A&Q about Lotus
Q:
I'm looking to buy a new 2006 Elise any day now with the following options
Solar Yellow Metallic Paint.
Star Shield.
Touring Pack.
Traction Control.
Black Pack.
Hard Top.
Newport European has exactly the car I want:
I took a look at the car last weekend, I want it sooooo bad! They are asking $46,070 for the car and $1500 for Stage 2 exhaust fitted.
So, is $47,570 a fair price for that car with the Stage 2? Would you pay that price for it? They told me that this was a reduced price since they want to move as many 06 cars to make room for the 07 model as possible.
Thanks for any feedback
fnBrit (my first post here!)
A:
I think they can do 50k out the door..
A:
What is the MSRP?
A:
I just sold an 05 that was loaded, and then some, and in great shape for $35,000. I wouldnt buy one of these cars new as you take a huge hit on depreciation immeadiatly. i got mine used with 600 miles on it. if you want a new one then get it, but its most certainly a buyer market for these, and this is a great time to pick up a used one cheap. i would stay away from ones that are high mileage no option cars that the owners think they can get in the low 30's for it. i have seen a few of those out there, that i am sure will go for under 30. look around at the cars here for sale i have seen some nice ones, but there is nothing like buying your toy new, thats for sure.
have fun with it.
A:
The MSRP is: $49,070
I haven't seen the actual invoice for the car myself.
Thanks for the feedback!
fnBrit.
A:
I wouldn't pay a dime over invoice for any 2006 right now. And I'm guessing invoice in $43-44K for a car with a $49K MSRP.
Jeff
A:
There is 10% profit at full MSRP. There are very few of the vehicles even thou they are 06's. Selling a car at invoice may work for Honda, but won't fly on a Lotus. Invoice is what we pay for the vehicle. The price they gave you is fair. I would beat it by a few hundred, but not much more. Remember that car sales is still a business and the dealership has a right to make a profit and you don't get that selling cars at invoice. I hope you get the car you want at a price you want. Let me know if I can do anything to help.
A:
What a mixed bag of responses!
Of course a buyer doesn't really want to pay anything over invoice, and the dealer wants sticker (or more!) At the end of the day I want to walk away feeling like both the dealership and I got a fair deal, I am not interested in screwing them over, but experience tells me that most dealerships really care much more about the bottom line than a customer driving away feeling all warm and fuzzy about the $$$ they paid.
I really don't want to go through the pain that buying a car usually is, but I don't want to be taken advantage of either...
Thanks for the help everybody
fnBrit.
A:
Originally Posted by fnBrit
...experience tells me that most dealerships really care much more about the bottom line than a customer driving away feeling all warm and fuzzy about the $$$ they paid.
Common sense should tell you that long before experience does.
Leaving your customers feeling all warm and fuzzy about the $$$ they paid is only a MEANS to the primary goal of increasing the bottom line.
xtn
A:
$1,500 for the Stage II plus installation is about double what most dealerships charge.
A:
If you are willing to shop nation wide you can do much better. I bought my new '06 with msrp $200 more than yours for $44,000 + tax. There are a few dealers around the country with prices right around $4500 - $5000 under msrp.
A:
again, I would recommend looking at used ones. , in many states you dont pay sales taxes on private party transactions, and you will save maybe $10K
I got a used car with 600 miles on it that the first owner had $57K into it, i got it for $41K, AND paid no sales taxes. good news for you, bad news for dealerships. my car was flawless, they are out there if you look.
A:
Yeah, shop nationwide. You can do much better.
A:
Originally Posted by mattwhite
$1,500 for the Stage II plus installation is about double what most dealerships charge.
what he said! $1,500 is outrageous.
A:
Originally Posted by LotusBeverlyHills
There is 10% profit at full MSRP. There are very few of the vehicles even thou they are 06's. Selling a car at invoice may work for Honda, but won't fly on a Lotus. Invoice is what we pay for the vehicle. The price they gave you is fair. I would beat it by a few hundred, but not much more. Remember that car sales is still a business and the dealership has a right to make a profit and you don't get that selling cars at invoice. I hope you get the car you want at a price you want. Let me know if I can do anything to help.
ha ha...several dealers offered me < invoice on an 06...the only reason I didn't bite was because the 05s, gently used were still $5K cheaper..
Jeff
A:
We do our best to make the customer feel happy and still pay the bills. I can not speak for other dealers. The nice thing about Lotus is that we are not a volume dealer and we count on word of mouth for alot of our business. That means that treating the customer well is very important. We will be sponsoring track days every quarter for all of our customers. We will have the track to ourselve for either the day or the weekend with food, cars, and professional drivers to treat how to drive your new lotus.
It is true that you can always find a dealer willing to sell a car for less for a number of reasons. At the end of the day you need to determine how much time you are willing to spend to save x amount of dollars. We are not really fully open yet so I can't check on the price of the stage II yet but once again shop around.
As far as buy out of state and not paying sales tax, the California DMV will charge you tax when you register the car here. I can not speak for other states.
Good luck
Brandon
A:
cal. does stick you for taxes on used sales. if you are going to spend $ on upgrading an exhaust, i would suggest spending it on something that increases power, not just adds sound. check the biys at sector 111 for some nice stuff that will add a few hp to the car.
a lotus only track day would be nice, but i liked my lotus on the track against other types of cars to see where my car was strong, and weak vs other machines. truth is, any track time is time well spent.
A:
Originally Posted by fishguyAZ
again, I would recommend looking at used ones. , in many states you dont pay sales taxes on private party transactions, and you will save maybe $10K
I got a used car with 600 miles on it that the first owner had $57K into it, i got it for $41K, AND paid no sales taxes. good news for you, bad news for dealerships. my car was flawless, they are out there if you look.
Wow...you could have paid cash for a Miata for the $6000 you lost on owning the Lotus for 2 months...It's a great 'Chick' car for the money...
John
An ACTUAL LOtus Owner
A:
buy it from HuntingRidge motors, they will give you the best deal out there...just call and ask. I was all ready to buy at another dealer and decided to give them a call, Mark Starr beat other price in 5 minutes of talking to me, I turned my car around, drive 3 hours to get there and drove my lotus home that evening, best thing I ever did was to call them...
A:
Originally Posted by LotusBeverlyHills
We do our best to make the customer feel happy and still pay the bills. I can not speak for other dealers. The nice thing about Lotus is that we are not a volume dealer and we count on word of mouth for alot of our business. That means that treating the customer well is very important. We will be sponsoring track days every quarter for all of our customers. We will have the track to ourselve for either the day or the weekend with food, cars, and professional drivers to treat how to drive your new lotus.
It is true that you can always find a dealer willing to sell a car for less for a number of reasons. At the end of the day you need to determine how much time you are willing to spend to save x amount of dollars. We are not really fully open yet so I can't check on the price of the stage II yet but once again shop around.
As far as buy out of state and not paying sales tax, the California DMV will charge you tax when you register the car here. I can not speak for other states.
Good luck
Brandon
I have to agree with Beverly Hills Auto here. The Lotus is a special car, that requires special care. (BTW, I am on the east coast, and have no ax here). There is always someone who will sell the car to you cheaper, but if you buy from a dealer who is only interested in moving cars at cheap prices, they may not be around to service your vehicle, or may skimp on service training for their techs.
I just traded in an Alfa Romeo Spyder on the Lotus. I was able to pick the Spyder up as a 4 year old low mileage car because the dealer, who had the lowest price, went ot of business, and the person that wound up servicing the car didn't know what they were doing. The owner wanted the car gone, because of repeated problems, and when the dealer I purchased the car from, who I had known for years, went to pick up the car was told "Just get the car out of my driveway." The "problem"...they installed the cheapest battery that they could find. Installing the proper size battery (which anyone who owns a spyder knows) solved the problem. I drove the car for 13 trouble free years, but am fortunate that there is still terrific service for my Alfa Romeos by former dealers in my region when I needed it.
Hopefully, we will not have many problems with our cars, but when you do, you want a competent dealer who knows what they are doing to be around to service the car. They can't do that if they are breaking even or selling the car for a couple of hundred dollars more than they paid. I am sure that I could have gotten a better deal, but I was fortunate that the 2 dealers from who I considered purchasing, had great reputations. I don't know about Newport, but if they have a good reputation for service, do you best negotiiatiing, but allow them to make a profit on the car. You will be glad that they are around when you need them.
BTW, if you own business, or are employed by a company, you wouldn't be able to purchase the Lotus if you sold your products or services at break even pricing.
Just my 2c.
Good luck, you will love the car.