Brand new Exige 350 discount

[Dicko_4]

Hi everyone,

I look through these forums everyday but I very rarely post anything. Im looking for some help please.

I'm considering getting back into Lotus ownership. I bought a brand new Exige S2 240 in 2010 and owned for 5 years. I loved the car so much and I really miss it, hence the reason I'm toying with the idea of getting a Exige 350 sport. I do have a few other options but this is currently my favourite one.

I've got a good relationship with one of the Lotus dealers and they have a brand new unresgistered sport 350 in stock i really like up for about the £65k mark. Its been in stock for a long time (since the end of 2019) and I was hoping for some discount but when I showed interested in the car (just after the showrooms re opened after lockdown) i didn't get offered any discount at all when I asked. The car is still up for sale at the same price.

My question is has anyone else recently bought a new exige and got a discount or have any idea of what sort of discount I may be able to get? I would be getting finance but I do not want the 50/50 0% deal which i believe costs the dealer more and thus there is less room for discount.

Alternatively, I understand my best chances of getting a discount is on a stock car but do they offer discounts on a factory order as I don't mind waiting for the car to be built?

Thanks

John

[alscar]

Hi

Its not just how long the car has been in stock ( if that is the case ) but also time of year that can make a difference but given just how few Lotus sales there are ( especially brand new ) and relatively speaking obviously getting a discount isn't like buying say a BMW or Audi etc.
It also depends on how confident / good etc you are at negotiating and of course how receptive the dealer is to talking too !
I would doubt you would ever secure much if anything off a new factory order specced to your choice but on a stock car ( and one that has been in stock that time either implies an unpopular colour or perhaps limited spec ) I would guess there is certainly a chance to offer less.
Hethel might have some brand new cars already built sitting there and again you may be able to manage something off with the Dealer.
Fwiw I bought my new 410 from Lotus Silverstone 12 months ago ( Robert Beke was the salesman as Aimee had just gone on maternity ) and was just a great all round experience.
Good Luck.

Al

[Dicko_4]

alscar said:

Hi

Its not just how long the car has been in stock ( if that is the case ) but also time of year that can make a difference but given just how few Lotus sales there are ( especially brand new ) and relatively speaking obviously getting a discount isn't like buying say a BMW or Audi etc.
It also depends on how confident / good etc you are at negotiating and of course how receptive the dealer is to talking too !
I would doubt you would ever secure much if anything off a new factory order specced to your choice but on a stock car ( and one that has been in stock that time either implies an unpopular colour or perhaps limited spec ) I would guess there is certainly a chance to offer less.
Hethel might have some brand new cars already built sitting there and again you may be able to manage something off with the Dealer.
Fwiw I bought my new 410 from Lotus Silverstone 12 months ago ( Robert Beke was the salesman as Aimee had just gone on maternity ) and was just a great all round experience.
Good Luck.

Al

Hi Al,

Thank you for your reply. You bring up some very valid points. Inparticular about the fact that Lotus make so few cars and that the time of year would play a big factor in potentially getting a discount.

With regards to my negotiating skills I managed to get £6.5k off my new Exige S2 in 2010 so I sort of know how to do it (or I may have just been lucky and they wanted rid of the car?) To be totally honest though woth regards to the new car I wasn't 100% certain at the time of negotiating that I wanted it so I didn't push too much.

I'm currently in a convenient situation where I can do a deal asap if the deal/car was right but i can also wait until the end of Decmeber to do a deal if need be because that's when my Range Rover PCP ends and it gets handed back. I'm assuming December would be one of the best times to negotiate on a sports car? Maybe I wait until then and if the car I'm currently interested in has sold im quite open to a couple of other specs/colours so I'm certain I'll find a good deal on something else.

Thanks for the recommendation of Lotus Silverstone, I may give them a call.

Thanks

John

Edited by Dicko_4 on Tuesday 1st September 17:13

[Davey D]

Is it definitely a brand new car that you want? as for around the £60k mark you can pick up a 2 year old Sport380 with all the nice upgraded parts.

I'd had my heart set on a 350sport for a long time, and had a list of upgrades that I would like to have done. In July this year I went to look at a 380sport which already have all the parts (and more) that I would have done to a 350 sport, so for me It was a no brainer to buy a car just how I wanted it instead of buying one to make it what I wanted

[Dicko_4]

Davey D said:

Is it definitely a brand new car that you want? as for around the £60k mark you can pick up a 2 year old Sport380 with all the nice upgraded parts.

I'd had my heart set on a 350sport for a long time, and had a list of upgrades that I would like to have done. In July this year I went to look at a 380sport which already have all the parts (and more) that I would have done to a 350 sport, so for me It was a no brainer to buy a car just how I wanted it instead of buying one to make it what I wanted

Hi Davey,

Thank you for your reply

It doesn't necessarily need to be a new car so the point you bring up about the 380 is a very good one. One of my upgrades on a 350 would be a 2bular road back box exhaust (from what i gather some dealers are ok with warrenty if its just a back box and not manifolds/cats being changed). However, the 380 already sounds amazing so that would a saving in itself. How does the 380 exhaust compare to a 2bular road back box? I wouldn't be tracking the car so the louder the better.

Thanks

John

[Davey D]

Dicko_4 said:

Hi Davey,

Thank you for your reply

It doesn't necessarily need to be a new car so the point you bring up about the 380 is a very good one. One of my upgrades on a 350 would be a 2bular road back box exhaust (from what i gather some dealers are ok with warrenty if its just a back box and not manifolds/cats being changed). However, the 380 already sounds amazing so that would a saving in itself. How does the 380 exhaust compare to a 2bular road back box? I wouldn't be tracking the car so the louder the better.

Thanks

John

Sorry I cant comment on the 380 exhaust vs 2bular as I've only heard the 2bular exhausts in videos.

The 380sport is the first and only v6 exige I have driven ( and then immediately bought ) I didn't even realise it had a different system to the 350sport until I read about it after buying the car. I thought it was just the tail pipe that was different (pig snout on the 350sport vs single big outlet on 380sport)

But as you say - The exhaust note on the 380 does sound amazing, and if need be I can press the button to have the valves open or closed,so i can pootle along quietly should the need arise

[Dicko_4]

Davey D said:

Dicko_4 said:

Hi Davey,

Thank you for your reply

It doesn't necessarily need to be a new car so the point you bring up about the 380 is a very good one. One of my upgrades on a 350 would be a 2bular road back box exhaust (from what i gather some dealers are ok with warrenty if its just a back box and not manifolds/cats being changed). However, the 380 already sounds amazing so that would a saving in itself. How does the 380 exhaust compare to a 2bular road back box? I wouldn't be tracking the car so the louder the better.

Thanks

John

Sorry I cant comment on the 380 exhaust vs 2bular as I've only heard the 2bular exhausts in videos.

The 380sport is the first and only v6 exige I have driven ( and then immediately bought ) I didn't even realise it had a different system to the 350sport until I read about it after buying the car. I thought it was just the tail pipe that was different (pig snout on the 350sport vs single big outlet on 380sport)

But as you say - The exhaust note on the 380 does sound amazing, and if need be I can press the button to have the valves open or closed,so i can pootle along quietly should the need arise

Thanks again for your reply.

Sounds very interesting. I do prefer the look of the 380 too so I will have to look into them more. I am planning to drive the car most days, would you think it would this would be possible in the 380 with it being more track focused than the 350? I did drive my S2 Exige most days so im guessing it wouldn't be an issue.

Quick question, do you have the standard sport exhaust or titanium exhaust on your 380? Do its pop and crackle much? I love this feature but I read it was phased out slightly in the later exige models (mainly 410 and 430 i think)

Has anyone else had experience or heard both the 380 exhaust and 2bular road backbox?

Thanks

John

[Davey D]

Dicko_4 said:

Thanks again for your reply.

Sounds very interesting. I do prefer the look of the 380 too so I will have to look into them more. I am planning to drive the car most days, would you think it would this would be possible in the 380 with it being more track focused than the 350? I did drive my S2 Exige most days so im guessing it wouldn't be an issue.

Quick question, do you have the standard sport exhaust or titanium exhaust on your 380? Do its pop and crackle much? I love this feature but I read it was phased out slightly in the later exige models (mainly 410 and 430 i think)

Has anyone else had experience or heard both the 380 exhaust and 2bular road backbox?

Thanks

John

If you've been used to driving an s2 daily, then I can't see why driving a 380 sport would be so much different? If it has the "track pack" then it has adjustable nitrons. Mine just has the standard 380 suspension

Yes there are plenty of crackles and pops from the exhaust. Mostly in over run in lower gears and when changing gear when pushing it hard

[Dicko_4]

Davey D said:

Dicko_4 said:

Thanks again for your reply.

Sounds very interesting. I do prefer the look of the 380 too so I will have to look into them more. I am planning to drive the car most days, would you think it would this would be possible in the 380 with it being more track focused than the 350? I did drive my S2 Exige most days so im guessing it wouldn't be an issue.

Quick question, do you have the standard sport exhaust or titanium exhaust on your 380? Do its pop and crackle much? I love this feature but I read it was phased out slightly in the later exige models (mainly 410 and 430 i think)

Has anyone else had experience or heard both the 380 exhaust and 2bular road backbox?

Thanks

John

If you've been used to driving an s2 daily, then I can't see why driving a 380 sport would be so much different? If it has the "track pack" then it has adjustable nitrons. Mine just has the standard 380 suspension

Yes there are plenty of crackles and pops from the exhaust. Mostly in over run in lower gears and when changing gear when pushing it hard

Sounds very interesting. I'm definitely going to have to look into these and have a test drive at some point. Thanks again for your reply

Cheers

John