[JASonic]

Just for fun, I've been looking at Lotus Elise's again. The prices have come way down over the last year. You can pick one up with low miles in great condition for around 25k or lower.

So for shits and giggles I called a dealership in Jacksonville just to speak to the finance manager. He told me that unless your credit is 790 or above there isnt a single bank left that will finance an exotic...even a cheap one for 25k. He said Chase and about 20 other banks in FL would finance them with scores as low as 650 in the past. Now none will touch them. The funny part is why they wont....he said in the last quarter of 2009 alone there were 14.5 million dollars worth of exotic loan defaults in Florida alone.

SHIT! That is alot of rich fucks defaulting on cars they did not need. Amazing.

[TheGreatLouisianaRoadkill]

You told them that the Lotus is just a small car powered by a Toyota, right?

That is pretty crazy.

I remember when the econmoic crisis was getting really bad I found 3 different Lamborghini Reventons for sale.

[JASonic]

Ya! Funny how that is with the Toyota engine. Thats why the engine in the new ones have very little problems. Lotus is like the "patchwork" car. They used to run MGB (I believe) engines...use Toyota lights...interiors made by someone else etc.

I've always liked the Elise though. Its basically a tricked out Toyota Spyder. I still would rather own a Esprit V-8 but they are just too problematic to own unless you have $2,000 in the bank at any given time to maintain it.

[TheGreatLouisianaRoadkill]

For sure. The Esprit is fantastic and still looks good, but it will kill your wallet.

The new Elise is fantastic. I got drive one. I really liked it, but it didn't like my size haha. It would definantly make a fun track/weekend car.

I also like the Evora. Thats a very good looking car. Lotus sure has come a long way.

[slikirish]

The Evora is too polished for my tastes in a Lotus. To me a Lotus should be a barely street legal, stripped out, track warrior. No need for interior or any of that shit. The car is about the drive, not about the look or comfort.

[TheGreatLouisianaRoadkill]

The Evora is the perfect car for a Lotus fan. No one, no matter how hard they try, can daily drive and enjoy an Elise/Exige. The car is too sparse and rough around the edges, as it should be. The Evora is perfect to daily drive and still have a little bit of a Lotus feel to it, so you can drive it on a daily baises, then when the weekend comes up you can hop in the Exige and truely enjoy it.