New Member - Soon to be owner...

[jamesbilluk]

Hi all, 

Thought I would introduce my self, 

I have a 2007 Maserati Granturismo at the moment, which I love, but, I'm after something a bit more special to look at and drive, I've settled on an Evora S

I'm off to see the Ardent Red S at Bell and Colvill next Tuesday which I'm looking forward to! From the photos, it looks stunning and I've read good things about the garage   I always tell my self never to buy the first car I see, but I suspect I'll end up with it!

This will be my first eve lotus, so looking forward to becoming an owner! 

James. 

 

 

[Bibs]

Welcome to TLF James. Happy shopping, B&C have an excellent reputation

[Bravo73]

Welcome, James. 

I also went from a heavy, V8 beauty to an Ardent red Evora S. (It was a V8 Vantage in my case). I’ve never regretted the change for a second. 

[jamesbilluk]

6 minutes ago, Bibs said:

Welcome to TLF James. Happy shopping, B&C have an excellent reputation

Thanks Bibs Great to hear about the garage, Jamie has been great at replying to emails quickly which is nice. 

I've never seen in one in the flesh, saw my first one at Shelsley Walsh last weekend, in a lovely Silver with cream leather,  had a good look around it!

Just now, Bravo73 said:

Welcome, James. 

I also went from a heavy, V8 beauty to an Ardent red Evora S. (It was a V8 Vantage in my case). I’ve never regretted the change for a second. 

Cheers

Yours looks fantastic in your photo!  Love the V8 Vantage as well!  

[jamesbilluk]

Many thanks  

[Cdm2018]

Welcome James

goid luck on your search I looked at the car your viewing but it was just too much over my budget shame !

i went for NA in ardent red in the end 

love my Evora although it’s having a few annoying issues at moment but hopefully get it back this week all sorted for me to enjoy 👍🏻 

[jamesbilluk]

Many thanks There was a lovely NA ever which I was ready t go and see wt Williams Automobiles, but found its a 2.0 which is a shame,

Ah, Hope you get the issues all sorted soon

 

 

 

 

[TomE]

Welcome!  You've come to the right place and are going to the right place (Silverstone would be my other strong recommendation).  Jamie is a top guy and will lure you in to the Lotus fold, he has a way of "helping you decide to buy" rather than selling and is always super-helpful.

If the Ardent one ticks all your boxes then don't hang around, these cars are rare used and if you have a particular spec/colour in mind it can be a long wait for the right one to come up.  Just be careful you aren't converted by the man maths of getting a new one on special finance arrangements instead! 

You'll find some buyers guide info elsewhere on here.  That car is same age and similar mileage to mine.  Main thing to check is the gear change and if any changes have been done to the cables - it was a weak spot and many cables were changed to try and remedy it but it can still be sticky, particularly 3rd to 2nd.  Even a good setup needs to be used deliberately and not rushed.

Check also for transmission noise - many Evoras do a diesel rattle at low revs and it isn't usually a sign of an underlying issue but worth checking.  On a lower mileage car like this one it may be difficult to tell the difference between "they all do that" and the first signs of a problem.  But B&C will tell you.

That car is on a factory registration so presumably was originally a press car.  I'm guessing it's had other owners in between, as Lotus wouldn't have kept it for 7 years and only done 32k miles on it.  Press use isn't an issue and the cars were very well maintained, it just gives some pointers on history and you might find it featured in a press article somewhere.

info here from the MOT history: http://rate-driver.co.uk/AU61BZX suggests you should check the tyres, windscreen and lights too!

[BertieGlenn]

Welcome to the forum! Cheers!

[jamesbilluk]

36 minutes ago, BertieGlenn said:

Welcome to the forum! Cheers!

Thank you

[jamesbilluk]

1 hour ago, TomE said:

Welcome!  You've come to the right place and are going to the right place (Silverstone would be my other strong recommendation).  Jamie is a top guy and will lure you in to the Lotus fold, he has a way of "helping you decide to buy" rather than selling and is always super-helpful.

If the Ardent one ticks all your boxes then don't hang around, these cars are rare used and if you have a particular spec/colour in mind it can be a long wait for the right one to come up.  Just be careful you aren't converted by the man maths of getting a new one on special finance arrangements instead! 

You'll find some buyers guide info elsewhere on here.  That car is same age and similar mileage to mine.  Main thing to check is the gear change and if any changes have been done to the cables - it was a weak spot and many cables were changed to try and remedy it but it can still be sticky, particularly 3rd to 2nd.  Even a good setup needs to be used deliberately and not rushed.

Check also for transmission noise - many Evoras do a diesel rattle at low revs and it isn't usually a sign of an underlying issue but worth checking.  On a lower mileage car like this one it may be difficult to tell the difference between "they all do that" and the first signs of a problem.  But B&C will tell you.

That car is on a factory registration so presumably was originally a press car.  I'm guessing it's had other owners in between, as Lotus wouldn't have kept it for 7 years and only done 32k miles on it.  Press use isn't an issue and the cars were very well maintained, it just gives some pointers on history and you might find it featured in a press article somewhere.

info here from the MOT history: http://rate-driver.co.uk/AU61BZX suggests you should check the tyres, windscreen and lights too!

Hi Tom, Many thanks of the reply! 

Thats great to hear about the garage, looking forward to going to see the car. 

It certainly does seem to have what I'm after, I suspect I'll end up popping a deposit down on the day if it all checks out, Would see it this week, but Jamie's off away until next Monday, so booked in on Tuesday  I did think about doing that briefly with the 400... But realised I already have my daily driver on finance..

Thanks for the info of what to look out for as well, Will check out the gear change

The mot history is a strange one, will certainly see what the headlight issue is! and the windscreen and tyres. 

[TomE]

The issue with the lights (rears not heads) could be that a few of the LEDs in the LED cluster failed.  They're supposed to be a "lifetime" unit and if they completely fail you in theory have to replace the whole thing.  Replacing individual failed LEDs means opening the unit up.  If one or two aren't working then B&C should be able to sort it out.

 

[jamesbilluk]

Many thanks, could well be that. I shall have a look with the rear lights on, or brake lights, see how the LED's look. 

[Bravo73]

4 hours ago, TomE said:

That car is on a factory registration so presumably was originally a press car.  I'm guessing it's had other owners in between, as Lotus wouldn't have kept it for 7 years and only done 32k miles on it.  Press use isn't an issue and the cars were very well maintained, it just gives some pointers on history and you might find it featured in a press article somewhere.

Not necessarily. Lots of earlier Evoras on AU plates were Lotus management cars. 

[TomE]

I think the management scheme was cut back or stopped before the S was launched or maybe soon after?  When I was looking for a nearly new one in 2011 I was advised to look for an ex demo rather than a management scheme car.  Either way, B&C should know what usage this one's had.

[EGTE]

Hi James,

   All I would say is, don't discount the earlier cars (or NAs), especially those with Premium Packs. Yes the later ones have improvements, but TBH once you drive any of them (and I tested a few...), you just don't notice any difference! I bought  a 2010 NA on an AU plate and it was a management car (not Press demonstrator). Seems plenty good enough to me (and I do like performance!).

[jamesbilluk]

Hi Russ, 

Many thanks, I did start off looking at early N/A's, was ready to go and see this one -https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/lotus/evora/lotus-evora-vvt-i-v6-2-0-1-owner-59-000-miles/7758819 But found it was a 2+0

I did start looking at the 12 reg cars after reading the improvements, but they do seem to be quite a premium. the Ardent red one was in a spec I liked the look of, and close too. I see B&C have a nice N/A in stock now, sounds lovely from the description 

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/lotus/evora/lotus-evora-v6-4/8539084 I'll see if I can take that for a drive when I'm there too. 

James. 

[Cdm2018]

James 

when I was looking I looked around the UK as there was a choice of less than 10 cars at any one time? 

What I learnt was that buying from dealer gave you piece of mind the warranty is subjective to individual dealerships so maybe a good private seller who has a presence or is known on this forum might be just a good option ? 

I bought my car from Snows 200mls away but the issues need sorting I have used two lotus centres 20-35 miles from me so not ideal but it’s what I have !

[jamesbilluk]

I shall take a look  Would need to sell the other car first if I was to go private (the Maserati was a private sale which was risky considering what could go wrong....) 

[Bibs]

Looks nice mate! 

[theelanman]

Hi and welcome......

happy shopping        

 

[jamesbilluk]

1 hour ago, Bibs said:

Looks nice mate! 

Looks great in those! thanks for the photos Looking forward to Tuesday now! 

51 minutes ago, theelanman said:

Hi and welcome......

happy shopping        

 

Many thanks

[ramjet]

Welcome to TLF James.  

Got to love red. But then, I am biased.

Any questions or issues with using the forums, feel free to ask one of us mods. We're here to help.  

[jamesbilluk]

Apologies for the late reply, just seen the reply  

Many thanks for the welcome  

Another one to take a look at that sounds a nice colour combination, and MY12 gear linkage as well- https://www.bellandcolvill.co.uk/usedcars/cardetail/100001547/Lotus/EVORA

is like BRG? 

[TomE]

Empire Green is a much darker green, almost black.  Very similar to the Imperial Green used on the Lotus Carlton.  I think EG was only used on two S1 Evoras.  One was an S loaned to Advisory Board member Tom Purves and I'm pretty sure it was this one with the tan interior and diamond wheels but no pics up yet on the B&C advert for me to double check.  It had a few extra modifications including the interior.  Used to belong to a TLFer in London: https://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/garage/vehicle/917-lotus-evora-s/

The other one was an NA with oyster interior and forged wheels, ex Lotus management car then owned by a TLFer in Worcestershire.

There was a stunning Evora GT430 recently in EG too and the pics will give you an idea how dark it is: