The "when I placed my deposit thread"...

[Emiralust]

The finance % could be the deal breaker for me, as my first car on finance in that price bracket if it was 5.9% my head will outweigh my heart on that one and I would probably pull out. Jaguar finance is 4.9% at the moment, to the folks who have a bit more experience than me on car finance what are you considering as an acceptable APR you are hoping Lotus would offer?

40% maximum PCP allowable deposit down on an f type @ 4.9% APR

 

20% PCP deposit down on an f type @ 4.9% APR

[Speedluvver]

I have a feeling they will go 5.9% - however - other finance companies will do cheaper - so I hope there will be options....

[mneil]

Instant gratification, the more method🤗, could always try the old fashioned and little used, "save up" method😱

[Denno]

2 hours ago, Speedluvver said:

I have a feeling they will go 5.9% - however - other finance companies will do cheaper - so I hope there will be options....

There has been speculation on here or one of the Facebook groups that it will be around 5.9%

[MJON]

If it’s a PCP your after via Lotus would be surprised if APR is much lower than 5.9. Examples, Jaguar and Ford currently at 4.9. Porsche and LR 5.9. Independents, e.g Admiral or car WOW 7.9. Usually cheaper deals are when companies need to push stock out. That’s not the case here, plus I think  base interest rates will invariably start to see some upward movement within the next 12 months. So if indeed 5.9 is still available at time of delivery? 

 

[TomE]

9 hours ago, Denno said:

There has been speculation on here or one of the Facebook groups that it will be around 5.9%

And that was based on what a senior Lotus Sales person had been saying at roadshows about pitching it at 5.9% to be the same APR as Porsche.

[bosshog]

Bit disappointed to find out today that my priority position is only placed once you have paid the second deposit . I made my initial deposit the morning after the launch so would of been pretty near the front. Finally had the call from Lotus today (I missed the call first time around over a month or so ago) and she said I would be added to the back of the LE queue if I placed the second deposit or back of the i4 queue, or back of the non-LE queue once I made my mind up. Having not seen the car (will see it this weekend at the factory) I had yet to make my mind up. Bit annoying but the only silver lining will be possibly better build quality I suppose and less pressure to get a LE/i4 as I'll be at the back so might as well wait for more colours etc.

[C8RKH]

On 27/10/2021 at 09:22, Denno said:

A Cayman S spec’d to £77k is £19k deposit and around £920 a month over 3 years, would hope the finance on the Emira is better than that!

 

How anyone can even contemplate spooning out £920 a month on a car is just beyond my brains ability to compute. Especially given there must be a balloon of around what, £30-35k left to pay or you just hand the car back and walk away.  These PCP deals are a scam really as once you're in one, it's hard to leave.

In the example below the full interest charge of c.£6.9k is largely offset by the manufacturer giving you £5,500 off the price as a deposit contribution. So the actual interest you are paying is only £1,400 on £60k over 3 years.  So c. £450 a year in interest. Not bad really!  However the thing is once you are in, you're suckered in as you either need to pony up £35k to keep the car, hand it over and lose £42k, or add another £5-10k as additional deposit to move to a new car.  It's a better and more addictive deal for the car dealer than a crack dealer gets for hooking you on, well, crack!

What happens as inflation rises and the cost of money increases at renewal time?

I guess the positive is likely to be that with the Emira, the future car value will be much higher than the F-Type mentioned below, so the maths may work a little better.

 

[mg4lotus]

can we have a spreadsheet on how much a monthly subscription to crack is? 

[PhilCP]

1 hour ago, bosshog said:

Bit disappointed to find out today that my priority position is only placed once you have paid the second deposit . I made my initial deposit the morning after the launch so would of been pretty near the front. Finally had the call from Lotus today (I missed the call first time around over a month or so ago) and she said I would be added to the back of the LE queue if I placed the second deposit or back of the i4 queue, or back of the non-LE queue once I made my mind up. Having not seen the car (will see it this weekend at the factory) I had yet to make my mind up. Bit annoying but the only silver lining will be possibly better build quality I suppose and less pressure to get a LE/i4 as I'll be at the back so might as well wait for more colours etc.

That wasn't my understanding.

I was under the impression that as long as the second deposit (and config) was completed by 5th November your original place in the queue was preserved.

[Johnhoward]

My understanding is that the config is not even locked in at this stage, that will happen when you are asked to make your deposit up to 10% of the final price. I was under the impression that this would be December/January 2022. Agree that your original deposit date is your place in the queue. All very difficult to get a definitive picture. Personally, I am not a fan of the new Lotus approach to buying a car, I feel like I am buying a box of pencils from Amazon, the whole process makes it about as exciting with no physical dealer (retailer) involvement and no proper relationship development.

I remember my father complaining that the world was changing too quickly and he didn't like all the changes, I have realised I have turned into him!!

[bosshog]

🤷‍♂️

[MaJiK]

I also believe the queue is based on when you placed the first deposit, as long as you get the second (£3k) paid before the Nov 5.

[E1M2I3R4A]

17 hours ago, C8RKH said:

How anyone can even contemplate spooning out £920 a month on a car is just beyond my brains ability to compute. Especially given there must be a balloon of around what, £30-35k left to pay or you just hand the car back and walk away.  These PCP deals are a scam really as once you're in one, it's hard to leave.

In the example below the full interest charge of c.£6.9k is largely offset by the manufacturer giving you £5,500 off the price as a deposit contribution. So the actual interest you are paying is only £1,400 on £60k over 3 years.  So c. £450 a year in interest. Not bad really!  However the thing is once you are in, you're suckered in as you either need to pony up £35k to keep the car, hand it over and lose £42k, or add another £5-10k as additional deposit to move to a new car.  It's a better and more addictive deal for the car dealer than a crack dealer gets for hooking you on, well, crack!

What happens as inflation rises and the cost of money increases at renewal time?

I guess the positive is likely to be that with the Emira, the future car value will be much higher than the F-Type mentioned below, so the maths may work a little better.

If the option is to pay £77k up front or £78.4k over 3 years I think I’d take the finance option. At 5.9% and no finance contribution, I’d be less keen. Can’t really see how it’s a scam - you can just pay the balance after 3 years (instead of up front) and you own the car same as if you’d bought it outright. 

[C8RKH]

5 minutes ago, E1M2I3R4A said:

If the option is to pay £77k up front or £78.4k over 3 years I think I’d take the finance option. At 5.9% and no finance contribution, I’d be less keen. Can’t really see how it’s a scam - you can just pay the balance after 3 years (instead of up front) and you own the car same as if you’d bought it outright. 

The scam is that the "cheap" finance and the structure of the PCP/PCH means that you are more likely to stay "locked" into the brand and buying a new car every three years.  Obviously it's metaphorically speaking as they would not be able to run a "scam".  That's why i compared it to crack cocaine. Cheap credit is a drug that people get used to. Car companies make more out of Financing than they usually do out of making cars. How did that happen?

You could of course wait three years, save up, and then pay cash and have no obligation to anyone else.  But then, nobody waits for anything these days do they, as credit is cheap. Maybe they do wait for a bus?????

[TomE]

56 minutes ago, MaJiK said:

I also believe the queue is based on when you placed the first deposit, as long as you get the second (£3k) paid before the Nov 5.

I was told this categorically by senior Lotus folks.  Date of first deposit (to Lotus or to dealer if before the online system opened) determines your place in the relevant build queue for whichever variant you pick.

[JimH]

2 hours ago, bosshog said:

Bit disappointed to find out today that my priority position is only placed once you have paid the second deposit . I made my initial deposit the morning after the launch so would of been pretty near the front. Finally had the call from Lotus today (I missed the call first time around over a month or so ago) and she said I would be added to the back of the LE queue if I placed the second deposit or back of the i4 queue, or back of the non-LE queue once I made my mind up. Having not seen the car (will see it this weekend at the factory) I had yet to make my mind up. Bit annoying but the only silver lining will be possibly better build quality I suppose and less pressure to get a LE/i4 as I'll be at the back so might as well wait for more colours etc.

I can confirm what TomE just posted - I was at Hethel today - Scott Walker (UK Sales Manager) confirmed that queue places (whichever queue you opt for/end up in - i.e. V6FE, i4FE, base + own spec) are all based solely on initial deposit date/time, as long as 2nd and 3rd deposits, and config choices, are made by the deadlines set when requested by Lotus. For anything other than V6 FE cars, these won't be requested yet....

[TomE]

On 14/10/2021 at 07:18, duncx said:

I like your idea for a 'delivery date modeller' Tom so come on let's do it, please don't let the lack of real data get in the way of wild speculation

OK, after mulling this over I think I've got a reasonable approximation.

It would be handy to have some input to help me calibrate this from those who had recent calls with Lotus about V6 FE vs other choices.  If they told you where you were in the overall UK deposits queue or gave an indication of where you might be in the V6 FE build queue, then can you post the info here.  Include the date you paid your 1st deposit and if it was during Goodwood 8-11 July then the rough time of day is handy too.  I need a decent spread of deposit dates before/during and after Goodwood to validate this.

• TomE   27 April deposit   "certainly first 150 UK deposits, probably first 100"

[MaJiK]

What are people going with for interior with Magma Red?

After some inspo.

[aEdMIRA]

I've gone tan but would prefer white leather so would like to see what ice grey looks like before I pay the 3rd deposit.

Red, tan, black pack, diamonds, yellow calipers, sports and cup 2s.

[EmiraSi]

 

• TomE   27 April deposit   "certainly first 150 UK deposits, probably first 100"
• EmiraSi 6th July 10pm online deposit. Was told first 100 in queue, which I thought was optimistic. Maybe first 100 online deposits? But equally could have been first 100 on the list that particular girl had to call?

[TomE]

I think that’s probably correct for online deposits via the website, ie excluding the 100-150 pre-reveal deposits placed with dealers.

[sonu]

There've been a fair few cancellations so I'd imagine everyone has moved up the queue?

[duncx]

16 minutes ago, TomE said:

I think that’s probably correct for online deposits via the website, ie excluding the 100-150 pre-reveal deposits placed with dealers.

I thought there would have been more 'pre-website' dealer deposits than this? If you are right Tom then that puts me much closer to the top than I had thought,  maybe even in the first 100!

Just need your modeller now to confirm, and then I can plan my entire year around the delivery date that you're promising

 

[TomE]

2 hours ago, duncx said:

I thought there would have been more 'pre-website' dealer deposits than this? If you are right Tom then that puts me much closer to the top than I had thought,  maybe even in the first 100!

Just need your modeller now to confirm, and then I can plan my entire year around the delivery date that you're promising

That's what I was told "by a reliable source" and is just for UK deposits.  Means those of us with pre-reveal dealer deposits will probably get cars in the first month, assuming the V6 FE conversion rate is similar for that group as the 50-60% I was told for the first 500.

2 hours ago, sonu said:

There've been a fair few cancellations so I'd imagine everyone has moved up the queue?

10% was what I'd heard, and around 40% opting to wait for i4 FE or own spec.  So if you placed deposit #500 and are going for V6 FE you're potentially build slot #250.