Paint blistering issue update

[Beachbum]

I'm amazed Lotus just havent thrown the whole thing to Teijin. "Your screw up, your fix. Until it is fixed the costs are all yours. "
I'm sure there are some discussions like that going on, but Lotus would do well to make sure their customers knew what was going on

Oh hang on, thats Customer Service, scrap that

 

[Steve Tillett]

Also it's worth pointing out that Lotus did have a similar problem with the early Elises, Exiges and VX220s. It took Lotus a while to sort out the issues there but they did solve as later cars were not affected. Although the symptoms of the bubbling on the Teijin panels are similar the causes may not been. But I imagine Lotus must be extremely frustrated that an issue they have had solved has reappeared due to a third-party supplier.

I have got bubbles on the lower inside of the doors on my old S1. Back then these cars were part RTM, part hand laminating. Not many people made products like this with RTM as it is hard to get enough fibre into the cavity without creating pinch points and resin rich areas. We were making our kart seats by RTM in the mid ninety's and very few companies could do anything other than non structural boxes or covers. It took us a long time to sort it so they didn't fracture or have bubbles.
When processes moved on and Lotus eventually solved their air issue, it was with their own version of infusion, which is why the air disappeared.
I can only imagine they gave Emira panel production over to someone else because their previous infusion process was slow, labour intensive and costly with materials and consumables. I guess the promise of banging out air free mouldings by compression seemed like the answer when costing. If I was Lotus I would get the moulds made to make them themselves pretty quickly. The repair costs must be horrendous.

 

[Lotustoronto]

4 years into building Emira and they still haven't solved the paint bubbling? It must be far less cars affected than everyone thinks? Either that or they are working to change over into a different manufacture come the facelift version. Perhaps carbon doors and tailgate? Curious how this will develop.

 

[Jinba ittai]

Looking at this poll, I think this issue is coming for all of us eventually.

 

[Dean76]

Looking at this poll, I think this issue is coming for all of us eventually.

Death, taxes, and paint bubbling comes for all

 

[patrickramdial]

Does anyone know how long the warranty on this issue lasts?

Since I store mine in a garage AND this issue seems almost inevitable, I want to know if and when it happens if it will be covered.

 

[geoffbland]

Does anyone know how long the warranty on this issue lasts?

It's been discussed here. https://www.emiraforum.com/threads/uk-paint-warranty-escalations-bribery.5969/

Paint warranty was 5 years and reduced later in 2024 to 3 years.

 

[NJemira85]

I'm amazed Lotus just havent thrown the whole thing to Teijin. "Your screw up, your fix. Until it is fixed the costs are all yours. "
I'm sure there are some discussions like that going on, but Lotus would do well to make sure their customers knew what was going on

Oh hang on, thats Customer Service, scrap that

They likely are dumping it on Teijin. Certainly, Teijin, as a supplier, is responsible for a certain quality of product, and level of product performance, and failure to meet that would result in liability. The bigger question is why they haven’t found another supplier or material in 4 years if no solution has been found.

 

[SimonT]

In the UK, small claims court for just one door. Win that and then get the other door done

Exactly.

 

[Coreyalert3]

Here's the blistering on my trunk lid. V6 FE part of first wave of US Deliveries. They have since receded and are flush but you can still see where they are if you look closely. I dont have pics of that yet.

 

[djprov431]

Official update -- Lotus approved my warranty claim for door replacement, repaint, and re-do of the PPF --the dealer is ordering a new door today. My only complaint is Lotus will not ship the door to my local repair shop -- they insist it goes to the dealer which is 3 hrs away --- so I have to pick the damn thing up and round trip it to the repair shop. So silly.

 

[Ft.S]

Official update -- Lotus approved my warranty claim for door replacement, repaint, and re-do of the PPF --the dealer is ordering a new door today. My only complaint is Lotus will not ship the door to my local repair shop -- they insist it goes to the dealer which is 3 hrs away --- so I have to pick the damn thing up and round trip it to the repair shop. So silly.

Why not have the dealer ship the door to your repair shop after it arrives? Might be better than 6 hour drive.

 

[djprov431]

Why not have the dealer ship the door to your repair shop after it arrives? Might be better than 6 hour drive.

It might be better than the 6 hr drive but my guess is it'll cost me a fortune, no offer of them doing it for free!

 

[djprov431]

Here's an update --After approved quotes for paint and PPF replacement, Lotus sent me a new door and I scheduled with a quite reputable shop close to home. The shop investigated the blistering and found that the it was caused by a previous repair (the dark spot in the photos) -- after some testing on the area, shop quantified they could easily repair the area vs replacing the entire door......as of yesterday, the repairs are complete and cured -- paint should happen later this week.....PPF about a month or so later. Assuming all goes as planned, it appears I'll have an unopened Lotus OEM door sitting around.

 

[Honcho]

UK People. How long are you waiting to get your paint fixed? I reported in July. Dec now and still haven't been called,

 

[PS1_Emira]

UK People. How long are you waiting to get your paint fixed? I reported in July. Dec now and still haven't been called,

It went quicker than I anticipated actually. I went with Woodcote & Copse (Lotus Silverstone) in case they're within range of you.

I would call up whomever you contacted. My patience would've run out long ago, and I'd have pestered for an update.

It took 3 weeks for both doors to arrive, after the paint blistering was confirmed during a service check. Arranged a date to drop off the car. Then took 3-4 weeks for doors to be replaced etc.

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

Here's an update --After approved quotes for paint and PPF replacement, Lotus sent me a new door and I scheduled with a quite reputable shop close to home. The shop investigated the blistering and found that the it was caused by a previous repair (the dark spot in the photos) -- after some testing on the area, shop quantified they could easily repair the area vs replacing the entire door......as of yesterday, the repairs are complete and cured -- paint should happen later this week.....PPF about a month or so later. Assuming all goes as planned, it appears I'll have an unopened Lotus OEM door sitting around.

I don't believe this is a paint/repair issue, It's a laminating panel issue related to moisture during manufacturing. It's possible that the issue reoccurs - the new door is a remanufactured panel.

I would hold onto the new door they sent you incase this reoccurs.

 

[Orchardbike]

Here's an update --After approved quotes for paint and PPF replacement, Lotus sent me a new door and I scheduled with a quite reputable shop close to home. The shop investigated the blistering and found that the it was caused by a previous repair (the dark spot in the photos) -- after some testing on the area, shop quantified they could easily repair the area vs replacing the entire door......as of yesterday, the repairs are complete and cured -- paint should happen later this week.....PPF about a month or so later. Assuming all goes as planned, it appears I'll have an unopened Lotus OEM door sitting around.

I wouldn’t pet that spare door go anywhere…….

 

[djprov431]

I don't believe this is a paint/repair issue, It's a laminating panel issue related to moisture during manufacturing. It's possible that the issue reoccurs - the new door is a remanufactured panel.

I would hold onto the new door they sent you incase this reoccurs.

My repair guy specializes in exotic cars -- he said the door clearly had a prior repair, which was not done correctly --- noted by the dark color in the earlier photos. He mentioned it appeared the repair area wasn't primed and cured properly. He went on to add thin layers of epoxy material, let cure, and check for reaction -- grind down, repeat. This process lasted 2 weeks --- he's now got it fully repaired, cured, sanded, and ready to prime / paint. As for the replacement door -- yeah, I'll surely hang onto it for a while, it's not a big deal to do so.

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

My repair guy specializes in exotic cars -- he said the door clearly had a prior repair, which was not done correctly --- noted by the dark color in the earlier photos. He mentioned it appeared the repair area wasn't primed and cured properly. He went on to add thin layers of epoxy material, let cure, and check for reaction -- grind down, repeat. This process lasted 2 weeks --- he's now got it fully repaired, cured, sanded, and ready to prime / paint. As for the replacement door -- yeah, I'll surely hang onto it for a while, it's not a big deal to do so.

Do you believe this is the reason that all other Lotus panels are blistering as well? That all the panels with this issue are from a manufacturing repair?