Dealership Delivered My Emira Damaged — I Refused Delivery (dented driver door)

[Thegame]

So, as the title states, the dealership delivered my 2025 Meridian Blue i4 Turbo SE with damage, and I refused delivery of the car.

I wanted them to own their mistake. The dent had chipped the paint down to an area roughly the size of the tip of my index finger, with a small crack in the paint behind it. The pain is real.

Because of that, I refused to take delivery and asked them for compensation. At this point, I’m considering asking for either a full door replacement or compensation equivalent to the full price of the door.

Does anyone know how much an OEM Emira door actually costs? I want to have a realistic number in mind so they don’t come back with some manufacturer's number that makes the damage sound much cheaper than it really is. Of course, I will also ask them for an official quotation.

I was already having second thoughts about the car after seeing all the hassles people go through online, and this situation definitely hasn't helped. But honestly, the Meridian Blue is so beautiful, and the car looks absolutely majestic. I just can't bring myself to cancel the car completely.

Unless, of course, they refuse to compensate me properly.

If anyone knows the actual OEM price of an Emira door, I’d really appreciate the information.

 

[geoffbland]

$1445 - https://parts.lotuscars.com/p/Lotus_2022_Emira/DOOR-ASSY-FRT-LH/147801583/8890572608.html
Not sure how long you will need to wait nor if you will need to pay import duties etc.

Plus around $4000 for spraying and blending into the surrounding panels.

 

[geoffbland]

It would be far cheaper to repair the door - BUT make sure this doesn't affect your body warranty as you need to be covered still for when the doors start blistering.

 

[Thegame]

yes would be cheaper but their problem so they need to refund me for the door and keep it under warranty or no deal "(

 

[geoffbland]

Also be aware that with fibreglass, spiderweb cracks can appear in the gel coat weeks to months after the original ding. Whether you get this depends on exactly how this dent/paint chip occurred.

 

[MiamiBlue]

Having a little experience in the industry it's actually quite common for vehicles to pickup minor damage during shipping and transport and the dealer fixing it and the customer being non the wiser.

But that aside, a dent in a composite door I don't think can be properly fixed? (like a metal dent can be pulled out) and a filler and paint over would be totally unacceptable on a new car.

So I think you're well within your rights to get a new door. Lotus dealers have experience of changing doors because of previous paint blister issues. But it's obviously not ideal. The door will be fitted and paint matched locally which means the quality could be inconsistent (poor paint blend, door not aligned properly etc). But if they do it properly it should look perfect.

 

[Sanguineous]

I think the warranty part mentioned by Geoff is the most important aspect, since paint blistering can happen with no warning.

My route would be to let the Dealer and the transport agree on a door replacement, and ONLY the dealer can "supervise" the work, so your aren't losing your warranty.

Worst thing that happen is that a local body shop does a great job at replacing the door, but blistering happens and you have to pay for the entire door since the dealer wont accept the warranty claim because they weren't supervising the work.

 

[Thegame]

I think the warranty part mentioned by Geoff is the most important aspect, since paint blistering can happen with no warning.

My route would be to let the Dealer and the transport agree on a door replacement, and ONLY the dealer can "supervise" the work, so your aren't losing your warranty.

Worst thing that happen is that a local body shop does a great job at replacing the door, but blistering happens and you have to pay for the entire door since the dealer wont accept the warranty claim because they weren't supervising the work.

They are going to fix it at the dealership with no warranty claim and no accident report and how it works here in this country the dealership is the responsible for warranty claim with manufacturer as each brand have 1-2 dealer i told them i will stop by with paint expert in Sunday and check the fix if no color mismatch or imperfection i might accept delivery if not cancel the whole thing i got 20k discount on final call for 25 offer thats the main reason im not totally just going off they offered to replace the whole care with another color but me being stubborn i want this color and this color only let see what happen sunday or Monday and will update either with car photo or no car for another month and the hunt for my next sport car start again

 

[geoffbland]

But that aside, a dent in a composite door I don't think can be properly fixed? (like a metal dent can be pulled out) and a filler and paint over would be totally unacceptable on a new car.

Normal glass fibre is very easy to repair well with a competent bodyshop knowledgeable about glass fibre. With some replacement resin it'll be just as good as new. That's one of the big advantages to glass fibre as opposed to metal panels, glass fibre can be repaired as good as new.
The TCA composites might be slightly different but for a small repair probably not.
The respray and paint matching is the hard bit.
When it is mentioned that composites can't be fixed this is normally carbon fibre because of the weave and also because CF are often structural/load bearing/safety parts.

 

[redgarl]

I had some little bubbling on my paint and I investigated with Lotus and they told me there could be disparity with dark paint tones, which will require blending...

In short, you don't want to go this route. Ask them a new car and let them handle the issue on their side. If you really want the car, I would ask them to fix the issue and provide a 10 000$ depreciation credit.

If you plan on selling the car, it will impact the resale value for sure.

As for me, since the issue was almost impossible to spot, I decided to NOT go this route for the exact same reason as your color, since mine is a Dark Verdant with Red accent racing lines.

 

[SJones]

I keep reading members referring to the composite panels as fiberglass. They in fact are not fiberglass at all and are produced of completely different materials and manufacturing processes

 

[geoffbland]

I keep reading members referring to the composite panels as fiberglass. They in fact are not fiberglass at all and are produced of completely different materials and manufacturing processes

The Emira uses GRP - glass reinforced plastic - the glass referring to the glass fibre sheets used and a plastic resin created in a vacuum mould - this is fibreglass. The TCA panels are also fibreglass using a slightly still using glass fibre sheets and plastic resin - just with a different bulking agent and a different vacuum/compression system. The bumpers are moulded plastic.

They are fibreglass. I'm not sure what you mean by "completely different materials and manufacturing processes"?

 

[Thegame]

I had some little bubbling on my paint and I investigated with Lotus and they told me there could be disparity with dark paint tones, which will require blending...

In short, you don't want to go this route. Ask them a new car and let them handle the issue on their side. If you really want the car, I would ask them to fix the issue and provide a 10 000$ depreciation credit.

If you plan on selling the car, it will impact the resale value for sure.

As for me, since the issue was almost impossible to spot, I decided to NOT go this route for the exact same reason as your color, since mine is a Dark Verdant with Red accent racing lines.

I really dont want any other color they have on stock also paid 2000$ more for color other options cost less with bank also involved this will be a very hard to untangle headache will see the results on Sunday and make my decision there based on work quality and what they will throw to sweeten the deal.

 

[Rcktmn]

I don’t blame you for wanting that color. Finally saw one at LUG last week and it really is awesome