A Newbie..... again
Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2026 9:22 pm
Hmmm, after 2 previous Elises, 2 Exiges and 3 Esprits I'm not sure how much of a Newbie I am.
But, hey... I did a thing again and it's good to be back,
Quite an odd, in a good way, buying experience with Stebbings the dealer.
Typically it was 360 miles away in Norfolk (grrr) but it was a nice weather forecast so I drove down in my wee MX5 which was going to be the car I would trade in if we were chatting about a deal. To be fair, it was immaculate, 1 owner who had just traded it in for a Porsche, full service history with Stratton Lotus who supplied it and who had just serviced and MOTd it last week before it was traded. I'd already called Stratton before thinking about traveling down and they were really helpful and confidence inspiring in the car. Anyhow, I turn up as agreed, they gave me the keys to take it for a drive and it was all very familiar.
The car was nicely priced, they made a generous offer on my Mazda which they said they would retail themselves and that was that. I asked if they wanted a deposit and I would collect it in a week or so once I'd returned with all the Mazda paperwork and V5, retained the private plate etc and sorted out the service info and spare keys etc and the sales guy said they would be ok if I bought it there and then since there was no prep to do and trusted that I'd forward all the docs and keys.
I joked that I'd just filled it with petrol for the 7hr journey home and they had another salesman take the Elise up the street to a forecourt and filled it up.
7 hrs back up the motorway wasn't the ideal plan for a return to Lotus ownership and, to be honest, I'll be happy not to sit in it maybe till the weekend, but it should be fun going forward. I think I will miss the MX5s heated seats tho!!
Jim
But, hey... I did a thing again and it's good to be back,
Quite an odd, in a good way, buying experience with Stebbings the dealer.
Typically it was 360 miles away in Norfolk (grrr) but it was a nice weather forecast so I drove down in my wee MX5 which was going to be the car I would trade in if we were chatting about a deal. To be fair, it was immaculate, 1 owner who had just traded it in for a Porsche, full service history with Stratton Lotus who supplied it and who had just serviced and MOTd it last week before it was traded. I'd already called Stratton before thinking about traveling down and they were really helpful and confidence inspiring in the car. Anyhow, I turn up as agreed, they gave me the keys to take it for a drive and it was all very familiar.
The car was nicely priced, they made a generous offer on my Mazda which they said they would retail themselves and that was that. I asked if they wanted a deposit and I would collect it in a week or so once I'd returned with all the Mazda paperwork and V5, retained the private plate etc and sorted out the service info and spare keys etc and the sales guy said they would be ok if I bought it there and then since there was no prep to do and trusted that I'd forward all the docs and keys.
I joked that I'd just filled it with petrol for the 7hr journey home and they had another salesman take the Elise up the street to a forecourt and filled it up.
7 hrs back up the motorway wasn't the ideal plan for a return to Lotus ownership and, to be honest, I'll be happy not to sit in it maybe till the weekend, but it should be fun going forward. I think I will miss the MX5s heated seats tho!!
Jim
