How many EVORA owners are hanging onto their car and not going to an EMIRA

[C8RKH]

Yes, both owned by Ford at the time iirc and lots of cross over, but at the end of the day two different car brands and two different markets, so not sure why it is a relevant comparator to the Evora and Emira which are from the same brand. Why did it need a "Yawn alert"?

[jep]

Yawn alert 'cos I keep making this point. Folk continually compare Evora to Emira but they are different segments. 

Jaguar/Aston reference was deliberate stretching of the point to emphasise the difference. 

Justin 

PS. 1968 Jag XJ6 is the same chassis as 1990s DB7. The DB7 is on the XJ-S platform, that being a shortened (hence S) XJ6 chassis. 

[TrevS]

This is a tricky one. I think if you are a S1 owner then the Emira is still such a big leap in money that it probably doesn't make sense. The S1's are such good value that it's difficult to not make a case for them being one of the best £30k sports car you can buy.

If money was no object I'd have an Emira over my Evora S purely for the styling. I adore the side profile and rear of the Evora but I look at my Evora from the front and don't think it's a pretty car (my last 2 cars were a S1 e-type and Aston V8 Vantage so tough competition). I still haven't driven an Emira but keen to see how it differs to the Evora but the one thing that makes me want to hold onto my Evora is the fact it's a 2+2 and I actually use it that way. I'll be picking the kids up tonight from school in it and so I can justify owning one and enjoying the Lotus with the family makes it a truely special car.

However, if I didn't have kids of the need for the rear seats then the arguement of it's a 2+2 is irrelevant as the Evora at that point just becomes a standard 2 seat sport car with extra luggage space. Once my kids are too big for the Evora I would likely look at buying an Emira. 

Trev

Edited April 29 by TrevS

[TrevS]

Looking at the market for Emira’s and Evora’s at the moment, what would you suggest is the best way to move from an Evora to an Emira? I would normally look to sell privately to maximise the value of the car but what are dealers offering on Evora’s as part exchange against Emira’s? It seems there are loads of Emira’s for sale and dealers perhaps struggling to shift stock so would they offer a good part ex value on an Evora at the moment to tempt someone into an Emira?

Trev

[Bibs]

You only just bought your Evora? Go drive an Emira, see if it's worth another £30k+ on what you have. 

[TrevS]

I’m not looking to sell mine as I need the 2+2 capability of the Evora but maybe in a year or two I would consider. I’m just interested in what, if anything dealers would offer an Evora owner given they are now pushing a 0% finance offer on new Emira’s and used market is starting to get filled with used Emira’s.

[jep]

Nothing like being prepared.....but not sure even The Lotus Forum crystal ball can predict what will happen in 2025/2026. 

[TrevS]

Sorry, I’m not asking for myself in a few years I’m just generally interested if any owners have looked at switching recently and how close Lotus’ part ex offers were vs private sale. 

[jep]

You'll (nearly) always get a better price selling a Lotus privately. I can't think of an example were that wouldn't be the case. Not many dealers will want a 10 year old Evora in p/ex, if any. They'll trade it straight out again. 

P/ex is there for folk who: are too lazy to sell privately/are too scared to sell privately/are time-poor (read 'can't be bothered')/company is paying/need out fast/who can afford it. 

P/ex is fabulous for dealers, they make more money otherwise they wouldn't do it. They make that money from you as the p/ex customer, it isn't magic by a Money Tree Car Fairy. 

Justin

 

[TomE]

I had a very early pre-launch Emira deposit and my physical car was ready in November 2022.  I decided not to go ahead but had gone through the finances.  Lotus central P/X scheme and B&C were offering P/X on my 2011 Evora S that was about £5k below what I thought I could get for it privately.  The absolute value will have changed a bit since then, but I guess the £5k difference will be about the same.

Lots of used Emiras and cancelled orders available at the moment.   And Emira is being built in higher volumes, so expect to see more on the used market next year anyway.  Overall you'll get a better deal haggling on the price for a used Emira and selling your Evora privately.  There will be no wriggle room on price for a new Emira to your own spec, but possibly if you take one of the cancelled orders or "pre-configured" cars.

[C8RKH]

4 hours ago, TrevS said:

Sorry, I’m not asking for myself in a few years I’m just generally interested if any owners have looked at switching recently and how close Lotus’ part ex offers were vs private sale. 

Your P/X will be a minimum of £3k, probably a maximum of £5k, LESS than what you could get for it, selling it privately.

That money would cover any works needed on your car, likely a service, and to cover a warranty and the prep required for the new owner. There'll be some profit in there too of course.

Alternatively, they'll offer around £5k less, as their objective would be to just pass it on in the trade, and the new garage will still need to do and provide etc....

So the real important question is, what is going to happen to Evora and Emira prices in the next year or two, as the real issue is the price to change, not the value of x or y, but the value of both x AND y.

[tim_marra]

My greatest concern with continued Evora ownership is parts availability.  I am at the Seriously Lotus open day, and looking around I wonder of many of the cars here will still be easy to maintain or repair in a year or two?

[C8RKH]

Lotus willingness to support its older cars is disappointing.

However, when I consider my VX220, which is 24 years old, there is a great "community" that has grown up around the car and with great independents like Max88 Performance, Type116, Lotus Hardtops, and others there is a thriving community that is creating solutions for the things we cannot get from OEM.

I hope that these companies can perhaps widen their scope to include the Evora in the solutions that they work on and develop.

There is a great community around our cars, even if Lotus doesn't give a shit, and we need to support those companies that develop solutions and take care of us, and our cars.

Loads of them out there from Seriously Lotus, Eltech, Hanger 111, ES Motorsports etc. Use them or lose them...

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

I have never heard of a proper production car being made “extinct” due to unavailability of parts. There’s always a way of keeping them on the road.

[Bruss]

That’s not quite true though is it. Plenty of insurance write offs due to cost of parts, or waiting for them.

 

 

[jep]

Insurers won't repair stuff like headlamps and seem to insist on new bumpers etc....instead of repairing. 

Owners will usually find a way to get around any parts issue, with the help of genuinely enthusiastic specialists. 

Justin 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

3 hours ago, Bruss said:

That’s not quite true though is it. Plenty of insurance write offs due to cost of parts, or waiting for them.

 

 

Yes but none of that has wiped out an entire “species” of car, has it? Plenty of doom mongers out there.

[C8RKH]

The issue is cost and number of cars buikt.

When the spares dry up you then need to get stuff fabricated in single/very small quantities. This pushes the prices way north.

No issue if the value of the car has also gone north, but a big issue when the car values are falling, or have flat lined.

With a very small production run, you have a limited number of crashed then dismantled cars to get spare parts from.

MOT failure items like headlamps become key to a car being used. Using "sealed" units just makes things harder to fix and source.

None of this is unique to Lotus but over time I believe the longevity of cars built in the early 2000's will not, due to the complexity of some parts, be anywhere near as good as "simpler" cars built before.

Take the VX220. The light switches (head, side, fog, hazard) were boggo standard Vauxhall items from the Vectra and Omega and Opel equivalents (millions  made) yet the ones with the LED inside are practically unobtainium. A part costing pennies to make now goes for £20 plus on ebay with no guarantee it will work. Type116 has produced a bespoke set of buttons that work brilliantly, look good, but are not OEM looking for those that crave originality.

Enthusiasts will keep the cars going but at what cost?

We need innovative, smaller companies to make solutions as original parts dry up, but they need us to support and buy from them.

Edited May 7 by Bravo73

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

It does annoy me how many posters on Pistonheads for example immediately pipe up with something along the lines of “good luck getting spare parts for that” whenever an older car is featured. If that was the case, there would hardly be any old cars on the road! Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

[C8RKH]

Where there is a will, and some willing engineers, there is always a way, but often at a cost.

Take your GTE - what happens when you need new wishbones etc. or even, a new wheel or front bumper?  Not trying to be doom and gloom, but our cars are a lot more "bespoke" and complex than some of the earlier "classics" that were simpler etc. It's just the way.

For example, I bet a TVR will be easier to keep on the road (well, not obviously from a handling point of view) than a Lotus in many ways due to the fact that they used more generic parts more of the time, where more simply built, and the bespoke stuff was mainly cnc machined so easily recreated - granted bodywork will be equally as hard.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Wishbones can be fabricated. I had a Renault 5 Turbo 2 for many years. The bespoke rear wishbones were known to succumb to corrosion, so a guy in Accrington arranged to have some new ones made complete with bushes and I bought a set of those when the time came. Front bumper can probably still be ordered from Mansory, or maybe a replica supplier. Wheels are from Rimstock: they might not want to make another batch, but there are other supply options for different designs if necessary.

My point is it’s highly unlikely I will ever need any of these items in my ownership, so why worry about them? The rest of the oily bits are just Evora S. If the worst should happen and my GTE is destroyed or stolen, then it will be an insurance pay out just like any other car.

[21gg]

Seeing as Classic Team Lotus are now doing classic parts, I think it's prime for taking on newer classic parts.

[C8RKH]

I would agree and would love to see it. Think it would be a great service for the Lotus community from a trusted supplier @21gg

[Bravo73]

5 hours ago, LotusLeftLotusRight said:

Wheels are from Rimstock: they might not want to make another batch, but there are other supply options for different designs if necessary.

FYI, Rimstock are no longer trading. If you want to keep the OEM look, you would have to find another supplier to produce replica wheels. 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

OK thanks for the info. I spoke to one of the Rimstock Directors at Lotus 70 about producing a new batch and he seemed interested, but I then followed up by e-Mail and he never replied. Anyway, just need to keep out of the pot holes! As far as I know, they’re just standard Evora fitment 19” and 20” wheels aren’t they, so there must be other set options if all else fails? That owner on the Emira sub-forum got some lovely ones made in China.