Not for the faint of heart! - Now "Exige Cup 430"

[Neal H 914]

Absolutely superb photos, as always!

At the very least, Lotus should employ you to take their launch photos, which are generally a bit poor.

[550superfast 448]

Any orders in from TLF members?

[geartox 600]

I got a quote for an Exige 430 with a xtrac gearbox installed by the dealer. But really too expensive for me specifically revision cost. I wait for an automatic version. I am quite sure that we will get more than 430hp during the next months, and I don't think that Lotus will keep with manual.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mark030358 616]

Had a quote to px my fully loaded 380 (carbon, suspension, blah blah) with circa 1000 miles on the clock, for a 430 with some options (paint, A/C). I felt the extra £45K I would have to fork out was just not worth it... So TVS or Komotec upgrade in the summer plus change her Audi S1 for an RS3 its about the same price.

thanks

[Swiss380Cup 210]

3 hours ago, 550superfast said:

Any orders in from TLF members?

Bought a 360 Cup and a 380 Cup in 12 months, so I guess this time I will leave it as is, and wait for the models coming out for the 70th anniversary and 1st under Geely.. there should be plenty of novelties or refurbishments in the drawers...... now with the new engine they can go for the next 24 months until the very new models are announced.....

[DarrylV8 238]

8 hours ago, geartox said:

I got a quote for an Exige 430 with a xtrac gearbox installed by the dealer. But really too expensive for me specifically revision cost. I wait for an automatic version. I am quite sure that we will get more than 430hp during the next months, and I don't think that Lotus will keep with manual.

 

 

 

 

 

Yes we also await the auto 430 (Cup) Exige

[alias23 1,535]

9 hours ago, Mark030358 said:

Had a quote to px my fully loaded 380 (carbon, suspension, blah blah) with circa 1000 miles on the clock, for a 430 with some options (paint, A/C). I felt the extra £45K I would have to fork out was just not worth it... So TVS or Komotec upgrade in the summer plus change her Audi S1 for an RS3 its about the same price.

thanks

Bit confused by the trade up price, so the dealer only offered a part ex of circa £50k for yours?

[DarrylV8 238]

7 hours ago, alias23 said:

Bit confused by the trade up price, so the dealer only offered a part ex of circa £50k for yours?

£57K ?

[Mark030358 616]

Offered £60K for mine for which I paid £80K in May. From memory the price for the 430 was around £103/105K with extras etc. Thus effectively costing me about £65K with depreciation.

However, I got a really, really good deal on my V6S (which I bought new) against the 380, which made buying the 380 an easy decision to make. So I suppose swings and roundabouts. To be honest I'd love a 430, and yes I can afford one, but its a step too far and probably with a TVS/KT upgrade I'll made this a medium term keeper.

Plus when you read about the actual out of the box performance of these cars in the real world vs the sales hype (before I get flamed, there are numerous posts on this and other forums) its just another tick in the "not to buy column"

But, I'll always have one so long as I can get in and out of them

thanks

[alias23 1,535]

4 hours ago, Mark030358 said:

Offered £60K for mine for which I paid £80K in May. 

£20K in seven months! Bloody Hell!!!!

Lotus need to show they support these higher retail prices by stumping up their own confidence to support better residuals surely?

[Mark030358 616]

@alias23 agreed and other forums could do better than talk the prices down. I expected 6 figure Exige with the new model, not a rehashof the old, guess I was miles away with the timing. However, the 380 is a great car and I’m not sorry I moved up from the S. 

It  will be interesting in say 20 years where the classic market puts the variants. For instance my 73 Élan Sprint, which in reality was an end of like model (circa 1300 made) is worth far far more than all the other Élan variants (26R excepted). 

Thus the decision a new buyer has to make on a fully loaded 380 is... “Do I buy an £80k car and immediately take a £20k hit”? I think most people on here can easily answer that and if that does not suppress new car sales I don’t know what does....

cheers

Mark

 

[cbaileyuk 57]

The price of these cars is down to lotus' current approach to prices; squirting out rebadged/rehashed versions of the same car, very frequently with a large hike in price and little in difference.

The buyback price to you is down to a market that is not completely convinced by the lotus approach and consequently, a dealer network struggling to move big ticket plastic at the rate it would like. It was absolutely bound to happen. An evolution of the brand's approach.

[The Pits 4,411]

If the car only dropped £10k then most would find another £10k to buy a new one wouldn't they?

Not sure I can see the big conspiracy theory there.

If a dealer offered Mark £65k for his car is a £15k drop catastrophic or fair? We're only going by one valuation here and it's one I happen to think is on the low side. Everyone who buys an expensive sports car knows that it's going to cost them, most of us consider it worth it too or we wouldn't keep doing it. A Sport 380 is going to cost you roughly the same whether you leave it in the garage to collect dust or drive it all over Europe to your heart's content. I'd argue that the second option gets you a better return for your depreciation. £20k is a lot to pay for mileage anxiety for a few months, not so bad if its for a few years worth of enjoying an inspiring sports car to the full.

If everyone enjoyed their cars more there would be fewer low mileage cars about and 50k miles would be more common, not considered high mileage anymore, subsquently improving residuals across the board. 20k miles cars would be considered low mileage and worth more. 5k miles cars would be considered unused and virtually new, which they are. With so many sub 10k miles cars around it's not helping anyone. But sure, let's blame Lotus for everything!

[Barrykearley 7,164]

You buy a new car and depreciation is part of that. You pays your money takes your choice.

 

[BatMobile 524]

To give another example, I got my 350 brand new for £56k in March. It’s on 2.8k miles and I was quoted at £51k with a deal on the 430 as well from a main lotus dealer. 

Was very tempted but decided to sit tight till the new cars come along, enjoy the 350 on track a lot over the next few years and then trade up.

[Mark030358 616]

I actually said I bought a stunning car, which I did and I'm overall (niggles apart) very pleased with it.

The only down side is the massive trade-up value and depreciation loss. Even at say a £65K valuation that,s almost a 20% drop, whereas the 350 drop quoted by Alastair is around 9% of the value. OK, one off quotes, but still a huge drop. Hence my comment about new owners thinking twice and possible impact on sales.

thanks

[Top cat 76]

4 hours ago, Mark030358 said:

I actually said I bought a stunning car, which I did and I'm overall (niggles apart) very pleased with it.

The only down side is the massive trade-up value and depreciation loss. Even at say a £65K valuation that,s almost a 20% drop, whereas the 350 drop quoted by Alastair is around 9% of the value. OK, one off quotes, but still a huge drop. Hence my comment about new owners thinking twice and possible impact on sales.

thanks

I hope i have read this correct Mark, You have only covered 1000 miles in your 380, and want to trade up for the next new model. Something sounds amiss there. If you are susceptible to marketing and have to have the latest greatest without even using the one you have then unfortunately this is going to cost you. I bought a V6 new for 62k and then due to circumstance had to sell  with 2,000 miles on the clock. It took quite a while to sell but sold privately for 46,500. On both my previous S2 Exige i had managed to sell for  more than i paid, which was a strangely new phenomena, to me. All my previous new cars lost 10k, the second they handed me the keys. 

Even if they gave you 75k by the time you had your 430 run-in, the all singing 450R will be lapping Hethel at warp speed. If you can afford to keep changing and ultimately feel the need to, then you can't really complain how much this costs you personally. 

[Daveb99 69]

I think the 430 looks great, and is clearly a big step forward being chargecooled.  I'd love one - but realistically it'll probably never happen.

I'm struggling to see how Lotus will sell loads of these though - I hope they do, but if I had £110k to spend on this type of car I'd be casting my net pretty wide, so the Lotus would have to be very special indeed.

Completely agree with the comments about even considering upgrading to a 430 (or not) after doing just 1000 miles and having lost £3k a month in depreciation on a 380 - that sounds like complete madness to me - it's £20 a mile based on losing £20k.....

I'm clearly in a different league, but I consider myself lucky to have been able to buy and justify my V6 Roadster, I made a substantial profit on my Elise Sport 160 after 3 years of ownership, which was just good timing and buying the right car at the right time more than anything else.  This allowed me to look at V6's, something I never thought I'd be able to do.  At well under £40k I consider my V6 to be an absolute bargain when you compare it to the price of the 380, 430 etc.   Is it worth £70k more to upgrade to a 430 (with options)?   Not in a million years in my book.  

If I ever wanted to reach that level of performance and capability on track (and had a coupe) I'd be looking at the Komotec 460, and suspension/brake upgrades, and driver training.   You could do this to a £47k Sport 350 and save a fortune, whilst still having something very special and almost untouchable on track.

Maybe this highlights the kind of buyer that Lotus need for the 430 though - i.e. people who can afford to upgrade to one, having probably lost a packet on their existing car,  and not worry about it in the slightest.    I'm definitely not in that camp, it's always about net cost of ownership for me...

Don't get me wrong here - for those who can afford a 430, go buy it and enjoy it, it's a stunnng leap forward, and we only live once...

[The Pits 4,411]

I’d definitely be getting one if I hadn’t jumped ship to team Evora.

If I had the choice to go for either I think I’d still go for the GT430, but part of that is the appeal of going for a change. Coming from another brand I think the Exige would probably appeal more for the same reason. The size and weight of the Exige would likely be more different to what I was used to. The Exige remains a uniquely Lotus driving experience.

 

[stephenwhyte 2,006]

12 hours ago, Mark030358 said:

Thus the decision a new buyer has to make on a fully loaded 380 is... “Do I buy an £80k car and immediately take a £20k hit”? I think most people on here can easily answer that and if that does not suppress new car sales I don’t know what does....

cheers

Mark

 

This is/was my thinking exactly and the reason, when it came to pulling the trigger, I couldn’t bring myself to buy the new 380 Sport in Fire Red I thought I really wanted, and bought a year old Motorsport Green Sport 350 instead

However my thinking is, that if I love the 350 enough it will make the 380 even more desirable, and I’ll then find the confidence to step up to the plate and cough up for the car I really want......but then I might wonder what a 380 Cup might be like or a.......where does it stop though!

Its not straightforward being a Lotus Exige buyer at the minute....

[DJW 691]

Anybody selling a near new car will take a bath at a dealers.  That’s life.

If extra performance is needed,  then the TVS1900 / Komotec route sounds a sensible idea.

 

 

[Daveb99 69]

2 hours ago, DJW said:

Anybody selling a near new car will take a bath at a dealers.  That’s life.

If extra performance is needed,  then the TVS1900 / Komotec route sounds a sensible idea.

 

 

More of a cold shower than a bath I'd say !

[Bibs 11,686]

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/lotus-elise-uks-slowest-depreciating-performance-car

There are many (in fact, most) brands which depreciate faster than Lotus. Most cars lost >50% in 2 years, in face the Alfa Guilietta at £22k is only worth £8k (eg -74%) at 3 years old and the worst on this list in the Renault Zoe which loses 84% in 3 years. Be glad those numbers are irrelevant to our cars. 

https://www.whatcar.com/news/fastest-depreciating-cars/

[GFWilliams 2,012]

I feel like the new 430 Cup will bring in a lot of new customers to Lotus.

At Silverstone I had a friend with a brand new 991.2 GT3 and he just couldn't keep up with me in my 460. He loved the idea of an Exige but wouldn't want to go for an aftermarket tuning package. Therefore the 430 Cup is perfect for him (apart from he'd struggle to get in one!)

[Bibs 11,686]