Evora 400 or an Earlier version?

[WakeFlakes]

Hi guys,

I have made a couple of threads now across PH looking at and test driven different cars (Alpine, Porsche 981 GTS & 991 911, Supra GR) now I am here! (I hope you don’t mind!)

I have around £50k for a sports car that can cope with daily driver duties and longer journeys whilst also not losing a fkton in depreciation over the next 2/3 years. I test drove a 400 today and honestly it was fantastic. However my biggest concern is depreciation, from the bit of research I have done it appears that the Evora S has pretty much plateaued now. Which means a late S is about £10-15k cheaper than a 400.

I guess my questions are:

1) Is it worth the extra for a 400? (I like the facelift, and the updated interior, the extra performance is nice as well)

2) How much more do you think the 400 has to depreciate before it will settle?

I know it’s impossible to Give a definitive answer, I just wanted to canvass opinions. This would be my first Lotus as well.

[WakeFlakes]

Yeah I know what you mean on the Porsche, the 911 and Cayman GTS that I looked at and drove were both very good cars but they didn’t feel special (to me at least). A GT4 is a little out of my price range at the moment.

The Alpine I looked at was fantastic and really loved it, but they are a bit too new to get a feeling on their depreciation. Which is what lead me to the Evora.

I’m not necessarily opposed to keeping it longer term but I already have 2 cars in the garage that I don’t want to let go of just yet!

[WakeFlakes]

blueg33 said:

The 400 is notably less comfortable than the earlier cars. The Recaro seats are fantastic and I miss those now I have sold my car.

I also think that the 400 interior feels lower quality than the earlier cars, eg less leather, cheaper switch gear, but possibly better screwed together.

The main niggles are felt by all cars: headlamp lacquer, a pillar trims, noisy manual drive train.

I have just sold my SR and decided not to go for another Evora, but I was looking at the 400 and 410, they just didn't light my fire enough. Sweet spot for me would be a 410 sport with IPS and recaro seats. That would be an excellent daily.

Because i couldnt get what I wanted I scratched a different itch - I now have a 20 year old Ferrari which is as quick as a 400 (maybe quicker from 50 mph upwards) but financially is a scarier proposition. - The Evora is pretty cheap to run. Even if you have to do a clutch, overall I found servicing at Lotus Silverstone good value, no more than any normal car apart from niggle fixing

When I sat in the 400 I thought the interior felt very well put together. But that’s perhaps because the only other lotus I had sat in is my brothers 111R. I had the same problem when looking at the 997.2 and the 991.1 911s, I liked the interior of the 991 so much more. It’s the same with the S and the 400. I haven’t driven an S yet but will have to try and find one.


It’s interesting you say about the Ferrari as I was looking at more classic cars, but I wanted something a little bit more modern for a change as this would be the first car I have owned that was built post 2000! I hope you have a trouble free ownership!

[WakeFlakes]

gareth h said:

I’ve had a few Loti, and in my opinion the newer the car the better the build quality, My advice would be to go for the latest car you can afford, the 410 is the pick of the bunch at sensible money.

There’s a 410 at B&C but I think I remember reading somewhere that the 2016 410s were press cars?

[WakeFlakes]

Thanks for the advice guys. I think I will go for a 400. Now it’s just trying to find one.

Theres this one

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10123244?c...

But I’m unsure if it being a demo (for the first 800 miles) is an issue? Probably not.


And this one

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/9791748?cI...

Although that one hasn’t been MoT’d since October 2019.

Is there a Lotus dealer that is highly recommended? I’ve heard good things about Bell & Colvill as well as Silverstone.

[WakeFlakes]

blueg33 said:

I found Silverstone to be excellent. The whole team is very good, Matt as the boss is really helpful (allow some time as chats can be quite long), Aimee in sales could sell ice to eskimos so be careful , and Ben on service reception is also really good.

In my 30 plus years of car ownership, they are probably the best dealer I have ever used.

Personally, I am not a fan of the Evora in signature silver or black - for me the blues, green and oranges work well. I nearly bough Silverstones green 410 sport but we were about £1000 apart, my Ferrari was almost £8k less (which I am sure I will sepnd on maintenance in the next couple of years)

Edited by blueg33 on Tuesday 27th October 09:15

Yeah I’m not too sold on the colours either. But my intention is to get the car wrapped anyway, so exterior colour isn’t hugely important.

Silverstone is my nearest dealer so will give them a call!

Edited by WakeFlakes on Tuesday 27th October 10:11