

[worldwidewebs]

1 minute ago, 697OK said:

Yes my deposit was £1k. Refundable if don't like the look of it.

May I ask who that was with? Just wondering if there's any consistency between dealers

[TomE]

UK dealers are accepting dealer deposits but the factory deposit book isn't open yet.  Amount varies between dealers and most (all?) are refundable until the factory book opens.  In most cases it doesn't guarantee you a specific place in the factory queue, just a place in that dealer's queue.  I remember after the Evora factory book opened some dealers were much quicker than others at getting their orders logged, so it was largely luck of the draw where you ended up in the queue if you'd placed a dealer deposit before the factory book opened.  I think I was #3 at B&C and #12 overall.

My deposit is with B&C and was £500.  Silverstone were asking for £1000.  No official date yet for when the factory book opens but it would make sense if it was 6 July.

[stephenwhyte]

2 hours ago, LotusLeftLotusRight said:

£1000 “toppy”? On a £55-£85k car? What were you expecting to hand over? A £5 book token?

I agree - £1000 seems fair and reasonable to me. I’ve also heard it’s refundable......

[Pugwash]

My deposit is with Silverstone and it is refundable.

[Mark030358]

4 hours ago, worldwidewebs said:

Anyone here placed a 'deposit' on an Emira and care to share who with and how much? Just been in to Oakmere and they wanted £1k, which seems a little 'toppy' given the factory aren't thing orders yet

Oakmere had my deposit a few weeks ago... its not an issue as its refundable if you dont like it....

 

[Barrykearley]

2 hours ago, stephenwhyte said:

I agree - £1000 seems fair and reasonable to me. I’ve also heard it’s refundable......

Yeah - no lotus dealer has ever gone bust....... oh....

[TomE]

3 minutes ago, Barrykearley said:

Yeah - no lotus dealer has ever gone bust....... oh....

I was one of the lucky ones, I got my M250 deposit back...

[tim_marra]

My M250 deposit comprised an initial £1000 followed by a further £1500 when Lotus took orders. The dealer went bust but thankfully I got £1500 back as the dealer passed this on to the factory. I'm still waiting for the other £1000.

I was lucky, some folk lost £2500. Kinsey Jones the dealer was, if ever I see him I will 'remind' him of the debt.

[jep]

Pay by credit card or even Visa debit. Should cover if dealer goes under. Perhaps there is a time limit but the system def works. Visa Debit, I got my air fares back when BA refused to refund after Covid hit - BA cancelled the flights. 

Or buy via a strong dealer. Oakmere, Bell and Colvill and probably Silverstone. Hendy should be fine, they have been around (as Ford +) since my school days - I was at prep with Paul Hendy, he now owns majority stake. Have not seen him for 40+ years. 

Justin 

 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

I paid £5000 deposit on my current £79,200 Lotus when new. I don’t think I’d be quibbling over £1000.

[JimH]

Surely dealers should be keeping customer deposits in a separate "clients account" and shown as such in their books/accounts until the sale completed in any case?

[TomE]

These are just holding deposits, as the order book isn't open yet.  I'd expect to have to put more down when I confirm my spec and dealer places the order with the factory, at which point it's not refundable.  That's how it worked for the Evora launch.

[jep]

2 hours ago, JimH said:

Surely dealers should be keeping customer deposits in a separate "clients account" and shown as such in their books/accounts until the sale completed in any case?

Perhaps......but car dealers are not formally regulated. A solicitor or RICS surveyor will have a 'client account' - that is a legally protected bank account which the liquidator would not be allowed to take money from to satisfying other debts within a bankrupt organisation. 

That would not apply to car dealers - the client account will be an accountancy tidy-up (so the dealer does not pay tax on money not yet 'earnt') but it is not formally protected in law.

Ask Coys of Kensington customers - which went belly-up in the mid-2000's taking a load of deposits with them.

The £5K deposit on the Evora GTE was for a car the factory were accepting orders for. Emira is not as yet formally on the market by the factory - so any deposit would be much smaller as it is in reality just securing a place in the queue with the dealer. IE. Not a deposit for a car the factory say they will deliver. 

340R was a split deposit in 2000, for a car we knew would be made. Dealer took £1K and factory took £1k.

T50 deposit is very much larger, if it is any comfort.

Best advice is to put it on a card, if you are allowed to by the dealer.

Justin

 

[tim_marra]

Evija deposit is £250,000 

[exeterjeep]

Or £500,000 for a matching pair. One ready for when the other runs out of electricity.

[TomE]

25 minutes ago, tim_marra said:

Evija deposit is £250,000 

Sadly the point when they asked for that was when I had to come off the "potential customers" list  

[tim_marra]

250k just registers your commitment. Another 250k is needed when you spec your car, then 500k when it goes into build leaving just a further 1 mil on delivery. Its a synch.

[TomE]

Yeh, it was the timing and a cashflow issue for me (as in, my cash doesn't flow that fast!)

[PAR]

For me it was the installation of a charger in the front driveway. Could not make such a long term commitment.

And also the lack of a specific Evija model folder in TLF. Total no no.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Yes we could have a dedicated sub-forum for all the TLF Evija owners.

[Barrykearley]

3 hours ago, jep said:

Perhaps......but car dealers are not formally regulated. A solicitor or RICS surveyor will have a 'client account' - that is a legally protected bank account which the liquidator would not be allowed to take money from to satisfying other debts within a bankrupt organisation

Sadly even with a client account you are not protected if the operator uses it how they please. Our old solicitor paid wages and vat from it and ended up in prison.

[jep]

At least there was some redress and a super-disincentive for other solicitors to not do the same. It keeps 99.99% of them honest. 

I don't see any of the Coys directors at the time......doing time, though Germany tried:

The Crooks of Coys – a truly new beginning? - PreWarCar

Justin

 

[TomE]

Lotus have confirmed the Emira will do runs on the hill at Goodwood FOS and Lotus will be the featured marque

https://www.lotuscars.com/lotus-at-goodwood-2021/