Sell or keep – what’s a fair price for a 2017 Exige Sport

[thomasario]

Hello all, I’d really welcome your thoughts on what sort of value I should realistically expect if I decided to sell my 2017 Exige Sport 350.

In an ideal world, I’d never sell it. It is undoubtedly the best car I’ve ever owned. But I just never seem to have the opportunity to drive it. I bought it new from a UK Lotus dealer in 2017, and in that time, I’ve only done 9,000 miles.

It started as my daily drive but very soon after buying it I began working from home. Then COVID came along, nobody including me ever went out, and I just kind of got used to it sitting there.

I’m thinking, with regret, it might be time to wave goodbye to it and let someone else get some enjoyment from it.

I asked a mate of mine who works in the car industry (admittedly not Lotus) to tell me what he thought I should ask for it but he said it was an impossible car to value. His conclusion was quite negative, i.e. in this day and age who has got money burning a hole in their pocket for a glorified track car?

I asked him about PX, but he said unless it was a Lotus dealer, I’d be wasting my time. And with the best will in the world, I already have (to me) a perfect Lotus, so remaining in the Lotus fold defeats the object of selling it.

I guess he may have a point, but if I’m only going to command a pitiful price for it maybe it’s better to hang on to it.

Thoughts and observations are very welcome.

Cheers, Tom.

[matt5964]

Would have thought lat £40s a good benchmark is one on this site at a dealer

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/13902930

Either will blackham or Jon seal would be interested in buying it from you no doubt, they give fair pricing for sales

[G111MDS]

thomasario said:

Hello all, I’d really welcome your thoughts on what sort of value I should realistically expect if I decided to sell my 2017 Exige Sport 350.

In an ideal world, I’d never sell it. It is undoubtedly the best car I’ve ever owned. But I just never seem to have the opportunity to drive it. I bought it new from a UK Lotus dealer in 2017, and in that time, I’ve only done 9,000 miles.

It started as my daily drive but very soon after buying it I began working from home. Then COVID came along, nobody including me ever went out, and I just kind of got used to it sitting there.

I’m thinking, with regret, it might be time to wave goodbye to it and let someone else get some enjoyment from it.

I asked a mate of mine who works in the car industry (admittedly not Lotus) to tell me what he thought I should ask for it but he said it was an impossible car to value. His conclusion was quite negative, i.e. in this day and age who has got money burning a hole in their pocket for a glorified track car?

I asked him about PX, but he said unless it was a Lotus dealer, I’d be wasting my time. And with the best will in the world, I already have (to me) a perfect Lotus, so remaining in the Lotus fold defeats the object of selling it.

I guess he may have a point, but if I’m only going to command a pitiful price for it maybe it’s better to hang on to it.

Thoughts and observations are very welcome.

Cheers, Tom.

Great cars! I’ve got a Series 2 Exige.

Can you post up some photos?

[Rick101]

thomasario said:

I asked a mate of mine who works in the car industry (admittedly not Lotus) to tell me what he thought I should ask for it but he said it was an impossible car to value. His conclusion was quite negative, i.e. in this day and age who has got money burning a hole in their pocket for a glorified track car?

Said mate knows little about Lotus.

Whilst the market probably isn't at it's best, there are very few 350 for sale at the moment.
If it's sensibly priced. It'll sell.

[thomasario]

G111MDS said:

Great cars! I’ve got a Series 2 Exige.

Can you post up some photos?

Here's a shot I took a year or two back

[Caddyshack]

Somewhere like collecting cars might be a good place to sell it.

Worth an advert on ph, put a high price on it and invite offers if you can’t find a value. I would imagine a price close (within 10k) to what you paid for it is a likely retail value if you have done little miles.

[G111MDS]

thomasario said:

Here's a shot I took a year or two back

Looks great!

[thomasario]

matt5964 said:

Would have thought lat £40s a good benchmark is one on this site at a dealer

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/13902930

Either will blackham or Jon seal would be interested in buying it from you no doubt, they give fair pricing for sales

Hi Matt

That’s pretty much the figure I thought – but I wondered whether in this age of cost of living crisis and post-Trussonomics etc., there might not be quite the normal appetite for this kind of motor.

Thanks for the dealer info!

[thomasario]

Rick101 said:

thomasario said:

I asked a mate of mine who works in the car industry (admittedly not Lotus) to tell me what he thought I should ask for it but he said it was an impossible car to value. His conclusion was quite negative, i.e. in this day and age who has got money burning a hole in their pocket for a glorified track car?

Said mate knows little about Lotus.

Whilst the market probably isn't at it's best, there are very few 350 for sale at the moment.
If it's sensibly priced. It'll sell.

Hi Rick. He's a Merc main dealer so you could be right

" . . .sensibly priced". Therein lies the question! It's that age-old dilemma - you don't want to be greedy/unrealistic but equally don't want to let it go for a song.

[thomasario]

G111MDS said:

thomasario said:

Here's a shot I took a year or two back

Looks great!

Thanks. It’s s great car - I just wish I was affluent enough for it to be a second car!

[thomasario]

Caddyshack said:

Somewhere like collecting cars might be a good place to sell it.

Worth an advert on ph, put a high price on it and invite offers if you can’t find a value. I would imagine a price close (within 10k) to what you paid for it is a likely retail value if you have done little miles.

Wasn't familiar with Collecting Cars.

Yes, the PH advert sounds like a decent plan. Cheers!

[Rick101]

Well realistically, I'd expect a private sale to start with a £4XXXX.

Similar boat myself with a MY18 albeit higher mileage.

[thomasario]

Rick101 said:

Well realistically, I'd expect a private sale to start with a £4XXXX.

Similar boat myself with a MY18 albeit higher mileage.

Yep, sounds sensible.

[thomasario]

I guess it’s totally unrealistic to think values on this particular model will ever start to go up again?

[Niiige]

I feel confident that prices will rise in the next few years.

Reasons being that a) These are rare cars b) Lotus have just stopped making them making them rarer c) Legislation means that no one will ever be able to make a car like this again d) they are incredible cars to drive and amazing on track e) They are “relatively” cheap to buy compared to super cars with similar performance f) They are pretty cheap to own/service/run g) Owners tend to look after them well

So if you want a raw, lightweight sports car, with super car performance and exotic looks….. what else is there ?

[thomasario]

Niiige said:

I feel confident that prices will rise in the next few years.

Reasons being that a) These are rare cars b) Lotus have just stopped making them making them rarer c) Legislation means that no one will ever be able to make a car like this again d) they are incredible cars to drive and amazing on track e) They are “relatively” cheap to buy compared to super cars with similar performance f) They are pretty cheap to own/service/run g) Owners tend to look after them well

So if you want a raw, lightweight sports car, with super car performance and exotic looks….. what else is there ?

You've just listed all the reasons I'll feel very sad if I do sell it

But it's not getting driven

[thomasario]

I'm not sure what kind of algorithms are at work on this site - but here I am posting about possibly selling a Lotus - and I get served an ad for Mcarthy & Stone Retirement homes.

Has it really come to this

[Niiige]

Ha ha - well that’s a worry. Unless you want to retire to an expensive apartment!?!

I forgot to say, selling a sports car in the winter isn’t the best way to maximise the sale price. Maybe consider waiting until Spring has sprung & petrol heads wallets are ready to get an outing.

[Belgarion]

I bought a used 2017 Sport 350 in July 2021 for £48.5K privately with around 16k miles on it. When I had my last service in September, I was chatting with one of the senior salesmen and he reckoned that I could get at least the same figure if I sold then, and probably easily get more, even with the now 20k miles on it. So if you do decide on shifting it, I would definitely start high £4xks if not £50k.

It may be wishful thinking, and I'm not expecting meteoric rises like some German or Italian marques, but I'm expecting the S3 Exige to keep slowly on appreciating (when I first started looking at them you could get a V6S for £36k at cheapest, not anymore!). They're not making any more of them, and lightweight manual sportcars that are fun, and cheap to drive on road and track will only become more desirable in time I think, as we head towards electricification/hybridisation etc.

[Trevor555]

thomasario said:

Niiige said:

I feel confident that prices will rise in the next few years.

Reasons being that a) These are rare cars b) Lotus have just stopped making them making them rarer c) Legislation means that no one will ever be able to make a car like this again d) they are incredible cars to drive and amazing on track e) They are “relatively” cheap to buy compared to super cars with similar performance f) They are pretty cheap to own/service/run g) Owners tend to look after them well

So if you want a raw, lightweight sports car, with super car performance and exotic looks….. what else is there ?

You've just listed all the reasons I'll feel very sad if I do sell it

But it's not getting driven

Very wise words from Niiige, you really need to keep that car.

The prices will certainly rise.

So even if you don't go out in it much, just see it as an investment.