Just interested to hear peoples reasons for paying a premium for an Exige (and prompted by responses in my other thread 
)
Resale value
āIf the Exige was just an Elise with a hardtop and a rear spoiler I would have saved myself Ā£5k and bought an equivalent Elise!ā
Your words Markā¦! 
I donāt like the look of an S2 Elise (former S1 Elise owner for 7 years) and because I have always wanted a SC Exige 
Upgrade from an S2 111s for more power and I always wanted one
For me it was a number of things:
More track focused suspension set up
Prefer the look: Wider front clam, the vents behind the front wheels, access panels, sloping engine cover, hardtop
I wanted a factory forced induction (even though I ended up going for a converted NA )
Exige is rarer than the Elise
Iād already done the Elise (three times) Exige felt like a step up
Exige insurance is cheaper
Looksā¦
Itās so so prettyā¦
Itās what I drove when I was looking for a 2nd car.
I needed a worthy replacement for the Caterham.
The Exige looks are absolutely stunning and it can hold itās own on the road/track.
Iād always loved the look of the S1 Elise - it looked cute and was in essence a pure British sportscar.
I liked the look of the S1 Exige but to me it was just an Elise with a roof (sacriledge I know!)
When the S2 Elise came out, I hated it. It was way too aggressive looking - all of the Elise āCutenessā had gone.
However, when the S2 Exige was released, all the aggressive lines suddenly made sense.
That was the moment I knew Iād own one!
Had an Elise S2 but when I test drove the Exige S2 when they first came out I had to have one , to me it looked better , it was faster and felt so much planted than the Elise , since then I have had three of them , an NA an S and now an S240 , you can keep gay ass Elise soft tops , itās hardcore Exiges for me .
I didnāt. I bought as well as, and a 340R and a Motorsport Elise, but selling an Esprit!
I chose a VX220 over an Elise when I was 23 but the dream was always an Exige. Iām 30 now and have had the RGB for nearly 2 years. Loving every minute of ownership.
The elise is a very feminine car IMO and it doesnāt quite float my boat
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I have had both S1 and S2 Elise and Exige before the Evora.
All great cars, each with their own merits. I think the best car lotus currently makes (bang for buck) is the Elise Sā¦I donāt have on as i want the practicality of the Evora.
i always liked the look of an exige, was deciding between one and a GTR when a ride in Sean Bās s2 made my mind up
made the right choice, gives me the uber stoke
Exige S1 for me as it looks so much better than a Elise, not to mention the sound from the VHPD!!!
Snap - I did the same thing, always wanted an exige, went for a vx200 when I could, but it was never quite what I wanted. Couple of other cars, then the exige
You have to ask??? 
Spur of the moment.Went to buy some Jaguar spares at Stoneleigh in 2006.Thought what can i do for rest of the day and decided to go to Lotus show at Donington. Car was on display on Lotus Drivers Club stand .Thought āquite like thatā and bought it.Ran it along side my 944 Turbo for a year but 944 was hardly getting a look in.Couple of trackdays later decided the Porsche had to go after 13 years!.Iām 71 now and still love driving it,though i rarely do a trackday now.For me the best feature is the way it steers followed by the outright grip on twisty roadsā¦Best fun car to drive but only just beating my Mk 1 Escort.!!
I love spur of the moment purchases. I once went out to buy a sump plug washer for a Mitsubishi Evo I had at the time and ended up coming home with a 2 year old M3!
We had one of those recently. The missus wanted a replacement car a few months ago, we went to a Ford dealer to look at a Cooper S Clubman they had on their forecourtā¦ ended up signing the dotted line on a brand new B-Max! Thing is they knocked Ā£3k off the list price of a top of the range Titanium with some good options that was sat in a dealer in Hull. And because of the finance offers on new cars the monthly payments werenāt much more than they would have been on the Mini. Then factor in zero car tax, no MOT for three years, no servicing (they chucked that in) no unexpected repairs and the saving in fuel economy it was a no brainer in the end; she gets to own a brand new car and weāre better off each month with no worries of unexpected repairs on a 2nd hand car.