Still a rare item?

[Nyj]

Looking through the list of people who have ordered / collected, it occurred to me the only other Coupe I've seen being owner driven was at the MBW meet on Easter Sunday, and the only other Roadster I've seen in the flesh was at last years FOS which is when I ordered mine.

I see loads of Lotus as I travel around, including plenty of earlier Exige, but none of the new style.

So how few are there traveling around the UK, anyone's know?

[softlips]

I've seen three in the UK.

[anthonyyule]

Looking through the list of people who have ordered / collected, it occurred to me the only other Coupe I've seen being owner driven was at the MBW meet on Easter Sunday, and the only other Roadster I've seen in the flesh was at last years FOS which is when I ordered mine.

I see loads of Lotus as I travel around, including plenty of earlier Exige, but none of the new style.

So how few are there traveling around the UK, anyone's know?

Come to Aberdeenshire - loads - everywhere

[Kristof Thys]

www.autogespot.com

About 15 coupes in Belgium?

[simon mac]

This thread made me create an account, so sorry for the resurrection

 

The Roadster is still a very rare beast here in the UK.

 

According to howmanyleft.co.uk  (and therefore the DVLA) only 29 examples nationally.

 

I was torn, the coupes seem to be holding their money a little better right now (what few of those come up).,  However having gone the opposite direction to many from an S2 Exige, to an S2 Elise,  I have fallen for open top, and softer road manners of the Elise.  (I use mine far more for euro tours or weekend road blasts rather than track work)

 

So looks like in the short term, I'll be slightly out of pocket (at least on paper), but I'm hoping the rarity swings back in my favour someday if/when I ever sell it.

 

So scratch that 29 figure, and make it 30

 

 

Also worth noting the official price list has also changed... So now the roadster is slightly more than the coupe, despite getting less for your money  

 

(You could get a soft top retrofitted for less than the price difference too,  but then it would be a coupster ) 

 

 

 

 

 

[Neal H]

Welcome. Post up a picture!

 

I love my Roadster. They're certainly rare - I've never seen another on the road (or a Coupe come to that!)

[simon mac]

Welcome. Post up a picture!

 

I love my Roadster. They're certainly rare - I've never seen another on the road (or a Coupe come to that!)

Few more weeks to go till it comes, but I will do

[LF1]

Not sure about that 30 figure. There must be at least 30 LF1 in the UK, let alone all the other coupes and cups. Probably an entry on the DVLA for each derritive.

[Bibs]

Lotus sold 724 Exiges in the last financial year and with the UK market accounting for about 15% of sales, that means around 100 Exiges for Apr 13 to Mar 14 alone.

 

Tom, you're right, have a look at this...

 

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=lotus+exige

 

It appears each dealer has their own way of registering new cars, hence the confusion. 

[LF1]

Very disappointing there is no LF1 derivative listed!

 

I do agree with the sentiment above though, other than en route to some event (track day) that we have done I have not seen another V6 on the road. I think I like that exclusiveness.

[simon mac]

Lotus sold 724 Exiges in the last financial year and with the UK market accounting for about 15% of sales, that means around 100 Exiges for Apr 13 to Mar 14 alone.

 

Tom, you're right, have a look at this...

 

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=lotus+exige

 

It appears each dealer has their own way of registering new cars, hence the confusion. 

 

Yep it's annoying how the figures are hard to reconcile

 

The 30 figure was for Roadsters only, and speaking to the sales guys at both Leeds and Leicester, the Roadsters are a fraction of the Coupe sales. (Not surprising when you could get a soft top conversion done for less than the price of the hardtop for a Roadster).   The list price of the Roadster is now more than the Coupe, so even more reason to go this route.

 

You are right though there's a few "Exige rdstrs" I hadn't counted in the howmanyleft. There's also some Exige S3s bundled in with the Exige S2s. Non road cars (like) Cup R's won't count either.  

 

Best I can figure out from how many left was there were 76 additional Exiges on the road overall (1/1/2014-31/12/2014). S2s included, so a small fraction of those might have been exported/written off.

 

Anyway a very rare car in either variant, and miles less common than a Ferrari 458  

 

TBH I'm happy going the Roadster route despite the premium. No grey areas with insurance or police. Lack of spoilers also helps if I ever need to park it outside work.  In fairness I'd have been better off with an Evora Roadster.  Maybe my next car

[LF1]

Yes, its a good point, we all talk about being able to take the roof off our coupes and have the best of both worlds, but in reality doubt many of us would (I know I would never bother), and I've never thought about the Insurance implications.

 

You've made a good call, spending that sort of money you don't want to be faffing, especially with the weather like this. When it comes to resale you'll probably get the premium back because most people probably want originality (speaking for myself anyway). At the moment it's just a bit odd because this time last year there was no premium for the Roadster.

[simon mac]

I used to take the roof off my old S2 quite a bit (sorry to all the purists out there), and didn't think a thing about the legal / insurance implications. 

 

Since having the Elise, and driving it 000's of miles roof off on euro tours, I've found it just suited my needs more.

 

I wanted something Elise like but faster and more "tourable".  Given this I've gone a much different route spec wise if, than I would have on a coupe, which I would have pushed toward  a more focused track car. (I'd have probably looked toward the Cup, and probably in different colour scheme),

 

Who knows if it willl pay off in residuals in a few years time. My biggest worry is if an Evora convertible comes on stream it might put a dent in the residuals of a "luxo spec" Exige Roadster.

 

 

One thing I know is it will be rare

Edited April 14, 2015 by simon mac

[Rancid]

Didn't realise there were so few around.

I still haven't seen a coupe or roadster on the road.

And I thought my Boxster Spyder was rare....

[giorgiozeta]

Little OT but not too much:

- what's the price of a soft top kit?

- is it the same of S2s?

[simon mac]

Little OT but not too much:

- what's the price of a soft top kit?

- is it the same of S2s?

 

Elise parts want £1k  for the roof and spars. Their advert confirms my belief it's identical to the S2 Elise roof.

 

You need the little holes cut into the fibreglass  in the window "hoop" 

[LF1]

The roof is only £600 from lotus (well was for our CR), can't see how the little plastic bits to put the bars in can cost much.

[Bullphi]

You can get the plastic "holes" from elise parts for about £15.

[giorgiozeta]

Thank you guys : )

[LF1]

Yesterday I saw my second P1 on the road in a week, an orange one on the M4 and this one yellow on the A404 at Marlow. This is 2 more P1 that I have seen Exige V6 Roadster and 1 more P1 than I have seen of the V6 Coupe...

[simon mac]

Yesterday I saw my second P1 on the road in a week, an orange one on the M4 and this one yellow on the A404 at Marlow. This is 2 more P1 that I have seen Exige V6 Roadster and 1 more P1 than I have seen of the V6 Coupe...

 

I absolutely love the P1.

 

My other car is a Tesla Model S,  so I really would love an uber hybrid... unfortunately my pockets aren't deep enough, so will have to make do with a "hybrid garage" instead.

[Rancid]

You weren't in the Tesla in West Bridgford this morning were you?

[simon mac]

You weren't in the Tesla in West Bridgford this morning were you?

 

Possibly on the outskirts.  There are at least 5 knocking about Notts now that I know of. 

 

Mine's a black one. 

[Rancid]

A black one was waiting at the mini roundabout by the police station as I went around it.

I was in a blue M3.

First one I've seen on the road - quite imposing.

[simon mac]

A black one was waiting at the mini roundabout by the police station as I went around it.

I was in a blue M3.

First one I've seen on the road - quite imposing.

 

I did see someone in a blue M3 glancing at it near the Meadows police station, so may or may not have been me.

 

But yep, they are big old things! 

 

Quick in a straight line, but things go a bit squiffy if you press on in the twisties unless you have the "Performance +" package. This has loads of extra rear camber, which eats (expensive) tyres, this pack also comes in a staggered setup, so you can't rotate the wheels to get you more even wear.

 

Will be interesting to see what the 4WD ones are like when they land in September, they'll definitely be faster: 0-60 in 3.1s, and 11.6 quarter mile,  but it's still a 2500kg car, running on 245mm wide tyres.