On Saturday 28th December, all being well, I'll exchange my Lotus Exige for a Toyota GR86.
On Christmas day, I had a 150 odd mile round trip to see relatives, and I took the Exige for what will be it's final trip with me. I had wondered if the trip would make me feel like exchanging it for a GR86 is a mistake, but it did not - I feel like I've made the right decision for me at this time in my life.
Q: Why am I exchanging the Lotus Exige for a Toyota GR86?
3 main things:
- Lack of time.
- Lack of money.
- Lack of facilities.
1) Lack of time: The Exige is best used for Epic Road Trips or track days. I simply don't have the time for Epic Road Trips - I've never been on one and my 25 holiday days a year are very much ear marked for other (family) stuff. And my enthusiasm for track days isn't as strong as it was - going around in circles gets a little boring after a while, and there's the money aspect (track days are expensive), which leads onto the below.
2) Lack of money: My Exige is totally paid off, but it's still a very expensive asset for me. And I'm not wealthy enough to own assets that I don't use (like I don't want to keep the car in storage). I've very much used the Exige - 6000 miles in just over a year of ownership. But many of those miles have been on the motorway, something the Exige really isn't designed for.
Changing to a GR86 does not cost me any money, saves on road tax, insurance, servicing and fuel too. Depreciation is a thing though, the Exige barely depreciates, the GR86 will depreciate more (but not crazy, the car will be rare in the UK, Toyota only made 1000 available to the UK market).
3) Lack of facilities: No garage. My Exige has always been parked in residential parking - I have 2 private parking spaces - out in the elements.
Overall
Overall, I simply don't think I'm a good owner of a Lotus Exige. These are special cars that should be respected and cared for. I have cared for my Exige as best I can (has been detailed and well serviced), but no garage, and too many motorway miles. If I keep the car much longer it will soon be the highest mileage Exige V6 in the UK.
There are other things that made me doubt the sanity of my keeping the Exige. I wasn't 100% convinced I was really enjoying my Lotus Exige ownership experience (part of the problem being my favoured Lotus specialist is well over an hours drive away - I have Subaru/Toyota specialist within walking distance of my home.) It's been fun driving a car that most people hardly ever see on the road, but now I want to be more subtle (hence a black GR86.) I enjoyed the experience of getting in an out, it is not a challenge for me. The suspension is quite hard for road driving. The engine sound is great, and it's not noisy on the motorway either (mostly wind and road noise on the motorway.) The sound of the supercharger is quite addictive. The IPS (auto) box has fantastic auto-blip on downshift, but returning to a manual (with the GR86) is appealing. The IPS (auto) box has a personality to it, that - when you get used to - is totally fine (I never found much value in using the flappy paddles.)
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