Where have all the Europas gone?

[Skaffen]

Wootan said:

I went from an Elise S1 to a Europa S 225, once the novelty of a new car wore off I was very disappointed and sold it after about 8 months. The engine mapping was terrible, the brakes were decidedly average and the understeer when pushed was dull. I didn't lose money on it probably because it was a really low mileage one in a good colour. I liked the looks but I wouldn't have another one. Once the evora's get to mid twenties prices will drop on Europa's except maybe ultra low mile good spec examples.

Ducks for cover..

Not everyone'll like 'em of course .

What pads were you running? Stock exhaust arrangement? Standard intake/filter? Did you have it geo'd?

Mintex 1144 pads are supposed to help with the brakes (although you may well have had those already). On the power side something like the full milltek exhaust system helps with power delivery (apparently different air filter can help too). Geo can get rid of some of the understeer. That's all without going too far from keeping it standard (and there are options for going further - mine's been a bit more tweaked).

I reckon Evora prices won't drop that quickly from the 30k mark any time soon as demand'll pick up at that price point, plus I'm not sure the prices for Europas will drop. The Europa and Evora aren't perhaps that comparable and mid twenties Evora pricing would still make the Evora around 7k more than a good Europa at current prices. But we shall see .

[Toaster]

Wootan said:

I went from an Elise S1 to a Europa S 225, once the novelty of a new car wore off I was very disappointed and sold it after about 8 months. The engine mapping was terrible, the brakes were decidedly average and the understeer when pushed was dull. I didn't lose money on it probably because it was a really low mileage one in a good colour. I liked the looks but I wouldn't have another one. Once the evora's get to mid twenties prices will drop on Europa's except maybe ultra low mile good spec examples.

Ducks for cover..

Interesting comments,

Most Europa's back in 2007 were selling for around the lower 20k's they were marketed more as a GT so whilst there may have been disappointment for some I think that Lotus was clear on their market, also it wasn't pushed as a track day car I would argue that brakes and steering was more than goos enough for the road I had mine for four years, would have brought another if they were still being built.

The Evora is a totally different car and may not have any effect on the Europa price, and I suspect low milage ones will firm around the high 20's and low 30's for a while yet but I could be wrong. A couple of thoughts on this the early Evora's are getting picked up quite quickly and there are less 2nd hand Evora's my understanding is that the cars are no longer standard management issue hence less 2nd had cars and they are one heck of a car to own.

[Wootan]

That was its problem, it was marketed as a GT car but it isn't one; well not a very good one. Nor is it as fun to drive as an s1 elise.

[randy]

A Lotus Europa doing what they do best... Beating Ferraris's!!!

[Scuffers]

Wootan said:

That was its problem, it was marketed as a GT car but it isn't one; well not a very good one. Nor is it as fun to drive as an s1 elise.

what really did not help is that it was pretty obviously a VX with a different bodyshell, yet Lotus wanted almost double the money for it.

I remember having this exact conversion with the marketing person from Lotus at the time, and he would not have it, claimed the car was a GT car and should be competing with the AMV8 etc.... (I told him very bluntly it was never going to fly at that money, no matter how much flannel they gave).

Bit of a shame as it's really not a bad car, better looking than the VX and S2 to some extent, decent enough engine (once they sorted out the appalling mapping) but just marketed completely wrong.

[randy]

Lol, competing with AMV8! Europa are a nice little car, basically a slightly uglier Elise but easier to get in and out, much bigger boot and a quieter engine. They are actually a good amount easier to love with than an Elise but no way a GT car.

[Skaffen]

Scuffers said:

I remember having this exact conversion with the marketing person from Lotus at the time, and he would not have it, claimed the car was a GT car and should be competing with the AMV8 etc.... (I told him very bluntly it was never going to fly at that money, no matter how much flannel they gave).

AMV8?! That's pretty delusional of them - I wonder if they actually believed it or whether they were just stuck on the mad marketing path they'd picked. I guess they wanted to do a GT but wanted to do it with the VX/S2 platform (i.e. on the cheap) and that couldn't work.

I think they probably compounded things with their usual historic quality control issues as well, which (as has been seen with the Evora too) is even more important to sort if you're pitching up market. I was chatting to someone today who I think said the B&C demonstrator Europa S interior finish was a bit shoddy to say the least (including a very loose panel).

At least the Europas are getting some appreciation now for what they actually are .

[delands]

One for sale now in Edinburgh - Lotus Dealership

http://www.murraylotus.co.uk/pre-owned-selection/d...

[simpo555]

Two for sale in France, at opposite ends of the price spectum (£18K and £26K) Both have been up for sale for 'some time'. Not a particularly 'strong seller' over here, made worse by the continuing uncertainty over the future of the company

[bencollins]

Love those layered wooden gearknobs, where to purchase? i know a brilliant wood turner near stansted, chipperfield, who makes roulette tables, might get him to make a batch.
Better than that icy aluminium thingy.

googled this : marek makes them for €60/£50

Edited by bencollins on Monday 17th June 15:01

[vxah]

delands said:

One for sale now in Edinburgh - Lotus Dealership

http://www.murraylotus.co.uk/pre-owned-selection/d...

Lowered rather a lot that one?... Maybe 225bhp not 255??

[SrMoreno]

Is anyone monitoring prices of these? I had a look recently and they seem to have dropped a bit since earlier this year. Perhaps a seasonal effect?

They still look overpriced to me (too close to the Evora at the top end). Sellers may disagree!

[Skaffen]

SrMoreno said:

Is anyone monitoring prices of these? I had a look recently and they seem to have dropped a bit since earlier this year. Perhaps a seasonal effect?

They still look overpriced to me (too close to the Evora at the top end). Sellers may disagree!

Cheapest Evoras are just getting down to 30k, and at the moment the most expensive Europa S in PH classifieds is 21k - that doesn't seem that close to me! There are lots more on the market than at the start of the year. Their prices seem comparable to similar age/condition Elise 111R and a bargain compared to NA Exige S2 .