Diaries of the first Lotus Emira picked up from Hethel - V6 FE - yellow / ice / silver / sport

[action_turtle]

Lotus Glasgow have a yellow auto for Sale at £90k with 221 miles on PPF - wonder is someone got it then didn’t suit ? - of course they punching with the price can’t see someone paying that.
Their demo is for sale could this not be used as loan car until yours is repaired ?
Can car not be rejected due to length of time it’s been off road v’s useable ?

I was thinking the same. We must have a law in the UK that allows us to return the car. Even more so when you are paying hundreds a month for a car you do not even have??

 

[Joel]

In the UK, if a car develops a major fault within the first 6 months of ownership then the dealer is obliged to offer to buy the car back from you should you so desire

(Had to do this with a Clio RS years ago)

 

[action_turtle]

In the UK, if a car develops a major fault within the first 6 months of ownership then the dealer is obliged to offer to buy the car back from you should you so desire

(Had to do this with a Clio RS years ago)

thats good to know. Perhaps they will pay attention once they have to start buying back our cars!

 

[Joel]

Just double checked that, they have to have tried and failed to repair it "within a reasonable timeframe". It's called "Final right to reject" if you want to check it out

For me they tried to fix a fault in the gearbox and the car lit up like a Christmas tree 5 miles after picking it up

 

[SteveB]

Maybe worth following up with the Trading Standards Institute: Tradingstandards.uk/consumer-help/

 

[shaank]

I definitely don't want to just reject the car / get my money back - bear in mind being one of the first to get one, it was cheaper than they are now too!

It's been 4 weeks currently, and unfortunately not any further forward as yet. Weather is smashing too. Luckily I've not paid up for June's track day I would have been going to, so not losing any money there this time, and a wedding the Emira is meant to be the wedding I've had to let them down. Upcoming car shows I'm having to pull out of too - such a shame

I so want this car to be back with me, it really is great. But I can't deny I've been on autotrader looking at Porsche and Mclaren options for similar money...

 

[CDM1855]

The fact that this happening and people are willing to just accept it isn’t really good. Having had mine off the road immediately after I picked it up for the first 2 weeks of ownership, I was very close to handing it back. If what has happened to you had happened to me, they would have had it back a long time ago with a full refund request. I would have just moved on to something else

 

[shaank]

They are trying, and it's not like I need the car, I have other cars, but I do see your point. I'm being nice about it, want it resolved, and will obviously expect Lotus to make good on the whole thing somehow. Either way the car is great, service is happy and friendly just it's very slow to resolve things. I have every faith they will improve, and this is a learning experience for lotus to improve for others.

 

[CDM1855]

They are trying, and it's not like I need the car, I have other cars, but I do see your point. I'm being nice about it, want it resolved, and will obviously expect Lotus to make good on the whole thing somehow. Either way the car is great, service is happy and friendly just it's very slow to resolve things. I have every faith they will improve, and this is a learning experience for lotus to improve for others.

I agree the car is great, But it’s a real shame that you spent so much time with the car off the road through a multitude of problems. imagine if it was your only car. Remember this car was marketed as a Lotus that you can drive every day.

 

[VL3X]

They are trying, and it's not like I need the car, I have other cars, but I do see your point. I'm being nice about it, want it resolved, and will obviously expect Lotus to make good on the whole thing somehow. Either way the car is great, service is happy and friendly just it's very slow to resolve things. I have every faith they will improve, and this is a learning experience for lotus to improve for others.

Learning experience? Lotus has been selling cars for what... 60 years now?

 

[Concept24]

Learning experience? Lotus has been selling cars for what... 60 years now?

GM has been selling Corvettes for 70 years, yet here we are with failed transmissions, power retracting tops, and intermittent electronic glitches. Some things never change.

 

[kitkat]

GM has been selling Corvettes for 70 years, yet here we are with failed transmissions, power retracting tops, and intermittent electronic glitches. Some things never change.

That's setting the bar real low.

 

[Concept24]

That's setting the bar real low.

Yes, indeed!

 

[JasonR]

They are trying, and it's not like I need the car, I have other cars, but I do see your point. I'm being nice about it, want it resolved, and will obviously expect Lotus to make good on the whole thing somehow. Either way the car is great, service is happy and friendly just it's very slow to resolve things. I have every faith they will improve, and this is a learning experience for lotus to improve for others.

Who have you contacted in Lotus?

Geoff Dowding is the executive director of sales and aftersales and I think he’ll be keen to hear of the failings in the process. He was when I told him of mine and now the cars sorted for now

 

[CDM1855]

Who have you contacted in Lotus?

Geoff Dowding is the executive director of sales and aftersales and I think he’ll be keen to hear of the failings in the process. He was when I told him of mine and now the cars sorted for now

I wonder if he is the guy who told the website guys to hold off updating the true performance figures for the V6 Auto until they had collected payment from the first 50 odd UK customers

 

[DJS]

I wonder if he is the guy who told the website guys to hold off updating the true performance figures for the V6 Auto until they had collected payment from the first 50 odd UK customers

Are you happy with your V6 Auto?

 

[CDM1855]

Are you happy with your V6 Auto?

Now that it’s working ok, yes

But it could be a little quicker. The paddle shift is a bit laggy but fine for road use. Noticeably slower than a DCG

It still doesn’t sit very well with me that they falsely advertised performance numbers and then updated them soon after the first tranche of UK customers paid them, but hey they make price promises and then renege on those too..

 

[TomE]

Who have you contacted in Lotus?

Geoff Dowding is the executive director of sales and aftersales and I think he’ll be keen to hear of the failings in the process. He was when I told him of mine and now the cars sorted for now

Are you forgetting he’s got Matt Windle on speed dial?

 

[JasonR]

Are you forgetting he’s got Matt Windle on speed dial?

I mean if Matt can’t sort it who can 😅

 

[L0tus]

UPDATE ON FRONT FAN / OVERHEATING ISSUE

Oh dear.

So it was booked in (5 weeks ago) for this week to have the front fan replaced. Lotus HQ sent up a replacement fan in advance, Glasgow Lotus went to fit it - turns out it's not actually the fan at fault, but the WIRING to the fan. And that wiring is front wiring loom, not just a small part to the fan. So it's a huge job. What's wrong with it? Corrosion due to water damage. HOW!?

2nd track day paid for and missed today as a result (May 4th).
NC500 trip done in a Mini courtesy car instead of the Lotus.
2 weeks off work, no Lotus to enjoy / all plans with it obviously cancelled.

Will I get the lotus back this month? Who knows now, thoroughly fed up. Can't fault Lotus Glasgow, or Lotus HQ, they've both done great getting parts in advance - but it's so annoying it needs something else and that it's such a huge job that the requires the front end

Did you pay the 1st garage to check the car ?