I can’t help looking at Lotus’es on Pistonheads. This one
popped up a few weeks ago and I think it’s perfect. An Evora S in Nightfall Blue
Metallic with the Satin Gunmetal
19/20" Multi Spoke Forged Alloy Wheels. I can’t stop looking at it. Desire
is the root cause of all suffering!
Image: Lotus Evora S
in Nightfall Blue Metallic (front and side)
Image: Lotus Evora S
in Nightfall Blue Metallic (rear and side)
I'm totally in love with this Evora, but here is why I
won't/can't get it (and how much I’ve thought about it):
Living within your
means!
I already have a Lotus Elise Sport 220 PS and an Audi A3 Mk3
Quattro 184 PS Sportback (220 PS with the Chip Express box), and I don't want
to sell either of them.
And these two cars serve me perfectly:
- A fun car I can use for track days, weekends, and other
driving adventures (the Lotus)
- A comfort car that can gobble up the motorway miles and
more (the Audi)
I only have parking for 2 cars - where I live - and
wouldn’t really be comfortable with leaving the Evora parked outside my house
anyway (the Elise I worry about too). So, even if I could manage to get £45’000
worth of finance (a fairly-big ask anyways), the Evora would end up in storage
for most of the year. Good car storage is going to cost around £200 per month. Even
though the car won’t do massive mileage (3000 per annum tops), there’s still
servicing, tax, insurance, and anything else, so let’s budget £200 per month
for that. The finance would be the biggest cost, perhaps £1000 a month over 5
years say. So, we’re looking at over £1400 per month.
What do I get for £1400 per month? I’ll own a dream car
that I’ll hardly ever see or use. It’s not like it’s £1400 per month down the
drain because the car will still be an asset (albeit a depreciating one), but a
fair chunk will be money down the drain.
My priority has always been to pay off debts early. My major
debt is my mortgage. I also have a loan for the Lotus Elise. My financial
priority is to pay off the Elise loan (since that has the highest interest
rate), and keep overpaying my mortgage (I don’t believe in going crazy
overpaying mortgages because you want to have some life; if you always go for 2
year fixed deals like I do, overpaying means the monthly goes down every 2
years, which is very nice). Buying the Evora as a third car would make it
impossible to make overpayments. Also, I’d not have any money to have fun and enjoy life (i.e. go
for adventures in my Elise - a track day isn’t cheap!)
If I was to part-exchange a car for the Evora,
unfortunately it would have to be the Elise, but I absolutely don’t want to do this (the Elise is a keeper - in the future I might do some mods to it - and anyways, I'd lose a ton of money if I part-exchanged it.)
Still, I wrote up some advantages of either model:
- The Elise has a size advantage - it's small and easy to
park.
- The Elise has a cost advantage - it's cheaper to run.
-The Elise is very
cute - I think less likely to generate envy and trigger the haters.
- The Elise is less stressful to own.
- The Elise is more fun.
- The Elise is a convertible (actually - a targa) which will
be great when the weather allows taking the roof off!
- The Elise is faster to 60 (not so much that you’d
really notice it)
- The Evora is the ultimate dream car.
- The Evora has more road presence.
- The Evora's V6 engine sounds better.
- The Evora is more accepting of passengers.
- The Evora has a more comfortable interior.
- The Evora has much more cargo space.
- The Evora has heated seats.
- The Evora has Xenons.
- The Evora has a higher top speed.
Both cars have outstanding chassis, steering, performance,
and brakes.
Just to sum up:
I can’t afford it!
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