Online Car Ordering

[runactive]

I went to look at the Lotus Eletre on Friday to replace my i3. I came away thinking that the sales guy didn't have any interest in me placing the order and wasn't really that helpful in showing me the car or enthusing my interest.

He said to order you do it all online with Lotus - pay £2,000 and wait for an email of the following steps - all configuration is done online also.

Buying a £100k car should be a bit more of an experience than a few clicks putting your credit card details into a website. Is this the future of car buying?

Many times I tried to strike up a conversation - I already own a 50-Year-Old Lotus Elan (bought through PH from an enthusiast 15 years ago!) - so we should have had a chance to chat about old vs new tech etc.

Somewhat perplexed about the car-buying world.

[M.F.D]

You should expect a better service when buying any car to be honest as it is such a big purchase, but this is clearly the future and I imagine going down for a test drive to do a deal and shake hands with a dealer is going to be something of the past very soon.

[alscar]

Lotus certainly seem keen on dealing direct and the dealer appears only there now for servicing.
Quite what the experience is like perhaps is more a case of what the buyers of new cars actually want.
It’s a bit like going to the MK shopping centre on Friday and seeing a Tesla “ shop “ where you can order one.
Doesn’t sound like fun for you , me and a huge number of car buying “ enthusiasts “ but equally maybe it’s simply a generational thing and we’re just out of date !
That said still plenty of dealers where you can shake hands!