How long till the £20k Evora?
Discussion
abucd4 said:
plenty said:
This x 1000
Never understand why people get so fixated on the cost to buy, when the real cost is depreciation and maintenance.
An Evora is likely to be cheaper over a 3-year ownership term than most cars half its price, unless its gearbox blows up like mine did. In hindsight I should have purchased a MY12 or 400 rather than a MY11 S - it would have cost more to buy but residuals are equally solid and I wouldn't have had the gearbox issue.
It might feel odd to begin with, but when thinking about your next car work out how much you are willing to pay to own the car on a monthly or an annual basis, rather than the purchase price. It's not hard to estimate depreciation and upkeep costs. This will then open up the possibility of owning cars at a much higher price point than you might initially consider.
Money has never been cheaper than today. Of course this assumes you have a decent credit history etc.
Aye. credit rating etc all perfect and good careers etc. Just a bit daunting having that much sat in a car I suppose when we’ve only ever had relatively cheap cars. You are right of course!Never understand why people get so fixated on the cost to buy, when the real cost is depreciation and maintenance.
An Evora is likely to be cheaper over a 3-year ownership term than most cars half its price, unless its gearbox blows up like mine did. In hindsight I should have purchased a MY12 or 400 rather than a MY11 S - it would have cost more to buy but residuals are equally solid and I wouldn't have had the gearbox issue.
It might feel odd to begin with, but when thinking about your next car work out how much you are willing to pay to own the car on a monthly or an annual basis, rather than the purchase price. It's not hard to estimate depreciation and upkeep costs. This will then open up the possibility of owning cars at a much higher price point than you might initially consider.
Money has never been cheaper than today. Of course this assumes you have a decent credit history etc.
Depreciation of mine over 18 months and 20k miles was £3.5k, better than many cheaper cars I’ve had, and that number of miles is high-end for an Evora.
Just be aware they are big-boys toys and maintenance costs are a level above a mainstream car despite their reliability. I have no regrets and I think I’ll look back and it’ll be the high-point of my car history.
giveitfish said:
Hi, OP here. Have a read back, I waited 3 years for prices to drop (and to bolster my savings) before diving in. Prices barely changed in all that time. I think they are starting to soften now...but still slow compared to almost anything else.
Depreciation of mine over 18 months and 20k miles was £3.5k, better than many cheaper cars I’ve had, and that number of miles is high-end for an Evora.
Just be aware they are big-boys toys and maintenance costs are a level above a mainstream car despite their reliability. I have no regrets and I think I’ll look back and it’ll be the high-point of my car history.
Gales did an amazing job of taking the models up market with some top end machinesDepreciation of mine over 18 months and 20k miles was £3.5k, better than many cheaper cars I’ve had, and that number of miles is high-end for an Evora.
Just be aware they are big-boys toys and maintenance costs are a level above a mainstream car despite their reliability. I have no regrets and I think I’ll look back and it’ll be the high-point of my car history.
It means that the used cars are pretty much holding their value or even appreciating.
hyphen said:
giveitfish said:
Just be aware they are big-boys toys and maintenance costs are a level above a mainstream car despite their reliability.
Any chance of a breakdown?If you buy brake pads and discs from Lotus yes they are expensive, but you can get them at equal or better quality for much less.
Servicing is no more expensive than my families mainstream cars, possibly a bit less
Source your own spark plugs for a decent saving
The odd thing goes wrong, eg door locks usually about £250,
Tyres aren't too bad either
Personally I found it cost less to maintain than my A6, more than the Skoda Octavia, a fraction of the cost of the Tuscan.
On top of that, low depreciation keeps overall costs down
Obviously I was using mine much more frequently than most users would, so maintenance was compressed over a shorter timeframe. Also I wasn't prepared to ignore some issues which you might turn a blind eye to if it was only a weekend car.
But in comparison to something like a Golf GTi the tyres & brakes are more expensive (tyres £1000+ per set for mine), service intervals are much shorter and main dealer labour prices are higher. I owned mine over a period which included some longer-interval items like belts and plugs. Add in a few niggles like upgrading arb bushes, replacing boot lid struts and chasing down the cause of a "spanner" light and a rainwater leak into the cabin and it all adds up.
Maintenance per mile was more than double what it cost for my Scirocco 2.0TSi. Expect costs to be a similar level to an equivalent age Porsche 911 and you won't be far off.
I don't think many people keep proper logs of car costs and it skews their impressions a bit, but I have spreadsheets going back serveral years. One surprise is that the Evora was actually cheaper to maintain than my 15-year-old Elise S1. That needed suspension, brakes, new hood, head gasket etc over it's 5 years and 20k miles but the costs were not as noticeable as they were more spread out. It also helped that the Elise appreciated in value by the amount of its runnings costs, so in the end I had a free car for 5 years
But in comparison to something like a Golf GTi the tyres & brakes are more expensive (tyres £1000+ per set for mine), service intervals are much shorter and main dealer labour prices are higher. I owned mine over a period which included some longer-interval items like belts and plugs. Add in a few niggles like upgrading arb bushes, replacing boot lid struts and chasing down the cause of a "spanner" light and a rainwater leak into the cabin and it all adds up.
Maintenance per mile was more than double what it cost for my Scirocco 2.0TSi. Expect costs to be a similar level to an equivalent age Porsche 911 and you won't be far off.
I don't think many people keep proper logs of car costs and it skews their impressions a bit, but I have spreadsheets going back serveral years. One surprise is that the Evora was actually cheaper to maintain than my 15-year-old Elise S1. That needed suspension, brakes, new hood, head gasket etc over it's 5 years and 20k miles but the costs were not as noticeable as they were more spread out. It also helped that the Elise appreciated in value by the amount of its runnings costs, so in the end I had a free car for 5 years
giveitfish said:
Obviously I was using mine much more frequently than most users would, so maintenance was compressed over a shorter timeframe. Also I wasn't prepared to ignore some issues which you might turn a blind eye to if it was only a weekend car.
But in comparison to something like a Golf GTi the tyres & brakes are more expensive (tyres £1000+ per set for mine), service intervals are much shorter and main dealer labour prices are higher. I owned mine over a period which included some longer-interval items like belts and plugs. Add in a few niggles like upgrading arb bushes, replacing boot lid struts and chasing down the cause of a "spanner" light and a rainwater leak into the cabin and it all adds up.
Maintenance per mile was more than double what it cost for my Scirocco 2.0TSi. Expect costs to be a similar level to an equivalent age Porsche 911 and you won't be far off.
I don't think many people keep proper logs of car costs and it skews their impressions a bit, but I have spreadsheets going back serveral years. One surprise is that the Evora was actually cheaper to maintain than my 15-year-old Elise S1. That needed suspension, brakes, new hood, head gasket etc over it's 5 years and 20k miles but the costs were not as noticeable as they were more spread out. It also helped that the Elise appreciated in value by the amount of its runnings costs, so in the end I had a free car for 5 years
Both of mine are dailies, the first was doing 20k miles a year. They are much cheaper to run than the equivalent 911 in my experience. I also keep logs.But in comparison to something like a Golf GTi the tyres & brakes are more expensive (tyres £1000+ per set for mine), service intervals are much shorter and main dealer labour prices are higher. I owned mine over a period which included some longer-interval items like belts and plugs. Add in a few niggles like upgrading arb bushes, replacing boot lid struts and chasing down the cause of a "spanner" light and a rainwater leak into the cabin and it all adds up.
Maintenance per mile was more than double what it cost for my Scirocco 2.0TSi. Expect costs to be a similar level to an equivalent age Porsche 911 and you won't be far off.
I don't think many people keep proper logs of car costs and it skews their impressions a bit, but I have spreadsheets going back serveral years. One surprise is that the Evora was actually cheaper to maintain than my 15-year-old Elise S1. That needed suspension, brakes, new hood, head gasket etc over it's 5 years and 20k miles but the costs were not as noticeable as they were more spread out. It also helped that the Elise appreciated in value by the amount of its runnings costs, so in the end I had a free car for 5 years
Brakes you can get as good or better for much less, tyres are under £1000 a set on my S for Michelin, but the n/a does eat its Pirellis on the rear
ARB powerflex bushes for my S were just over £100 fitted by Lotus Silverstone, boot struts done by me for £15. These are not costly items.
Most leaks have been done under warranty, but neither of mine have leaked.
A pillar trims have had to be replaced circa £100
But nothing that I would call large costs, and all my work is done by a main dealer, save for tailgate struts.
Last year I had drivebelts and plugs replaced on my S. It was cheaper for me to source the belt which I did.
In summary, it looks like we have different experiences, maybe its because I always do research on prices and alternatives. TLF is a great resource as is SELOC
Edited by blueg33 on Thursday 21st May 11:12
Wonder which main dealer was being used where labour rates are higher than VW dealers?
I know B+C are at the higher end but the likes of Silverstone are quite a bit cheaper. There there are the Lotus-approved specialists like Hangar111 which are cheaper still and substantially less than VAG dealer rates let alone Porsche. On an older car such as an S1 NA I think it's also fine to use non-officially approved specialists - there are a few dotted around with a good reputation.
Of course it helps if you are willing to travel to get work done as Lotus garages aren't as thick on the ground as for most marques.
I can certainly see how certain parts would be more expensive than a Golf GTi. My S would chew through a set of rear tyres in 6,000 miles so across an 18k ownership period the tyres alone would add up. Road tax and insurance were also sky-high, although both would be cheaper on an NA.
I know B+C are at the higher end but the likes of Silverstone are quite a bit cheaper. There there are the Lotus-approved specialists like Hangar111 which are cheaper still and substantially less than VAG dealer rates let alone Porsche. On an older car such as an S1 NA I think it's also fine to use non-officially approved specialists - there are a few dotted around with a good reputation.
Of course it helps if you are willing to travel to get work done as Lotus garages aren't as thick on the ground as for most marques.
I can certainly see how certain parts would be more expensive than a Golf GTi. My S would chew through a set of rear tyres in 6,000 miles so across an 18k ownership period the tyres alone would add up. Road tax and insurance were also sky-high, although both would be cheaper on an NA.
blueg33 said:
In summary, it looks like we have different experiences, maybe its because I always do research on prices and alternatives. TLF is a great resource as is SELOC
Ouch, I hope it wasn't intended that way, but that came across as pretty condescending!I do plenty of research myself, thanks. Saved loads buying Toyota sparkplugs and also provided my own belt. Also bought and fitted my own gas struts, supplied the arb bushes and swapped cosmetic items like the flexi vent tube myself. And yes, a set of PS4S tyres are (currently) £850 fitted, but to balance that my winters were £1100 a set.
There's no need to be defensive on behalf of the Evora. Even though many cars are not as faultless as yours, it's still able to hold it's head high compared to it's peers - I've seen friends with plenty of nice big Porsche bills too.
I'd still say it's well worth pointing out the differences betweeen running a high-end hand-built sportscar compared to mainstream car so those making the leap are well informed.
And of course everything is cheaper if you can do it yourself, but for me I needed a main-dealer history and a courtesy car (dealer is 15 miles from my house and 25 miles from the office).
OK, just checked the facts for my cars. Purely for maintenance alone (including consumables like brakes and tyres and also fault-finding) the Evora was 20p/mile, the Scirocco 8p/mile.
I bet that chimes with a lot of owners doing 5-6k miles per year and averaging £1000/year to maintain them. I don't think that's unreasonable at this level of car.
I bet that chimes with a lot of owners doing 5-6k miles per year and averaging £1000/year to maintain them. I don't think that's unreasonable at this level of car.
giveitfish said:
blueg33 said:
In summary, it looks like we have different experiences, maybe its because I always do research on prices and alternatives. TLF is a great resource as is SELOC
Ouch, I hope it wasn't intended that way, but that came across as pretty condescending!I do plenty of research myself, thanks. Saved loads buying Toyota sparkplugs and also provided my own belt. Also bought and fitted my own gas struts, supplied the arb bushes and swapped cosmetic items like the flexi vent tube myself. And yes, a set of PS4S tyres are (currently) £850 fitted, but to balance that my winters were £1100 a set.
There's no need to be defensive on behalf of the Evora. Even though many cars are not as faultless as yours, it's still able to hold it's head high compared to it's peers - I've seen friends with plenty of nice big Porsche bills too.
I'd still say it's well worth pointing out the differences betweeen running a high-end hand-built sportscar compared to mainstream car so those making the leap are well informed.
And of course everything is cheaper if you can do it yourself, but for me I needed a main-dealer history and a courtesy car (dealer is 15 miles from my house and 25 miles from the office).
I was lucky got a set of unused Yoko winters on Evora wheels from £1000 on Ebay.
I just don't think its really a leap in costs from any modern car costing £50k plus. Seriously if you want a big leap, try the Tuscan, my wallet still runs and hides when I say that word
People should be aware that there are a number of common niggles and they do typically cost £100 to fix (a bit more for door locks and a lot more for airbag clips).
I did a spreadsheet of the running costs for everything I was looking at as alternatives, ranging from 911 through R8 to Maserati and Alfa 4c. The Evora, especially the n/a was cheapest by quite a bit, the S less so because of road tax and fuel economy.
But you are right, no one should take on a hand built sportscar without being aware of its potential to be very costly (reference my Tuscan again)
The Wookie said:
I had one in 90000 miles across two Evoras. It was a common assembly fault which was later the subject of a recall
lol. It was your old Sports Racer I was posting about above by the way.Clearing the gps logs before I sold it I was amused to see some trips which I assume were yours - impressive speeds there
giveitfish said:
The Wookie said:
I had one in 90000 miles across two Evoras. It was a common assembly fault which was later the subject of a recall
lol. It was your old Sports Racer I was posting about above by the way.Clearing the gps logs before I sold it I was amused to see some trips which I assume were yours - impressive speeds there
jimmsy said:
Ryvita said:
- The Liquid Blue Launch edition car on Autotrader has reappeared and is looking gorgeous.
https://www.thelotusforums.com/forums/topic/97335-evora-market-watch-for-discussion-and-to-help-those-searching/?do=findComment&comment=888874This appears why...poor bloke!
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