Europa prices in freefall
Discussion
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/293220.htm
This one must be the cheapest yet by a good margin. And at a main dealer with the power and brake upgrade too. That equates to £2.35 in depreciation alone! Pretty bad for a lotus. Looks like I'll be able to afford one sooner than I thought. Can't be many cars at that price/age/mileage that offer that sought of performance for the money.
Makes a mockery of some of the cars with similar age/mileage that are being offered at nearly 8 grand more!
This one must be the cheapest yet by a good margin. And at a main dealer with the power and brake upgrade too. That equates to £2.35 in depreciation alone! Pretty bad for a lotus. Looks like I'll be able to afford one sooner than I thought. Can't be many cars at that price/age/mileage that offer that sought of performance for the money.
Makes a mockery of some of the cars with similar age/mileage that are being offered at nearly 8 grand more!
S Works said:
hahithestevieboy said:
Ex Demo? Ragged/Crashed?
Ex demo for sure. All the demo cars were ordered in that colour with the interior combo. I'd be interested to see the ECU print-out for the first 5,000 miles prior to agreeing a deal, to satisfy myself that it was properly run in etc.Tbh I thought that the demos were magnetic blue? I suppose that is why you see so "many" in that colour then?
Fittster said:
As someone who is looking to buy a car in this class next year the Europa is going to be hit by hard depreciation as it's main rival the Z4C is sinking like a stone.
Interesting, I'd heard that too. Anyway, I aint interested in an ex-demo that's doubtless been ragged. I can/will wait until a) the pricing timing suits me and b) i can get it in the exact spec i want which is black with super luxury touring pack with upgraded brakes and ecu. I'm at that dealer fairly often having Elise niggles sorted out (only for new ones to appear 
) and they've had that Europa ever since they first came out, sitting on the forecourt, so yes it's ex-demo. I'm surprised it's done that many miles as I don't think they've had much interest. Someone I spoke to there last time I was in said they haven't sold any
) and they've had that Europa ever since they first came out, sitting on the forecourt, so yes it's ex-demo. I'm surprised it's done that many miles as I don't think they've had much interest. Someone I spoke to there last time I was in said they haven't sold anyhmm interesting. When the px's start coming in (as they seem to have at jct 600) then they'll just sit there rotting which is not good for any car. Maybe they'll even just punt them off at auction. I checked auto trader and I reckon this one is up on there with 2.5K on the clock but for £28K.
Since pretty much all of the ones for sale are at main dealers, I wonder if they have been banned by lotus from advertising/selling at a much lower price? Or they're just being stubburn? It makes me wonder whether or not the other dealers would accept a serious offer at a similar price.
I wonder if anyone could get any figures on the number of europas that have actually been built/sold?
Since pretty much all of the ones for sale are at main dealers, I wonder if they have been banned by lotus from advertising/selling at a much lower price? Or they're just being stubburn? It makes me wonder whether or not the other dealers would accept a serious offer at a similar price.
I wonder if anyone could get any figures on the number of europas that have actually been built/sold?
it's a buyers market for sure regarding a used europa but you have to remember one thing, when you come to sell it the same applies, there won't be much of a market for it and you'd almost have to give it away to shift it.
that on its own would put me off buying one, plus i still haven't seen one on the road.
that on its own would put me off buying one, plus i still haven't seen one on the road.
LivinLaVidaLotus said:
hahithestevieboy said:
Tbh I thought that the demos were magnetic blue? I suppose that is why you see so "many" in that colour then?
Mag Blue demo cars were Exige S I think.Lotus has just off loaded a load of Lotus Fleet cars that staff have been driving and there was a good number of Europa's in the pile. Some would have been press cars. I think you will find that there are less that 20-25 true sold new to real customer cars.
james111s said:
Snapper7 said:
LivinLaVidaLotus said:
hahithestevieboy said:
I think you will find that there are less that 20-25 true sold new to real customer cars.
That can't be right can it? I've seen five different cars on the road recently and i'm not exactly looking out for them.
If only Lotus had listened in the first place, I said from word go they should be priced at 28k OTR, I've always liked the Europa but it was simply to expensive, I'm now hearing dealer's saying they didn't need to sell may etc etc etc RUBBISH!
It failed because they didn't listen!
Listen with the Eagle or next time or Lotus will be out of business and none of us will be happy. No small car manufacture can sustain losses with their car's, what a mess/missed opportunity
Boggy
It failed because they didn't listen!
Listen with the Eagle or next time or Lotus will be out of business and none of us will be happy. No small car manufacture can sustain losses with their car's, what a mess/missed opportunity
Boggy
The boot is certainly much easier to use than my S2 Exige but for me the softer handling was the issue and the front line of the headlights.
I found the Europa’s drive rather disappointing to be honest. Having owned an S2 111s in the past I would have expected it to be closer to that. But on the test drive I had to correct the back from starting to stepping out while exiting a roundabout and felt that it was rather soft on the front end as well.
What I would really like as a Lotus customer is a Europa S that drives and handles like Elise.
I know that Thorney Motorsport and a number of other companies can change the suspension, wheels & tyres to sort out the cars balance and handling issues. And give it a bit of extra power if I want.
But it just does not make sense for me to buy a brand new £ 34,500.00 sports car from the UK’s top sports car producer who is famed for their cars ride & handling and then get a third part to put it right.
But having seen how bad residuals are on a Europa, it does beg the question of is it really worth buying a second hand one a throwing that sort of money at it ether?
I mean a year old Europa with running in miles that's at £ 21k from a dealer (That puts a private sale at £ 19k) At that rate a further year down the road and you are looking at a £ 12k Car in all honesty.
An old lotus Elan in the same condition as the Europa would be in would cost you more....
It doesn't matter how you look at it, it just does not make sense to part with money for one. Give the cost of an Elise or Exige and the way they would hold greater value at resale.
I found the Europa’s drive rather disappointing to be honest. Having owned an S2 111s in the past I would have expected it to be closer to that. But on the test drive I had to correct the back from starting to stepping out while exiting a roundabout and felt that it was rather soft on the front end as well.
What I would really like as a Lotus customer is a Europa S that drives and handles like Elise.
I know that Thorney Motorsport and a number of other companies can change the suspension, wheels & tyres to sort out the cars balance and handling issues. And give it a bit of extra power if I want.
But it just does not make sense for me to buy a brand new £ 34,500.00 sports car from the UK’s top sports car producer who is famed for their cars ride & handling and then get a third part to put it right.
But having seen how bad residuals are on a Europa, it does beg the question of is it really worth buying a second hand one a throwing that sort of money at it ether?
I mean a year old Europa with running in miles that's at £ 21k from a dealer (That puts a private sale at £ 19k) At that rate a further year down the road and you are looking at a £ 12k Car in all honesty.
An old lotus Elan in the same condition as the Europa would be in would cost you more....
It doesn't matter how you look at it, it just does not make sense to part with money for one. Give the cost of an Elise or Exige and the way they would hold greater value at resale.
Snapper7 said:
The boot is certainly much easier to use than my S2 Exige but for me the softer handling was the issue and the front line of the headlights.
I found the Europa’s drive rather disappointing to be honest. Having owned an S2 111s in the past I would have expected it to be closer to that. But on the test drive I had to correct the back from starting to stepping out while exiting a roundabout and felt that it was rather soft on the front end as well.
What I would really like as a Lotus customer is a Europa S that drives and handles like Elise.
I know that Thorney Motorsport and a number of other companies can change the suspension, wheels & tyres to sort out the cars balance and handling issues. And give it a bit of extra power if I want.
But it just does not make sense for me to buy a brand new £ 34,500.00 sports car from the UK’s top sports car producer who is famed for their cars ride & handling and then get a third part to put it right.
But having seen how bad residuals are on a Europa, it does beg the question of is it really worth buying a second hand one a throwing that sort of money at it ether?
I mean a year old Europa with running in miles that's at £ 21k from a dealer (That puts a private sale at £ 19k) At that rate a further year down the road and you are looking at a £ 12k Car in all honesty.
An old lotus Elan in the same condition as the Europa would be in would cost you more....
It doesn't matter how you look at it, it just does not make sense to part with money for one. Give the cost of an Elise or Exige and the way they would hold greater value at resale.
Indeed, and the irony is that puttings slightly different springs/dampers/wheel sizes/susp geo to make it drive like an exige would have cost lotus pretty much zero extra to manufacture. Instead, doing the same after market will cost the customer thousands and should have been unnecessary. I found the Europa’s drive rather disappointing to be honest. Having owned an S2 111s in the past I would have expected it to be closer to that. But on the test drive I had to correct the back from starting to stepping out while exiting a roundabout and felt that it was rather soft on the front end as well.
What I would really like as a Lotus customer is a Europa S that drives and handles like Elise.
I know that Thorney Motorsport and a number of other companies can change the suspension, wheels & tyres to sort out the cars balance and handling issues. And give it a bit of extra power if I want.
But it just does not make sense for me to buy a brand new £ 34,500.00 sports car from the UK’s top sports car producer who is famed for their cars ride & handling and then get a third part to put it right.
But having seen how bad residuals are on a Europa, it does beg the question of is it really worth buying a second hand one a throwing that sort of money at it ether?
I mean a year old Europa with running in miles that's at £ 21k from a dealer (That puts a private sale at £ 19k) At that rate a further year down the road and you are looking at a £ 12k Car in all honesty.
An old lotus Elan in the same condition as the Europa would be in would cost you more....
It doesn't matter how you look at it, it just does not make sense to part with money for one. Give the cost of an Elise or Exige and the way they would hold greater value at resale.
I suspect that most people wanted a car that drives/handles like an exige or elise but can live with the extra weight in liu of a torquey engine and extra comfort and a little more practicality. And ofcourse they should never have let it near the press with that dashboard which looks like it'd rattle like a 20yr old fiat after a couple of years.
Boggys estimate of the right price is bang on in my estimation but with the caviats above. They should have just aimed it at the lotus faithful who wanted a comfy everyday alternative. Lets face it, it is just not stylish enough to appeal to the TT/boxter buying fashion monkeys who are often little interested in extreme performance and taking their driving skill to a higher level...
P.S. who reckons that so many of the dealer cars have got the brake upgrade because the original ones ceased solid from sitting arround doing nothing for a year?
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