The answer to “why I’ve no longer got a Lotus?” is very
simple:
The problem with easily obtainable finance, is that it's so easy to chop and change your car. This is why you shouldn't use finance. Only buy what you can afford with funds from your piggy bank!
*The pleasure to be had from cars costs yet more money: Petrol, track-day costs, etcetera... This is the problem for me. I'm not so rich that I can happily spend £700 per month paying car finance and storage, and then spend another £500 for some fun in the car, without feeling any stress about the state of my finances. Stress free pleasure is the goal. If I'm not spending £2000 a month on cars (finance, storage, depreciation, some fun tinged with financial anxiety), that's £2000 a month I can either save, use to pay off the mortgage, or simply have some fun with!
I
hate being in debt.
The problem with easily obtainable finance, is that it's so easy to chop and change your car. This is why you shouldn't use finance. Only buy what you can afford with funds from your piggy bank!
Starting with the Lotus Elise Sport 220 back in August
2017, I had £22000 in an interest free loan (buy now paying nothing for 2 years), on top of the £22000 credit I
put in (£44000 total price). Interest free loans are far too much of a temptation to get into debt, this is why I think they are bad.
(If you absolutely have to borrow, yes, you can't beat interest free. But I'll avoid being tempted by interest free loans in the future. It's not good to get into debt for depreciating luxury items. Only buy what you can afford. Don’t
get loans for stuff that depreciates! The only loan that is a good loan, is a loan for an appreciating asset - like mortgage on a house - where the appreciation exceeds the cost of the interest.)
After a few months of owning the Lotus Elise Sport 220, it
was getting to me that:
1) I don’t have a garage
2) It’s way too nice a car to use for boring work/business
mileage
I didn’t do anything about the garage situation then (moving
to a new house is not super fun or easy). I did get a second car for the first
time in my life.
After doing 1 track-day and starting to use the Lotus
Elise less and less (made more sense to use the more sensible car for boring
mileage), I started to think about the garage situation, and how to best use
the Lotus. I searched and found out that classic/prestige car storage is quite
affordable (I was paying £120 per month including VAT). And I decided I’d just
use the Lotus for track-days.
Then I saw a beautiful Signature Orange Exige V6 S
with the automatic gearbox and went for it (May 2018). The Exige would
be used for track-days mostly and special events and would be kept in car
storage. I lost £12000 on the Lotus Elise, and the Exige cost me £47000 in
total. My monthly payments were £675 to pay off the loan over 5 years, and £120 car storage. £800 per month just paying car finance and storage!
Of course, I really love Lotus cars, and really wanted a
Lotus in my life. So, I thought that was me sorted. After doing 2 track-days and
the Lotus 70th anniversary event in Hethel, it came to winter, and I started
thinking... “I’ve had the Exige for 6 months and done basically 3
events and now it’s winter ... and I’m paying £800+ a month for the privilege
of owning a car I hardly ever see!”
November 2018, I sold the Exige and got a white Lotus
Evora V6 NA with manual gearbox. I lost £12000 on the Lotus Exige. The Evora cost £40000. The Evora
would be a daily driven exotic (I even bought the plate LE14 DDE but never got around to fitting it). My car monthlies dropped to £525 per month for the car finance.
And this plan went fine for a while until the garage situation got to me again. Also, I had two cars and basically always used the Evora (so easy to chose to pick up the Evora keys - such a great road car) which hadn’t been the plan. So, the Evora went into storage, and I changed my second car to being something a bit more fun than my current second car. I changed my number 2 car from a SEAT Ibiza 1.4 FR to a Solar Orange Audi S3. With car storage and £199 a month for the Audi S3, now my car monthlies were up to £850 per month.
And this plan went fine for a while until the garage situation got to me again. Also, I had two cars and basically always used the Evora (so easy to chose to pick up the Evora keys - such a great road car) which hadn’t been the plan. So, the Evora went into storage, and I changed my second car to being something a bit more fun than my current second car. I changed my number 2 car from a SEAT Ibiza 1.4 FR to a Solar Orange Audi S3. With car storage and £199 a month for the Audi S3, now my car monthlies were up to £850 per month.
For a while having two daily drivers but swapping them in
and out of storage seemed like a good idea. And this situation worked well for
a few months. Then I made a stupid switch (more stupid) from Evora to Yellow Exige V6 S
roadster (nothing wrong with the car, just stupid reason to switch - and
I later realized yellow is not my colour).
My thinking in changing the Evora to the Yellow Exige was
incredibly daft. Originally, I’d meant to get a Black Audi S3 (black and white
go well together). Then - after seeing a black S3 that turned out to be dark
purple, and calling up about two black S3’s which had sold that same day I
called - I happened to see an Orange Audi S3 and went for it (partly because it was a great
example, and partly because I’d loved my Orange Exige). White and Orange aren’t
a great combination. Yellow and Orange is a better combination (and I have
personal reasons why I might like yellow, but had never had a yellow car.)
And it was getting to summer and it’s fun to be able to take the roof off. So,
after driving a Yellow Exige V6 S Roadster with manual gearbox, enjoying the
roof off and sound of it, I went and changed Evora to Exige (May 2019). The
Exige cost £38000, and I got £32000 for the Evora (lost
£8000). My monthlies were now £499 for the Exige, £199 for the Audi S3, and £120 for storage, so about £820 a month!.
And again, the situation of having one car in storage and
one car out of storage at-a-time seemed good and lasted until early October
2019. Then, with a view to getting married in 2020, and deciding that £700 a
month paying off car loans (at this stage I’m about £25k in debt), and £120 a
month paying for car storage, is stupid, I decided to do something about my
situation, and sold the Exige V6 S for a nearly new Mazda MX-5, and stopped using car storage. I lost £8000 on the Exige but my bank balance
gained £7000 since the Exige was worth more than the Mazda.
The £7000 I received from selling the Exige went some way
to improving my debt situation. And then I changed my second car from Orange
Audi S3 to Scuba Blue (dark blue) Audi TT TDI (to be honest, bright orange
is fun, but not for me long term - unless for a special occasions car.) The change from 2010 Audi S3 to 2012 Audi TT TDI wasn't a costly change to make (I did of-course lose a chunk of money on the S3). The
Audi TT TDI is very sensible and really ticks all the boxes for me (except it’s
not a Lotus). I really like dark blue.
And now, November 2019, debts just under £20000 and car finance of £299 a month. And I'm thinking, do I really need 2
cars anymore!? It made sense having 2 cars when one is a very special Lotus. My
2 cars are now Mazda MX-5 and Audi TT (both special cars but not Lotus). And, whilst the 2012 Audi TT cost £10000
and the Mazda MX-5 more like £22000, if I have to pick which one to keep, it’s
going to be the Audi TT TDI (a bit more practical, more economical, better
at gobbling up the motorway miles, a Quattro so never going to be troubled by
the winter months, I prefer the dark scuba blue to the pale mica blue of
the Mazda, and I simply like the Audi TT more.)
How much might I lose if I sell the Mazda MX-5 now? Probably
about £6000.
So, considering everything, I’ve lost around £50000 with my buying/selling Lotus cars. But,
after selling the Mazda MX-5, my debts go down to £0, and I can start thinking
about how to do Lotus ownership properly in the future. £50000 would have
bought me a Lotus! So stupid have I been!
In all honesty, I've probably stupidly blown at least £250'000 in my life-time, including £100'000 to an ex-girlfriend. I don't think it is wasted money though, as I've learnt a lot. The £100'000 I lost to the ex-girlfriend was one of the most useful experiences of my life. And not many people can say they've owned 4 Lotus cars - I'm very privileged to have lived with the Elise Sport 220, Exige V6 S Coupe Automatic, Evora NA Sport Racer, Exige V6 S Roadster. Money is never wasted, only time.
In all honesty, I've probably stupidly blown at least £250'000 in my life-time, including £100'000 to an ex-girlfriend. I don't think it is wasted money though, as I've learnt a lot. The £100'000 I lost to the ex-girlfriend was one of the most useful experiences of my life. And not many people can say they've owned 4 Lotus cars - I'm very privileged to have lived with the Elise Sport 220, Exige V6 S Coupe Automatic, Evora NA Sport Racer, Exige V6 S Roadster. Money is never wasted, only time.
How to do Lotus ownership properly?
1) You need a garage first! (Somewhere nice to house your pride and joy.)
2) Buy what you can afford! (If you hate loans/love being loan-free, don't get a loan to pay for it, save up your pennies first.)
Once the above 2 points are satisfied (means I must move
to a new house with a garage, and then save some pennies), I’ll buy myself
another Lotus. Realistically (if I don’t change my mind) my return to Lotus ownership
is a few years away (perhaps 2022).
“You’re a long time
dead!?” Cars are more fun than houses... Will I change my mind again! Only time
will tell.
Q: Which was your favourite Lotus?
I think the Signature Orange Exige V6 S Automatic (the automatic
gearbox never bothered me - actually, I loved it, I loved the auto-blip on
downshift). It was either that or the White Lotus Evora Sport Racer.
Q: Has another Lotus caught your eye?
Yes, I really fancy this Nightfall Blue Metallic Exige...
I’m thinking: ‘How much pleasure will I get from it*’ versus ‘how
much pain will the loan, interest, storage costs, other costs, and having my pride and joy languish in storage - so I barely every see/use it - cause me (also how much happier will I be loan free'). Very much first world problems.
*The pleasure to be had from cars costs yet more money: Petrol, track-day costs, etcetera... This is the problem for me. I'm not so rich that I can happily spend £700 per month paying car finance and storage, and then spend another £500 for some fun in the car, without feeling any stress about the state of my finances. Stress free pleasure is the goal. If I'm not spending £2000 a month on cars (finance, storage, depreciation, some fun tinged with financial anxiety), that's £2000 a month I can either save, use to pay off the mortgage, or simply have some fun with!
Image: Nightfall Blue Metallic Exige
Someone would be doing me a favour if they bought it
now and removed the temptation. But no, I hate being in debt/love being debt-free. And I need a
garage for my future Lotus!
END OF BLOG (Until I change my mind in the next
5 minutes)
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