This Eight-Year-Old Lotus Evora Is A £24k Depreciation Buster

One thing that all good tech firms have mastered is the art of releasing regular new models without changing too much each time. That way, you maintain demand for the older models because they’re still relevant and desirable. You already know where we’re going with this.

Lotus has spent the last few years releasing ‘new’ models that are, in fact, microscopically altered in some way. Maybe it’s a slight spring rate tweak and 10kg more downforce. Could be a new, lighter set of wheels and a paint job. Usually there’s a token power increase, but not too much or there won’t be room to increase it by another 10bhp for the next special edition…

All that means that Lotuses tend not to depreciate very much, especially the hotter stuff with two seats and a penchant for weekend blasts and track days, a bit like the V6-engined Exige Sport 410 we told you about last week. You could argue that all Loti are the same in that respect, but some are a bit more ‘real world’ than others.

That’s where this little gentleman’s express comes in. The Evora is defined by its two ‘if I have to’ rear seats, useful for kiddies and registered contortionists. Ambitious parents can shove the bare essentials into the mid-engined Evora’s frunk and pretend that it’s a practical family saloon.

And you’ll want to do that. This four-seater (well, this 2+2) will make it worth your while. You get 276bhp (no supercharger back then) and a fantastic exhaust note from the 3.5-litre V6, through a five-second 0-60mph sprint and a top speed of 161mph. Average efficiency is definitely not the official 29.9mpg.

We found this Evora V6 at the dirty end of the classifieds, but it’s in anything but bad condition. It was the cheapest on Auto Trader UK at the time of writing, offered by a private seller with a fresh major service, two new Bridgestone Potenza rear tyres and an MOT certificate until August.

The seller’s spelling isn’t the best and his ‘full stop’ key must have stopped working, so the advert text is harder to read than a Welsh lunch menu. The gist seems to be that it has plenty of kit, spanning Bluetooth, reversing sensors, cruise control, the Sports, Tech and Premium packs, xenon headlights and more. Much of the good stuff will have been contained within the three options packs when the car was new in 2010.

In its eight years this one has done 79,000 miles; a nice, healthy number that shows the car has been regularly used, but not overused. Its price is an intriguing £23,995 and the Lotus Silverstone service history is a big tick for your due diligence. Lotum are cars that do tend to change hands quite often because they’re so focused and expensive to run, so we wouldn’t worry too much about the fact that you’d be the sixth owner.

Instead, look at this Evora as a fantastic Lotus sports car that’s still basically the same as the ones being churned out today, minus forced induction. It has all the possible toys, and it’s still only a third of the price of a basic new one.

Then look at that depreciation. From what would have been a lower price point in 2010 anyway, the Evora has held its money ridiculously well over its eight years. Now it’s the age it is, imagine how little value it will lose from here on out…