Lotus Emira V6 depreciation!

Pondrew

Pondrew

Lifer
I don't think it is any secret that I love the Lotus Emira...and if I had space I would have one in the garage.

Or would I?

These things are £90k new, yet an 18 month old one with very little mileage can be had (from a dealer) for £57k! Which means the dealers are paying closer to £50k for them :o
So, on their current depreciation trajectory, they will be £30k in another 2 years.

I don't think I could bear having an iconic car like that in the garage losing £250 a week. It's such a shame that cars like this don't seem to be appreciated anymore; just regarded as another 'out of date' ICE pseudo-sports-car.

An example:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202412057016811?sort=price-asc&searchId=597be91c-9bb4-4c77-9a82-a4cfbbedada7&advertising-location=at_cars&make=Lotus&model=Emira&postcode=PE11%201XN&fromsra
 
I think the original list price was too high, but the depreciation and negativity around their values is driving prices down.

I've been considering one too. I've not seen one yet nevermind have a test drive. They do look stunning in the right colours and spec.
 
Took a friend to collect one on Christmas Eve from Auto100, they bought a load of stock from Lotus direct. His is a ‘63 plate and had 6 miles on the clock when he bought it and paid £62k for it.

Stunning car, looks a lot more expensive than it is and is a huge departure from Lotus of old. The V6 is sonorous and it drives well as you would expect.

Good value now but hate to have paid list for one!

Si
 
Beerman said:
They do look stunning in the right colours and spec.
Click to expand...
Verdant Green with the caramel interior. Yum.
I HATE green cars, but it's British (ish) and not an 'in your face, Kermit the Frog, green'
 
Sit said:
Took a friend to collect one on Christmas Eve from Auto100, they bought a load of stock from Lotus direct.
Click to expand...
They seem to have a lot of them, so makes sense. The ones for sale now have probably been hanging around for almost a year, then. So they would have bought them from Lotus for around £50k average.
 
Pondrew said:
Verdant Green with the caramel interior. Yum.
Click to expand...
Sounds great...and I thought you had poor taste! :P

I would have mine as a manual V6, but I've been told by someone who races Lotuses that the 4-cylinder is dynamically far superior and considerably faster in almost all circumstances. His opinion was based on a day spent testing and setting up both variants for tarmac rallying with both cars essentially in standard Lotus specification.
 
Harry Metcalfe did an interesting piece on his Emira which he had from new. I think it was 18 months old when he got rid and one of the main reasons was the spectacular depreciation.
 
Boyo said:
Harry Metcalfe did an interesting piece on his Emira which he had from new. I think it was 18 months old when he got rid and one of the main reasons was the spectacular depreciation.
Click to expand...
It's a shame, I remember how invested he seemed when it launched. He discussed it in his summary of the year and I think driving the 750S swayed him too.
 
I was going to post something similar about Harry, the reason he gave at the time was that he wasnt happy with their new electric cars, so he decided to move the Emira on. Strange decision if you ask me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8_rVvmC6t8
 
Rockhopper said:
I was going to post something similar about Harry, the reason he gave at the time was that he wasnt happy with their new electric cars, so he decided to move the Emira on. Strange decision if you ask me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8_rVvmC6t8
Click to expand...

I've heard many people saying they won't buy the Emira due to the way Lotus are moving over to full electric.

Equally I've read lots of comments about buying the last petrol engined 4.0l Porsche Cayman predicting they'll be highly valuable as Porsche move over to electric.

Lotus Emira values are being beaten down for the same reasons people are predicting Cayman values to be very strong.
 
At 80k there is plenty out there to compete with but at £50k other than a Cayman what else is there?

When they were first announced didn’t Louts say they were going to be about £60k - £65k?

Those who paid over £80k new must be gutted. £25k loss in a year.
 
I heard that many of the low mileage Emiras on Auto 100 "direct from lotus" are customer returns that were faulty so lotus took them back. Anyone else heard that?
 
I don't think the Emira is considered that special is it that they would keep their value that much plus being a niche market and sign of the times.

A buyers market though when values fall 🙂

Think it says alot that Harry M has hung onto his Elan, a much more desirable motor.

Tim.
 
Put a deposit on one of these back when they were first shown to the world in July 2021 (50th birthday).

Price rises, poor comms/info from Lotus and being unable to view let alone drive a car meant I got my deposit returned - possibly the most sensible car related financial decision I ever made (amongst many stupid ones).

Would still like one but think my days of silly/expensive cars are behind me. Loved my Exige V6 though….
 
Beerman said:
Rockhopper said:
I was going to post something similar about Harry, the reason he gave at the time was that he wasnt happy with their new electric cars, so he decided to move the Emira on. Strange decision if you ask me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8_rVvmC6t8
Click to expand...

I've heard many people saying they won't buy the Emira due to the way Lotus are moving over to full electric.

Equally I've read lots of comments about buying the last petrol engined 4.0l Porsche Cayman predicting they'll be highly valuable as Porsche move over to electric.

Lotus Emira values are being beaten down for the same reasons people are predicting Cayman values to be very strong.
Click to expand...
There are far to may 4.0 Caymans around for them to be highly valuable. Whilst they have good residuals nonetheless they will continue to depreciate.
 
Depreciation does seem savage on them but as has been said I suspect the existence of the Cayman may well be part of the reason!

I've always appreciated Lotus cars but never had any desire to own one, and the Emira is heavier than I expected at 1,405kg which goes against the Lotus philosophy.

Give them a few more years and they may be a used bargain.
 
Mr Tidy said:
Depreciation does seem savage on them but as has been said I suspect the existence of the Cayman may well be part of the reason!
Click to expand...
A few references to the Cayman in this thread.
I never thought of the Cayman being a competitor to the Emira TBH. The Emira is the closest Lotus have come to a 'supercar' IMO, yet I see the Cayman as just a Boxster with a roof. And the Boxster is often used as reference against the Z4.
Therefore, by association, is an Emira in competition with the G29 (albeit only one has a roof)?

If the above is true, then I don't want an Emira anymore. It's too 'mundane'. I thought the Lotus was 'special'. Maybe my presumptions are not shared by others.
 
Well the Lotus only seems to have 398bhp which doesn't seem enough to call it a Supercar when you can have that in an AMG a Class!

Claimed 0-60 time for the Emira is 4.3 seconds, but it's only 4.5 seconds for a G29 40i so maybe they are comparable?

An Emira just doesn't seem special enough to me to justify the new price, so maybe that's why their values plummet. :o
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom