Price increase

[New Emira]

Just had an email from Lotus advising of price increase to £82,000 from July and it applies to existing orders. Glad I cancelled last week 

[JohnGB]

The price increase doesn't apply to existing orders.

Quote

However, your Emira reservation will not be affected by this increase, we can confirm your reservation has been price protected.

 

Edit.

Just seen the post on the other thread, it looks like it might depend on order date ?

Edited February 15, 2023 by JohnGB

[New Emira]

I had a deposit down for 18 months build June 23 delivery July 

[Peeltone]

I got the note but it says my order isn’t impacted by an increase so it must depend on when they got orders.  I checked out on the car yesterday by chance. n confirm your reservation has been price protecte

[JimH]

Mine says I am affected- i4 first deposit Goodwood Thursday 2021 - queried......🤬

[Del Lardo]

Can delivered (checked out?) before 30th May get the original price.  Anything after that (so that's all i4s I assume) have the higher price.

 

I'm going to give myself a few days to think but price increase combined with PCP interest rate increases combined with my 911 being an annoyingly good car (sorry to post on a Lotus forum) means it's gone from being some man maths to impossible to justify. 

 

 

 

[Sparky]

Poor comms in my opinion.  When I read my email, I was led to believe that the price of mine had increased.  However, the end of para 2 above is omitted. So now I can't be sure.

[KennyN]

I'm confused, are they saying the price is increasing based on the build date, which has been proven to have nothing to do with the deposit date?  If so, isn't this the exact opposite of what the MD stated on the record some time ago?

I can see a few people getting lucky if the ~8% increase leads to a flurry of cancellations.

[simonb]

the MD statement was

 

 

---

I commit to you that these costs will not be passed on to you, the price you are being quoted will be the price you pay for your emira. That is a promise

[New Emira]

Yes promise broken my deposit has been down 18 months. They haven’t even updated their records to show that I cancelled the order at the end of last week over concerns regarding build quality. Complete shambles.

[KennyN]

This is a poor show for those whose deposit date was/will not be honoured.  It makes the £5k premium on flipped cars seem like decent value.  As time went on, it was looking like the £60k base price was likely to be unattainable, but this feels wrong for those who have kept the faith this long.

Selfishly, it can only help shore up the value of my car for a bit longer.  Not that it's for sale, it needs fixing first!

[C8RKH]

Lotus 2.0 - promises mean nothing and nothing is guaranteed. They really are doing a crap job on comms and it just feels like it is being made up as they go along.

[Whitey]

If I had ordered a i4 then I would be annoyed and probably cancel, but my V6 order is safe with build date this month and my email says that I am NOT affected by the increase. So the 60k Emira has never and will never arrive but the prices were always going to have to increase at some point but bad timing for some folk with early i4 orders.

[Frickin_idiot]

My vehicle was due to be built in November, I asked for a delay as having the car over the winter held no interest to me. Pushing back the intended build date has caused me to suffer a frankly unacceptable price rise. I’m not angry, more disappointed.

My other half bought a 15k Dacia, the Comms and buying experience excelled Lotus in every single measure. Was the vehicle delayed? Yes but we were kept informed. Spending five times the amount I would expect far far better.

I will possibly revisit in a few years time or buy second hand. 

[duncx]

Pre-reveal deposit here so been waiting for 2 years, confirmed July build for one of the first i4 cars, now subjected to the price increase

I've thrown my toys out of the pram and cancelled my order

I really don't think that Lotus will care one tiny bit

[Frickin_idiot]

They will, care. If not today, then maybe next year or the year after that. Judging by the delays and waiting list I’d suggest that a good few people new to the Lotus brand had placed orders. If their experience is poor who is to say that they will ever come back?

[Al_C]

Deposit placed at time of the launch of the car just when I was about to buy another used Evora.  What attracted me was the entry price point and my intention from the beginning was always to have the base spec with a few options.

The price was announced and Lotus took the deposit on that basis.  There were no t&c’s stating that this was subject to increase.

Great way to get publicity and interest by announcing a price you will never honour.

Breaking sales contracts a great way to destroy all the value that was being built in the brand.

Suspect the waiting list is going to become much shorter.

[MJON]

Got to smile as I had my test drive earlier today 😏. Not really surprised, this increase was inevitable, if I’d have stuck with V6 I would have been inside the time window. With Porsche your final price is subject to any increases until lockdown, which is usually 3 months before delivery. So on say a 911S and several GTS models, you typically have up to 21 months exposure. Higher up the food chain even greater. Those that have been given delivery dates inside the time window, to find the factory has since delayed should be treated fairly. Would certainly challenge them on this.

 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Yes, I feel sorry for all those thinking they were going to get a new base spec. I4 for £60k or whatever it was quoted at. It will be nowhere near that now.

[Emiralust]

This is crap for the i4 customers  I don't blame them on the V6 depositors though if someone's delivery is scheduled for before 1st June 23 this surely captures everyone who was keen for the car in the first month open for orders? There had to be a cut off point somewhere

[Frickin_idiot]

Quite possibly , and I can understand a price increase from the manufacturer. From my point of view this is just another problem in a long list. I have been wavering somewhat since the rapid rise in interest rates, the complete lack of engagement with the brand through essentially radio silence and then, the price rise made my mind up. Within an hour of the email I’d cancelled.

Will I buy another Lotus in the future? Most certainly. In the next 7 years will it be electric? Certainly not. Will I buy another new Lotus? Maybe or maybe not.
 

My last new purchase was a 400, I bought it when Lotus were literally on their knees with limited funding. The experience from test drive, specification, ordering, payment through to factory collection was utterly fantastic. This transaction has been long, drawn out despite having ordered 18-24 months ago I still haven’t even driven one.

The new purchasing model simply does not work. The dealership network is a complete and utter joke. I may be prepared to take a four hour round trip to get a service but I’m not sure others will be.

 

[Emiralust]

11 minutes ago, Frickin_idiot said:

The new purchasing model simply does not work.

THIS right here is the absolute problem.

As soon as my checkout changed to dealing with the dealership for collection and the collection/aftersales itself everything is back to how it should have been and has been a breeze. Antonia at Bell & Colvill is an absolute Star.

 

[Frickin_idiot]

That is positive to hear! It’s a shame that the dealership couldn’t be engaged at an earlier date. I had originally engaged with Silverstone as they have a good reputation.

[Al]

Well right now sitting with big wooden splinters in my backside from sitting on the fence today.  Not sure how to move forward.  

I was an early depositor from around Goodwood day 2 and from the get go thought I'd go down the i4 route for a change as I have an Elise for when I feel the need to change gear on a track.  If I had gone for the V6 which I have had in 4 Evora's (so wanted to try something different) then I might have it by now at the advertised price.  I have a build date which has just slipped from Sept. to October in last couple of weeks although I didn't really expect that to happen to be honest on track record to date.  What is actually interesting me is I don't have a single email listing the price I paid the second deposit for an agreed spec at!  I'd never noticed before and only did now as I was wondering what the % increase is.  I see somebody has calculated 8%.

Part of me says f**k them, they don't deserve my money.  The well known piss poor, wrong or simple non communications to date have pushed my patience to the limit.  Part of me says, well I want the car and have waited this long, but as MJON says above if I jump ship I will then have to wait even longer.

Splinters continue to annoy me tonight and will sleep on it, but maybe visit Jaguar in next week or so when in town...... 🤔

[Philsport300]

I was number four in the queue, deposit placed  first week May, prior to the July reveal. I cancelled in December.Finally got my deposit back at the end of January after many calls to customer services, who I might add, told me the delay had been due to my card expiring. This was wrong as I paid with a bank transfer!!!.

The worst experience I have had buying a car. Ive been a loyal customer of Lotus for over 30 years. 
Lotus version 2.0 are a shower of shite.

Anybody with an ounce of common sense would see that the new way of purchasing was wrong, they aren't selling white goods.

I also think the plan to go fully electric is misjudged.

It seems that Lotus ver 2.0 love you if you are a social media bullshitter who doesn't really give a toss about Lotus. ( Harry Metcalf not included)

 

Phil