Evora market watch, for discussion and to help those searching!

[mg4lotus]

Market forces! Glad I have mine and love it.

[cdco]

17 minutes ago, jep said:

I first drove Evora in 2009. Loved it. 

I waited until 2018 before buying a 2010 NA. I rarely buy new-ish cars and had other stuff to play with in-between. 

18,000 miles in and I cannot imagine life without this brilliant automobile. I suspect I am not the only Evora owner who feels the same. So some early cars are basically 'off market' permanently. 

They get under ya skin, doz Evora.

Justin 

 

I did similar , drove an LE at the very short lived dealers in Preston when my Elise was serviced once ... Waited till 2020 to buy one ... Yes I'm slow on the uptake but was having too much fun with the Elise . Your right though once bitten there's no easy cure without actually going out and buying one.

[Celica]

I’m hoping an enthusiast LE owner will look to sell in the near future as they look to upgrade to a 400/410/GT etc. 😗

Been keeping an eye out for some time

but with lockdown and covid it’s not priority whilst sat at home working and homeschooling 😅

I’ve noticed half a dozen early NA sell over the last 6 months. 
 

[jep]

7 hours ago, Celica said:

to upgrade to a 400/410/GT etc

That ain't no upgrade. NA the best. 😄

[AdeMorton]

Noticed a 2009 NA has just come on here.. https://www.micarz.co.uk/used/lotus/shipley/ there are some pics on the Evora Owners Facebook page... 

[Hughesy83]

I recon there is a good deal to be had with that car. The dealer was asking how much people thought it was worth, so to be in that position he must of got it for a decent price in the first place. Car look a nice spec to be fair, quite rare.

[Cdm2018]

1 hour ago, jep said:

That ain't no upgrade. NA the best. 😄

Its wonderful that us NA owners would like to upgrade to 400 etc 

I think reality the NA is wonderful niche car that allows you to drive it at way which extracts max enjoyment from the cars characteristics ?

in the case of jumping to 400 there’s always question of finance and I know that my car value to me represents a great value and hopefully will still be  in the future ? 

[jep]

Some cars need improvements during their life-span, as perhaps the early cars were found dynamically or quality wanting. Early Porsche 928 are a dull drive; the 1987 S4 are a significantly better driving experience. Early Esprit (I love 'em) had noise, vibration and harshness issues that the S3 resolved - that matters not today as a classic car but when new, the Esprit S3 was just a better all-round vehicle. 

Invariably the later cars also get more power - it is an easy 'selling point' for the manufacturers (though NA Esprit power output hardly moved).

In my eyes, Evora was nailed from day 1. The move to S was basically a power-hike; MY12 did see production changes (for quality reasons I am told but my 2010 car has been fine) but no power increase. The face-lift for 400 gave more power as frankly the market is led by BHP figures. Is a 400 dynamically better than a NA? I don't think so. Both brilliant but the S and 400 were not produced because of the NA failings, they were produced to provide more grunt. Of course, they got heavier........ and wider tyres (yawn). 

I can only assume the NA was dropped as it was not financially viable along side 400.  Probably the same reason McLaren have never made a 300bhp car.

Justin

 

[Colin P]

Yes they are. That said I’d quite happily move back to my S1 from the 400. For me it’s a choice. 400 or NA. 

 

1 hour ago, Colin P said:

Is a 400 dynamically better than a NA? I don't think so.

 

[C8RKH]

32 minutes ago, jep said:

I can only assume the NA was dropped as it was not financially viable along side 400

My own personal belief is that the NA was dropped as Lotus wanted the ability to charge the premium (and make more cash per unit) for the 400.  I think at the same time if they had made say a 310 and 400 (the 310 was easy changes for Lotus to make to be fair on the NA) they would have been worried that the 310 would have taken too many sales away from the 400 (and therefore reduced profits).  I really do think it was just, and only, for the profit coin that the NA was dropped.

I still have hugely fond memories of my NA and I still do look when they come up for sale. I'd have one again in a heartbeat.

In fact, prices at the lower end are getting to the point where I have considered selling my VX220 to get a low cost NA, to strip out and use as track car. I bet it would be a great weapon with an easy 310-320bhp to get.  It is a very tempting proposition as unlike the VX, the Evora has the comfort - a proper heater, lights, cruise etc) to make my 800 mile round trips to track a pleasure.

[Techyd]

3 hours ago, C8RKH said:

In fact, prices at the lower end are getting to the point where I have considered selling my VX220 to get a low cost NA, to strip out and use as track car. I bet it would be a great weapon with an easy 310-320bhp to get.  It is a very tempting proposition as unlike the VX, the Evora has the comfort - a proper heater, lights, cruise etc) to make my 800 mile round trips to track a pleasure

That's a great idea, you'd notice the difference in inertia obviously but dynamically, I think the chassis on the Evora is much much better.  Stripped out and striped back, I wonder how light it would end up?

 

[EuropaSman]

6 hours ago, AdeMorton said:

Noticed a 2009 NA has just come on here.. https://www.micarz.co.uk/used/lotus/shipley/ there are some pics on the Evora Owners Facebook page... 

As has been said above, the dealer was asking questions on the Lotus Evora Owners Group on Facebook yesterday about this car regarding whether it was "fully loaded" and asking for opinions on pricing, with three photos. A couple of us think it looks very similar to the Evora that was for sale in Derby before Christmas. I know of one other early persian blue/oyster LE Evora, which is on the LE register thread.

@jamesbilluk is this your Evora or have you still got it?

Edited January 28, 2021 by EuropaSman
Typos (again!)

[LotusFella]

Don’t seem to be any S’s for sale at the moment

[Doug Ashley]

There's one on Pistonheads (well, two but Will Blackham's red one has sold) I think it's been up a while.

I bought mine last year through Will without it being advertised, which may be the way of things to come with the series 1.

[electro_boy]

@C8RKH I'm only a track day newbie and no Gavin Kershaw by a long way ...  but round a track I much prefer the lower weight of the Elise I tried at LDA.  The Exige 350 was amazing too but as a noob I felt more comfortable with the Elise, the lighter weight was just easier to deal with and I felt comfortable getting close to the limits and fine with the Elise squirming about under heavy braking etc.  My Evora feels even heavier and cumbersome still, you can feel that heavy engine and more rearward bias in the Evora.   Maybe with some weight stripped out it could be better?

Don't get me wrong as you know its still a great car and much better than other brands, I don't have space for another car so my car has to be jack of all trades and its pretty darn good at it but if it was my track day / special day car and I already had VX202 and Sport 410 I'm not sure a NA would cut the mustard?

How different is a VX2020 from the Toyota engined Elises?  Didn't they start getting more comfortable with touring pack options around that time?

Edited January 28, 2021 by electro_boy

[jamesbilluk]

7 hours ago, EuropaSman said:

As has been said above, the dealer was asking questions on the Lotus Evora Owners Group on Facebook yesterday about this car regarding whether it was "fully loaded" and asking for opinions on pricing, with three photos. A couple of us think it looks very similar to the Evora that was for sale in Derby before Christmas. I know of one other early persian blue/oyster LE Evora, which is on the LE register thread.

@jamesbilluk is this your Evora or have you still got it?

Sadly yes. Even though I had it a short time, lots of issues started appearing. The worry about what else would go wrong with it was taking over the enjoyment of the car.

I just hope he's got the problems sorted. Wouldn't want anyone else to get into trouble with it. The door catches were on back order from lotus. Speak belt, knocking from the front right, and spanner illuminating for 30 seconds, and not convinced the AC was working. 

Edited January 28, 2021 by jamesbilluk

[Barrykearley]

You sent it back @jamesbilluk?? 
there really was very little that needed to be done to make the car fine. They are superb cars - I’m sad to see this.

[jamesbilluk]

4 minutes ago, Barrykearley said:

You sent it back @jamesbilluk?? 
there really was very little that needed to be done to make the car fine. They are superb cars - I’m sad to see this.

Sold it to that chap, was at bit a loss, but sadly I don't think it was for me.

[Barrykearley]

Really 😳 - I can honestly say the Evora is hands down one of the best cars I’ve ever driven - and I’ve driven a lot....

[jamesbilluk]

37 minutes ago, Barrykearley said:

Really 😳 - I can honestly say the Evora is hands down one of the best cars I’ve ever driven - and I’ve driven a lot....

It was a great car to drive. But I found the worry of what each new sound was, or what was going to go wrong next, was taking over the enjoyment of it (could just be this car I think) 

[Hughesy83]

14 minutes ago, jamesbilluk said:

It was a great car to drive. But I found the worry of what each new sound was, or what was going to go wrong next, was taking over the enjoyment of it (could just be this car I think) 

Is this one your old car?https://www.micarz.co.uk/used/lotus/shipley/

[jamesbilluk]

2 minutes ago, Hughesy83 said:

Is this one your old car?https://www.micarz.co.uk/used/lotus/shipley/

That's the one. It would be interesting to see if he's managed to fix the door catches/other issues. 

[jerzybondov]

What were the other issues James? Obviously they were significant enough for you to want to part with it...

I hope it's not put you off the ownership experience altogether?!

[EGTE]

I do understand, James. My Evora has presented quite a few challenges over the last few years - nothing major really, but at times it was incessant - and you have to really love driving it a lot to keep going at times. Happily mine's all sorted now but it was a little touch-and-go whether or not I'd keep it and I'm totally in love with the car. Yours sounds like  a lot of minor stuff honestly, but they all add up, like the saying goes: 'death by a thousand cuts'. It's a shame, but I do understand.

Just don't buy a Porsche; that will be 'death by a huge cut' such as an engine or gearbox failure......

[jerzybondov]

You'd have to say I'm facing a three sword wielding samurai then right? I've got a 996 gen 911, Lotus and to top it off, a DeLorean 🤣