I have just realised I joined the Aussie Elise’s forum one year ago on the 22-October 06 and I thought I would remember my Lotus ownership expericen since then with the fun I’ve had since that date.
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I ordered the new Elise R 12 months ago from Jayson at Rick D’s after a long decision on wether I actually needed a sports car or to go for a sensible car. In the end after a few persuasive comments from my lovely other half and even from my parents in the UK who loaned me a bit of the money they said “to enjoy myself while I was still young” and “to go for it son”

I went to Rick D’s and very nervous I put down my deposit for a $120k+ car and started the wait…….
Jayson handed me on a piece of scrap paper the words aussieelises.com and told me ‘if im into the internet I should check it out’. Well being in the IT industry I thought I would, and I found myself a wealth of knowledge and information at hand.

My car didn’t take the 3 months of build and shipping as expected but in fact 6 months, but during that time I was hanging out on the forum not posting at all but really watching and learning about what I was to expect in owning one of these cars.

During the wait the long term forum member and owner of a Blue Exige Cup 240, Rob240 contacted me by private message and through conversation we became friends along with many other forum members who made contact and gave me much advice which I was very grateful for and which proved very useful for the future.

Lotus apologised for the extended wait of the car during the build process and sent me on a track day on Eastern Creek in a Lotus Exige S where I met Rob in person and Mat (found on the forum also) who taught me how amazing the car is and how amazing a driver he is with hsi racing experince of many years 

So 6 months in and the car arrives. I got a call from Jayson to come pick it up tomorrow. I rush down with the misses and in Rick D’s storage area, fresh from the factory in Hethel UK is the car of my dreams all new and shiny and waiting there for me.

Over the next 6 months I have been enjoying a Burrows Drive Day at Sydney Eastern Creek racetrack every 2 months along with meeting up with some of the guys on the forum for drinks and thoroughly enjoying the ownership of a modern Lotus.

It has given me no technical problems, has returned a great Km per litre compared to most other cars on Aussie roads and has given me so many enjoyable drives on the country roads surrounding Sydney, especially the Royal National Park, the Putty road up to the Hunter Valley and the Blue Mountains Bells line of road.

Everyone I meet when with the car just wants to talk about the car, its design, its look, its uniqueness. I offer for them to have a sit in it and to explore its features with me and it makes there day it seems

So now we lead to today where I have been a member of the forum for 12 months now signing up on the 22-October 06, and I have gained so much enjoyment with participating in the postings online I have decided in becoming a forum sponsor, effectively paying for my involvement in it’s great worthwhile online AU based community. I have signed up to join the large forum members trip organised by forum member Ashton and others in November and generally look forwards to hanging out with the fun and friendly Lotus ownership community they seem to have here in Australia in the future.

Overall I just wanted to say that after one year of ownership I am glad I have purchased a Lotus car with the fun it has given me, im grateful in all the help everyone on the forum has provided and I am glad in finding such a great online community and with my family for helping me.