3 Questions for US guys.

[LotusV8]

1. Who else thinks the dealers dont give Lotus the time of day. Every dealer I go into to look at an Esprit, I get dirty looks and when I spark a convo about Lotus in general, EVERY dealer starts to bash the Lotus name. Saying, ah, Porsche is the way to go. I guess its because every Lotus dealer I go to doesnt sell Lotus cars exclusively. And the Esprits in there are ALWAYS parked behind cars, stowed away in a corner where no one can see them and always have alot of dust on them. And they only ever have silver for some reason!

2. Where in the U.S. do you live? I live in Putnam County, NY.

3. Who else thinks the LotusCars.com website is possibly the worst site out there for Lotus?

[cnh1990]

They probably won't let you drive one either. Unless you fit a certain profile and say the right things. Even Fox Valley which is one of the better dealers will not let you drive a car unless you fit a certain profile. Many dealers may not be friendly with a person who may look out of place inquiring about a certain they have a good chance not buying. These places are businesses that make money by selling and servicing items. A salesman that spends time with someone not likely to buy, may sacrifice time with someone looking to buy. So when going to a dealer know your stuff about these cars. We owners/potential owners know a lot of about these cars before we even go to the car lots. We usually are in a certain age group, have particular mannerisims and carry ourselves in certain way that the sales people know. That is why only certain people are allowed to take a test drive and others not.
Calvin

[LotusV8]

Yeah im not looking to drive one. I just go there to look at them. I figure, im there alot so why not conversate. Sometimes while im looking at a Lotus, a sales guy will say, "You should forget that piece of S***, come look at this Porsche."

I just respond with a No thank you.

Sometimes I like to go to dealers and ask them questions about the Esprit and watch them give me the wrong information. Its so sad that they know nothing about them. I dont let them know that I pretty much know everything about the car. Like one time I asked how much horsepower the Esprit V8 had, the guy told me about 480. I was like, really, Wowwwww. LOL

[MikeAR303]

cnh1990 said: They probably won't let you drive one either. Unless you fit a certain profile and say the right things. Even Fox Valley which is one of the better dealers will not let you drive a car unless you fit a certain profile. Many dealers may not be friendly with a person who may look out of place inquiring about a certain they have a good chance not buying. These places are businesses that make money by selling and servicing items. A salesman that spends time with someone not likely to buy, may sacrifice time with someone looking to buy. So when going to a dealer know your stuff about these cars. We owners/potential owners know a lot of about these cars before we even go to the car lots. We usually are in a certain age group, have particular mannerisims and carry ourselves in certain way that the sales people know. That is why only certain people are allowed to take a test drive and others not.
Calvin

I am far from fitting any type of "profile" that might suggest that I could afford a Lotus (or appreciate one for that matter), but I can afford one and I do appreciate them. I am 20yrs old and look like a techno geek (well, I *am* a techno geek) - and may I also mention that I look far younger than my age?

I have a deposit down on a US Elise with Fox Valley Motorcars... I was treated with far more respect there than I was at the BMW dealership where I purchase my current car ('00 323i)... At the BMW dealership I went through 4 different salespeople because the first 3 were ing pricks and kept making comments that would suggest that I couldn't afford the car I was buying (I was 17 at the time). Sure enough, I bought the car with the 4th salesperson and paid for it in full - the salesperson I chose got the pleasure of laughing in the faces of the 3 morons who ****ed up their opportunities earlier that week. Anyway, for the most part profiling is ridiculous and stupid on the part of a dealership.

Then again, I like to believe that I am rather intelligent and act in a way that would make such a dealership less likely to disregard me as someone just coming in to scam a test drive of a car they would never own.

In case anyone is wondering what I do for my money - I'm a computer programmer, systems administrator, consultant, security analyst, and project manager.

[cnh1990]

The mannerisim and charecteristics is more important than age. The knowledge of the car is key. This is not a car for impulse buying. Oh it does happen, but buyers of Esprit's are the most knowledgeable compared to buyers of other cars. Chatting to salesman and putting down a deposit is much different than going for a test drive and the time in serious sales talk. In the past, my test drive and the sales talks takes 2-3 hours sometimes even longer, like in half his working day. Even I can tell when there is genuine interest to buy and a person that is a bullsh*tter. Many sales people will try and steer a buyer towards either something easier to maintain if they feel they are a novice or motivated to sell a car that has a larger spiff. What ever his motiovation is sometimes a mystery to me. Many times a a good salesman will roll over a prospect to another salesman because he senses that there is not a good connection. Some people just don't mesh well with some while others click along a common rapport. Because a person that buys a car does not fit a profile once in while and sometimes it blows up in their face, the salesman is unlikely to discard profiling a likely prospect. He sees to many people. If a person is slighted or not it makes little difference to them unless they are a low volume specialty car shop and they are personable. Still follow the rules if you want to test drive the car, get to know the salesman and let him get to know you, be knowledgeable about the car and related subjects. Then he may allow a test drive and get involved with the lengthy car sales talk. Other than that there are many strokers out there.
Calvin

[MikeAR303]

Your points are all very true...

Impulse buying of Lotus cars is a good thing for the rest of us because usually it is "I'm wealthy and my wife is a money grubbing bitch, let's buy her this car so she won't divorce me" - and after the gold digger gets her "gift", it is usually traded in for an SUV 2 months later with 100 miles on it for a loss of $25k. Cheaper cars for the rest of us