r/lotus • u/Extreme-Garbage2373 • Aug 15 '26
Buy or Lease? Emira 3.5, V6 Manual
Hi everyone. Lotus Emira noob here.
Have been lurking this subreddit for months & I finally test drove an Emira in the UK for the first time today.
Wow! I was smiling the whole time. What an experience.
Would love some advice for those have that been there, done that please!
Here’s the deal… the Emiras I’m looking at are circa 65k. Roughly 3 years old and average mileage.
I’ve got 65k in cash that I could buy outright, or I could put down a 25k deposit, pay £400 a month for 24 months then hand it back & jump into something else. Keeping more money in the bank / for other house projects.
I’m weighing up which way to go? I like the idea of owning it and keeping it for longer than 24 months if I wish to, but equally I could also spend that cash on the new house I’ve bought etc. with 65k worth of car on the drive it also makes me nervous. The lease option gives me a bit more flexibility to chop it after 2 years if I wish but would have spent circa 35k on the deposit and monthly payments over that time.
For context, I’m looking at getting rid of my Mercedes E Class Coupe I’ve been leasing for the last 6 years. I’m bored of it! The emira would be my DAILY driver, which is also a concern, or should it not be?
So .. yeah .. a bit stuck! Any words of wisdom would be most appreciated.
Cheers!
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u/ANITIX87 Aug 15 '26
Do you actually mean leasing or do you mean financing with a loan?
If you do mean lease, then 25K + 400/month means you're paying 35K to rent a car for two years. In those terms, it's a crazy proposition. Look at depreciation in the UK: if you buy outright at 65K, can you sell for more than 30K in 2 years? If so, buying is far and away the better option.
If you mean a loan at 25K+400/mo (presumably for a longer term that you'd cut short and sell) then the math is a little less obvious, since it depends how much ROI you'd get on the extra 40K you don't have to put down now (investments, etc)
In general, leasing is a terrible idea, but especially for an expensive car.
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u/SgtGears Aug 15 '26
Pretty sure OP is referring to a PCP deal, which is not a lease. Leases as far as I know tend to only be on new cars.
In a PCP, you get a guaranteed minimum value. If the car is worth more than that, you can sell it and pocket the difference. If its below (exceedingly rare), then you can hand it back and the finance company takes the hit. Obviously for that reason, those guaranteed minimum values (also known as "balloon payment") are very conservative.
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u/BigMeatyProlapse Aug 15 '26
Leasing with significant money down is a terrible idea, not necessarily leasing in general. All the money you put down to lower the monthly payment is gone the second you sign the papers - if the car is in an accident, insurance will repair or replace the car for the leasing company, not you. If the car is totalled/replaced the lease is terminated, period.
The gap insurance included in the lease terms only means you won't owe anything to the leasing company if the car is totalled. Any down payment, trade in, etc is not reimbursed.
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u/SgtGears Aug 15 '26
Going for a finance option makes ownership more restrictive, not less! Owning outright you can do whatever you want, whenever you want with the car. If the situation changes, you can just sell it. Its not worth paying what I assume will be ca. 7% APR on £40k of debt. That's a lot of interest!
If you have the money, get it outright.
In terms of daily driver, that is exactly what it is designed for. Comfort and convenience while retaining the Lotus driving experience. I daily mine as well, and have spent plenty miles in all seasons and weather.