Emira Market Watch, for discussion and to help those searching!

[Bibs]

There's some chat about that here Chris

 

 

Also, Emira V6 FE on 0% interest for stock cars - offer just posted by Lotus Ashford...

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joe-holman-1b2446148_lotus-emira-forthedrivers-activity-7166485717144047616-N5Lq?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

 

[Al]

Will it be remembered as a success?

[Frimley111R]

I may be in full man-maths mode but I took a look at B&Cs forecourt yesterday and even Mrs 111R got a bit tempted. My Evora S was £45k second hand and lost £1k in two years. Therefore spending big cost me next to nothing, even the insurance was half that of my Elise! 

Now, the Emira is stunning but....how likely am I to take a hit here? A lightly used one seems sensible and on a PCP (which are all a punchy 9%) is a potential target but I am not sure if an Evora 410 is a better place to put my money, even if I don't really want another one (as much has I loved mine before).

 

[Bibs]

I popped by there yesterday too

 

[Bibs]

Harry's selling up...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202405300224383

[Frimley111R]

This thread does get a little distracted it seems, at least the post above is back on track.

[Bibs]

Fair point. I've moved a few posts to more relevant threads. 

[Bravo73]

5 hours ago, Bibs said:

Harry's selling up...

Already? Blimey, I thought this was meant to be a ‘last of it’s kind, keep it forever’ kind of car for him. Hence getting everyone to sign it etc etc

No doubt he’s made a video about why he is selling up so soon. 

[jep]

Yeh right....it's just video content to Harry. 

Brilliant business model, full kudos to him. Own fantastic cars, all tax deductible and earn some pennies too. 

And have a working farm that's IHT exempt. 

Style. 

[Bazza 907]

He should have kept the Esprit and I suspect he knows it.

[MrBlueSky]

On 28/05/2024 at 21:47, Frimley111R said:

I may be in full man-maths mode but I took a look at B&Cs forecourt yesterday and even Mrs 111R got a bit tempted. My Evora S was £45k second hand and lost £1k in two years. Therefore spending big cost me next to nothing, even the insurance was half that of my Elise! 

Now, the Emira is stunning but....how likely am I to take a hit here? A lightly used one seems sensible and on a PCP (which are all a punchy 9%) is a potential target but I am not sure if an Evora 410 is a better place to put my money, even if I don't really want another one (as much has I loved mine before).

 

Seems a shame you are considering an Evora 410 just because it might be a better place to put your money. The Emira looks like a great car so if you think its right for you then why not. And I say that as an Evora 410 owner.

Its a bit of a self fulfulling profecy. If everyone holds off getting an Emira because they are scared to loose value, then the cars are going to drop in value. All these Emira's sitting on forecourts need to be out spreading the love.

[Frimley111R]

I suppose so but these are fairly big numbers when buying at around the £50-£70k level and losing a big chunk in depreciation. That has to be a consideration for me. If I knew that an Emira would only lose a few thousand a year I could take that but, like any car of that value, even small percentages in depreciation amount to a lot in £ terms.

The Evora, Exige and Elise CUP 250 all seem to have very strong residuals which make the financial decisions easier, but technically, the Emira is the best (I appreciate they are quite different from the Exige/Elise). Ideal cars are an Exige 410 and Emira but both are around £70k. The Exige will loose less, probably nothing. The Emira looks amazing.

First world problems eh?

[jep]

6 hours ago, Bazza 907 said:

He should have kept the Esprit and I suspect he knows it.

Harry's not a Lotus man. He respects Lotus, he's had a few including 340R from new but sold that too. 

He's running a business and has cars that get the digital eyeballs.  

Back on topic, Emira will continue to slid. Lotus compromised with weight and tech to produce a more mainstream sportscar. The one arrow that had to land was reliability. It seems to have missed the dartboard. Whilst that persists, the target audience of non- believers will give it a wide berth.

Justin 

[DaveC72]

18 minutes ago, jep said:

The one arrow that had to land was reliability. It seems to have missed the dartboard. Whilst that persists, the target audience of non- believers will give it a wide berth.

Justin 

As much as it breaks my heart, I think you have absolutely nailed it.

I wanted, oh so badly, this not to be the case.

If you enter in to the more mainstream market, it doesn't matter how fantastic your car is if you just prove the sceptics (sic) and those that scoffed correct.

[MrBlueSky]

On 31/05/2024 at 16:57, Frimley111R said:

I suppose so but these are fairly big numbers when buying at around the £50-£70k level and losing a big chunk in depreciation. That has to be a consideration for me. If I knew that an Emira would only lose a few thousand a year I could take that but, like any car of that value, even small percentages in depreciation amount to a lot in £ terms.

The Evora, Exige and Elise CUP 250 all seem to have very strong residuals which make the financial decisions easier, but technically, the Emira is the best (I appreciate they are quite different from the Exige/Elise). Ideal cars are an Exige 410 and Emira but both are around £70k. The Exige will loose less, probably nothing. The Emira looks amazing.

First world problems eh?

Totally get your point.

I happened to be passing Parks Lotus in Hamilton today and dropped in for a look.

Had just taken a delivery of Emira so plenty on the forecourt. I must say I'm really warming to it. Looks fab. My choice would be a Nimbus with Nappa Tan and silver wheels. Looked very classy especially next to several Maserati MC250 at x3 times the price. They were also talking about interest free being introduced.

Hope you can get the outcome that works best for you.

[ewand]

On 30/05/2024 at 20:08, Bravo73 said:

Already? Blimey, I thought this was meant to be a ‘last of it’s kind, keep it forever’ kind of car for him. Hence getting everyone to sign it etc etc

No doubt he’s made a video about why he is selling up so soon. 

I did notice in his video of the RR Spectre, the Emira was still in the background, but in the AMG GT review this week, the Emira is gone. It might be that with summer coming, he'll not be driving the Emira any more anyway... 

Expect to see a final wash-up video to be posted about 10 minutes after the car actually sells... though it's had a haircut in price already:

 

[Denno]

With Lotus doing the 0% finance on new built cars they should start moving some of their stock, great offer saving thousands in interest even if the list price is higher. 

[Andy Esprit SE]

Hi all, I haven't been on here for ages, I still have an Esprit SE (13 years now) and I've had a nissan gtr for 3 years which I've just had an offer on I might accept. Gtr has bene a great experience of playstation driving in real life but after a few years I want to be in a modern manual that makes some noise, pure speed is just too fast for the road after a GTR and the EV's take the win even though they have no soul.

I'm thinking the over stock of emiras at the minute is a good time to buy, I thought being the last manual v6 petrol engined British built lotus it'll be something to keep a few years while stock dries up and they become harder to find and values hold in the 60s then maybe go up as people find the 4cyl auto a little dissconnected from driving (like a GTR).

I've got a bucket list of cars but depreciation is something I've been lucky to avoid so far. 

I fancied a yellow evora 410 /430 but there not popping up for sale anymore and after seeing the emiras on the road I was practically dribbling following one on the m6 recently.

What's your thoughts on emiras holding in the 60s or equal / above the last of the evoras? 

Is there something I've missed in reliability or bad press on the emira emira? I'm gonna carry on the threads now to see.

 

 

 

[JimH]

 

Hi - I've had mine (V6 Auto) since last October and, apart from one known issue (HVAC fan resistor fixed under warranty) it's been faultless.

Hope Bibs is OK with the link but there's loads of info over on the "dedicated" Emira forum : https://www.emiraforum.com/ but do bear in mind that a) people do tend to go on forums more to complain than praise and b) it's not just a UK forum 😬

It's still a Lotus, (mostly still) hand built at Hethel, and does have it's foibles and some minor design compromises, but then again, it's still a Lotus and the drive is very Evora-like (a good thing!).

As far as prices and depreciation go, nobody can know for sure, but with no UK V6's being built until "delivery in 2025" and some great 0% finance offers the new cars in stock at Lotus look better value with a significant interest saving (or gain if you have cash that can be invested). If you can find a low mileage ex-demo car (like I did - 254 miles on it and £10k off) then so much the better as there's an extra hedge against depreciation from the off....

Personally, having driven all three derivatives, I'd avoid the "Emira Turbo" (we're not allowed to say i4 any more as BMW got upset) as it's really not that good, even compared to the V6 auto (which are few and far between).....

[Al]

I would just like to echo Jim's post above.  Almost identical experience on the particular car and the finances.  I had 4 Evora's from being a pre order fan in 2009 through to last November when I at somebody else's suggestion drove a V6 Auto.  I literally bought the car on the spot and went home and cancelled my order for an i4 which I had had on order from the off, at launch.  @bingoking did exactly the same thing 2 days later and neither of us us regret it.  

My car is going in next week for 1st annual service and I've 7K on the clock now.  I'm told there are 2 or 3 "Service Campaigns" (Updates) to deal with at this time.  Mainly around the HVAC I believe which is something both our cars have had issues with and Lotus obviously out to eradicate.  Other than that I have only very minor items for attention like a dropped oil drip stick cover hatch being unretrievable, steeling wheel not quite aligned centrally, and maybe some over sensitive front parking sensors but hey our other new car a Maserati Grecale has had bigger issues and ended up on a low loader or being unusable.  The Lotus (or any of the 6 Lotus owned) hasn't ever been unusable.

I'm not saying that the auto is the best gearbox but it now suits my "pensioner" spec driving style & use much of the time with minor leg & back issues. (I still have an Elise if I feel the need to change gears manually)  It is brilliant in traffic like any auto and I find in sport mode when out on a cross country blast it is probably being driven harder than my manual Evora S as it always seems in the right gear and does it go.  The i4 or Turbo now demo's have arrived I'm glad I didn't wait for and in fact now wish I had considered an auto V6 much, much earlier.

We have both returned from a 3,400 mile trip round Europe getting as far south as Almalfi coast and I have posted up elsewhere here about how much luggage and "stuff" we fitted in the car without compromising anything.

 

[ewand]

On 04/06/2024 at 08:21, ewand said:

I did notice in his video of the RR Spectre, the Emira was still in the background, but in the AMG GT review this week, the Emira is gone. It might be that with summer coming, he'll not be driving the Emira any more anyway... 

Expect to see a final wash-up video to be posted about 10 minutes after the car actually sells... though it's had a haircut in price already:

 

Well, Harry's Emira didn't last long at that price and the new car to replace it has broken cover...

 

 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

It’s a bit of an odd video. We all know that HM has more cars than he can possibly drive and a steady revenue of funds to invest in more. He is probably constrained by garage space and SHMBO. It’s probably one in, one out. The Emira is his modern sports car: with only a couple of minor exceptions, he genuinely seems to be happy with it. He clearly does not use it as a daily driver.

He has decided to put the equity from his two year old manufacturer warrantied Lotus Emira together with another £50k of savings to buy a 10 year old McLaren for around £110k-£120k. Good luck to him, but that is not a situation many other Emira owners will find themselves in. He tries to justify it by implying that he has fallen out of love with the Lotus brand since Geely took over. That’s his opinion, but doesn’t make his Emira a lesser car, which needs to sold. He’s had a couple of years out of it and is in the fortunate position of being able to buy an old 650S as another fun car using the Emira proceeds plus a large chunk of cash. That McLaren is not going to be his daily driver either. He could have said that he’s selling his much admired Emira to help fund a 650S and left it at that. I guess he didn’t want to suffer any further depreciation on the Emira. As he said a 10 year old McLaren is pretty much at the bottom of that curve. When you look at the other cars in his garage, they are all effectively classic car investments.

[C8RKH]

I'm reading between the lines here, and he doesn't "believe" in the new Lotus direction. But rightly he adores the styling of the Emira.

He's got out of the Emira now, in an attempt to minimise his future losses as he see's the price going only one way. The 650S will probably stick at £100k for the next 10 years.

He was spot on in his appraisal of the Eletre (apologies to any owners) too.

To be honest, there have been quite a few who've bought an Emira, then flipped it on fairly quickly. The car does look fantastic, but it doesn't seem to be "clicking" or connecting with owners the way other Lotus cars have done.

Just my assessment of the video and his words.

I think that by "detuning" (i.e. not going up from the outgoing Evora's 410bhp) and softening the car at launch, the Emira has the looks but not the go to go with it. On a road, the speed differential between a 410 Evora and a 400 Emira is nowt. Zero. Nothing. But I think the fantastic styling is leaving people just wanting, well, a bit more.

That, and the agency model debacle, the price increases, the delays and the faults and issues. Well........

[Al]

Fair comments & I agree that the Emira is maybe not clicking as well as it should (was hoped for) but the buyer base started off much much higher and many new to Lotus customers.  I think from those Emira owners I've spoken to, if you were a previous Lotus owner at any level then it clicks.  If new to the brand then they haven't won as many over as they they would have hoped for, for sure.  I would assume here that there are already many more Emira's out there in the UK than Evoras.  

As for prices I never bought expecting this one not to devalue rapidly.  The first new Evora I bought at £63K in Sept. 09 had rapid depreciation as well, even if that car quickly plateaued out at around mid 30's for a long time. I was the first owner to take the hit that others love but it was expected.  It was still less % than almost anything else. It is still on TLF and last changed hands  for high 20's I think.  Hopefully the Emira will go the same way once the initial whole farce is over.  

[C8RKH]

Totally agree with all you said @Al.

Lotus owners were always going to get the Emira, and the lack of a power rise (wasn't that long ago a Porsche GT3 had around 360-380 horses!). The way the Emira was always going to drive would have been enough.

However, for a lot of new to the brand "enthusiasts", Top Trumps and "brand recognition", or in other words, will they guys with the small winkies at the golf club be impressed, was always going to be more important.