Debating selling my Evora, Hand back, PX?

[Nathan Pitman]

So, I’ve not long owned my Evora but after recently completing a significant renovation of my property I’m feeling the pinch and looking to reduce my monthly spend. 

As much as I love the Evora and it was definitely an itch I had to scratch I feel like it’s a rather big luxury especially given how little opportunity I get to give it a proper run. 

I was back at B&C today to leave the car with them for a week for some warranty work and decided to take an Elise S out for a spin. I’m genuinely considering a swap. It was a great drive and I felt much more confident and able to push it along than I do in the Evora. Maybe the Evora is just too much car for me?

I have the Evora on finance so I’m not sure what my position is on handing it back if I don’t want to do a PX? B&C have a full forecourt so they aren’t in a position to just buy it back off me.

Anyone here have any experience of selling/returning a car on finance? I have 42k outstanding and I put 15k into the car when I bought it.

[KennyN]

Unless you can find a dealer who is prepared to make a good offer on the Evora for stock, then selling privately, or SOR, are your other options.  What's the issue with a PX against an Elise?  You're likely to get a better overall deal on a PX than a sale for stock and it goes without saying that private sale and SOR bring their own issues.

[Nathan Pitman]

And some observations from my 40 or so minute drive in a 5 year old Elise S.

The dashboard does not rattle like my Evora 400 dash does. 

It has a cup holder and places to put things.

2 minutes ago, KennyN said:

What's the issue with a PX against an Elise?

No issue, and I think that’s where I will end up. It keeps me in a Lotus. 👍

[KennyN]

6 minutes ago, Nathan Pitman said:

No issue, and I think that’s where I will end up. It keeps me in a Lotus. 👍

Sounds like a win/win, frees up the capital and you can still have your fun 👍

[Neal H]

I went from an Evora 400 to an Elise 250 Cup, partly to free up some cash (house move) and partly because my vehicle usage changed and the Elise was the better toy for occasional track and weekend use. There are times I miss the Evora, but overall I'm very happy with the switch

I ordered the Elise new on a 50/50 deal and while I waited for delivery Silverstone sold my Evora on SOR. I was very happy with the overall deal and the whole Silverstone experience.

[Nathan Pitman]

That’s good to hear and pretty much the exact same situation here. I think my Evora is the same colour and year as yours  is/was. 

[JayEmm]

@CocoPops also went from Evora 400 to Elise, he may be able to help out?

[CocoPops]

I did, I went from Hethel Ed 400 (2016) to a 2018 Elise Sport220.

Same reasons as Neal really, release cash. (Wife is ill, so figured cash in bank is better idea).

I love the Elise, I love roof off motoring, always have. I miss the noise of the 400, and the 4 seats.

Elise has much lower running costs. Evora did a set of tyres and a set of front pads in 6k miles. The Elise has barely scrubbed tyres even after 3k and several track days.

Fuel economy, whilst not important has been noticed. I use Fuelly to log my fuel usage. The Elise is using half as much fuel on average.

[Nathan Pitman]

I went back and drove the rather loud yellow Cup 220 which they have today. It would cost more less than half what my Evora does so it will prob be a no brainer. 

Question is where do I get cushions for the seats. Those things are quite brutal and I know my GF is not going to like it as is!

[CocoPops]

Strangely, the seats, although with less padding are better shaped (for me) and so even a 5/6hr stint from France to UK, was very comfy in August.

[Nathan Pitman]

I found that my spine felt like it was rattling off the seat unless I really planted myself in it. Maybe I needed to pull the seat forward a bit. 

Kinda wish the 220 I drove didn’t have the 2bular exhaust as I really quite like the softer sound of the S. Which makes no sense given how addictive the Evora 400 exhaust is but it’s a different kind of sound, more of a drone I found. 

[Colin P]

Interesting this. It seems that with the value of 4xx cars more owners are feeling the need to “downsize”.

Im going back to having a daily so I also recently took out a 220 as possible change. Nice and surprised at civility of it but just too small. 

Came to the conclusion that the only possible move for me would be back to an S1 Evora, so shall be keeping the 400 (unless someone with an extremely nice S1 wants to upgrade). 

[Gashead1105]

@CocoPops not sure how you went through the consumables so quickly, since I've had it the tyres have barely worn and I'm not exactly light footed... 

 

[CocoPops]

Zandvoort, Dijon, Spa, Pembrey, etc

Also, you now have MPS4S and they are better than the original MPSS.

[andyj007]

some lovely tracks there Lee..  what did you like the best? 

always thought dijon would drive great with its fast sweepers  , bet the evora epic round there

 

[Nathan Pitman]

5 hours ago, Colin P said:

Interesting this. It seems that with the value of 4xx cars more owners are feeling the need to “downsize”.

Im going back to having a daily so I also recently took out a 220 as possible change. Nice and surprised at civility of it but just too small. 

Came to the conclusion that the only possible move for me would be back to an S1 Evora, so shall be keeping the 400 (unless someone with an extremely nice S1 wants to upgrade). 

@Colin P ultimately the Evora 400 was a stretch for me financially but something I felt like I deserved after a shitty few years. I guess the reason so many of us choose to 'downsize' is because the DNA which we all love in the Evora is still there in all the other (more affordable) cars in the range. How many manufacturers can you name who honestly don't have a single dud in their lineup?

I would happily jump into any Lotus on the forecourt and get out with a huge smile on my face. They are intoxicating to drive despite their faults (and there are many!).

[electro_boy]

On 27/10/2018 at 13:59, Nathan Pitman said:

It was a great drive and I felt much more confident and able to push it along than I do in the Evora. Maybe the Evora is just too much car for me?

I had a similar thought when doing a Lotus Driving Academy weekend course earlier this year, when comparing an Elise and Exige.  I had a lot of fun in both cars but for my beginner skills I was more comfortable with the Elise, I was slower (4pot vs V6 engine) but felt better in control and could explore the limits better in the Elise.

The Elise was a cracking car and I really really really want one but I only have space for 1 car and I don't think the Elise is quite up to being a daily so I would need an everyday hatchback or something to accompany it.   So currently have a S1 NA Evora, kinda hits the middle ground ... but hopefully one day when I have space to store a couple cars, I'll have an Elise....

[Gashead1105]

@Nathan Pitman returning to your OP, it's a tough one this. I'm now finding myself in a similar boat, house renovations are looking at being more over budget than I was expecting so am getting squeezed financially. I really don't want to sell the car and if I can hold on to the end of the year I think I won't have to - but equally if I were offered today what I paid for it it would be tough to say no (although it would be a massive regret - I've got the car I would've spec'd new from the factory and I have no idea what I would replace it with apart from another 400 once the renovations are finally paid for!). Personally I won't return to an Elise-chassis though - been there, done it and know that my ears (tinnitus) won't allow it. 

[Nathan Pitman]

@Gashead1105 I wish I could hold on to the Evora, I love that car so much but the Elise is going to cost me more than half as much PCM, almost half as much on insurance and likely half as much running costs. However I could def see myself switching back to a more 'Evora like' Lotus in the future once my finances are sorted. The extension which I've just had completed was anticipated to cost about £60k but I ended up extending the scope considerably to get what I really wanted (Not planning on moving anytime soon!) and spent ~£110k. So yea... there goes the Evora! 

The 400 is currently with B&C still so I've not even been able to drive it this week and I'll be swapping it for an Elise Cup 220 on Saturday morning so unless I can squeeze in a drive after I turn up and before I sign it over I think I've already had my last moments with it.

Edit: Yea, cabin noise is a very different thing in the Elise, but it's still an awesome drive.

Edited November 1, 2018 by Nathan Pitman

[Gashead1105]

Oh dear. I know what you mean on scope creep!

Shame if you don't get to drive it again although it might give you second thoughts... I have no idea what I would replace it with - I'm hoping that I don't have to think about it! There's nothing else in budget that is even vaguely similar. Probably some sort of hot hatch on a finance deal and cash in my pocket. Beyond petrol, which I accept is a different level of consumption compared to an elise (less so though compared to a 300hp hot hatch), I think I would find the running costs of the Evora will be very similar to any replacement (insurance is actually cheaper for me than the v6 was, tax is not highest bracket so is a minimal difference in reality, it's easy on tyres and brakes). The Biohazard has just cost us the best part of 2k in servicing and maintenance, the bill for the Evora earlier in  the year was £400 and I've still got a warranty on it to end of June next year! 

[Nathan Pitman]

Yea my Evora has had an insane number of warranty issues in 6 months of ownership and the warranty is up early next year. The Elise is out of warranty but hopefully I will be saving enough on the monthly ownership cost to offset that. Ultimately it was a choice between hanging on until I could find a dealer to take the Evora off my hands (and paying for the car in the interim) or swapping it for an out of warranty car from the B&C stock. Was that a major service with other issues (the 2k one)?

[Gashead1105]

The 2k service (which, to be clear, was on a volvo V70!) was servicing, gearbox oil change (despite the "sealed for life" sticker from Volvo, BMW use the same auto gearbox in their 5 series and say the oil should be changed at 90k miles, so that's what we did) and almost 1k on new rear trailing arms - again a known issue with volvo V70s, the bushes on the rear suspension wear and the only option if you use a main dealer for servicing is a whole new replacement set plus labour. You might say I should've used a specialist but (i) I would have to find one locally and (ii) main dealer servicing includes breakdown cover for the car which, when the V70 dumped all its new gearbox oil last week, proved invaluable. Recovered home within an hour and a brand new V60 hire car provided for 3 days without any cost to me. Anyone who saw Watchdog on the RAC last night will understand how good that is.

Edit: I've had no warranty issues on my 400 that have necessitated multiple or special trips to the dealer. There is a rattle from the dash currently but I know where it is (steering wheel shroud) and it can be dealt with the next time the car is serviced. A few niggles were sorted at the last service in June but nothing major. 

[Nathan Pitman]

My list to date, I picked the car up at the start of May:

• Rear suspension issues (nasty clunking noise when running on anything other than a completely smooth tarmac which required replacement of parts on both sides of the car)
• Deteriorating leather on steering wheel (reported mid June - still awaiting replacement wheel from factory)
• Broken passenger side seat pull (replaced under warranty)
• Broken passenger side door release (replaced under warranty)
• Peeling far side headlight film (currently being repaired under warranty)
• Loose leather trim beneath steering wheel (currently being repaired under warranty)
• Poorly fitting window seal rear three quarter (awaiting repair)
• Lateral movement in drivers seat (awaiting new seat frame from factory)
• Intermittent engine management light and lumpy running (currently being investigated)

[KAS-118]

43 minutes ago, Nathan Pitman said:

My list to date, I picked the car up at the start of May:

• Rear suspension issues (nasty clunking noise when running on anything other than a completely smooth tarmac which required replacement of parts on both sides of the car)
• Deteriorating leather on steering wheel (reported mid June - still awaiting replacement wheel from factory)
• Broken passenger side seat pull (replaced under warranty)
• Broken passenger side door release (replaced under warranty)
• Peeling far side headlight film (currently being repaired under warranty)
• Loose leather trim beneath steering wheel (currently being repaired under warranty)
• Poorly fitting window seal rear three quarter (awaiting repair)
• Lateral movement in drivers seat (awaiting new seat frame from factory)
• Intermittent engine management light and lumpy running (currently being investigated)

Blimey- was that bought brand new!? 😧

[Gashead1105]

Ouch! Nothing like that on mine.