TAKEN FROM LOTUS BULLETIN PAGE.
The purpose of this letter is to inform all current or potential owners of Lotus Elises that the build quality of their newest automobiles is potentially life threatening, and that the so-called “customer service†provided by some Lotus dealers and Lotus Inc. is no better.
In the first 2 ½ months that I’ve owned my 2002 Lotus Elise 111s (their top of the line, £28,000 sports car), the car has been in the dealer or legally undriveable for 1 ½ months. Aside from the generally poor build quality and attention to detail, the car’s paint has chipped or flaked off in over 60 places. My dealer assures me that this is completely normal for Lotus cars.
Within the first month, the car’s front brakes developed an uneven and dangerous tendency to lock one wheel up instantaneously upon heavy braking, thus making the car difficult to control and very difficult to stop quickly. My local Lotus dealer again assured me repeatedly it was “normal†for it to do that. It took an inspection by a Lotus technical representative to convince the dealer that these problems were not normal.
At 6 weeks of ownership, the car’s entire turn indicator assembly literally flew out of the car while driving on the expressway at night. “Luckily†it was constrained by its wires, and simply smacked and bounced around the entire front of the car until I was able to make an emergency stop and remove the entire assembly. Had the wires broken, the assembly could have flown into me or my passenger (as the roof was off), or more likely into the cars behind me. My speedy dealer had the new part installed in a prompt 45 days (by taking one out of another Lotus they had in the shop). The new part still has not arrived from the factory.
At 11 weeks of ownership, the car once again proved that Lotus cars are horribly built and unsafe. While driving at night in the rain on a section of unlit expressway, the entire car’s electrical system shut off by itself, leaving me driving over 80 mph at night in the rain with no lights and no windshield wiper. I was nearly killed. My girlfriend was nearly killed.
Throughout all of this, Lotus “Customer Service†has provided me with nothing other than reassuring words, but no actions. Initially the dealer refused to repaint any section of the car and insisted the brakes were normal. Eventually a Lotus Representative convinced the dealer otherwise. The car then sat for 30 days with no work at all being completed by the dealer. Customer Service has apologized repeatedly, but has not fixed anything. Lotus Customer Service has made appointments with me to inspect my vehicle, only to call me 1 hour after the appointment time to tell me they would not be coming at all. Yet again, more time I had to take off of work due to Lotus’ poor customer service.
I am now unwilling to drive this particular car (for fear of what is the next piece to fly off or what system will just quit working on the road, leaving to me drive blindly into a guard rail or overpass). Lotus is unwilling to replace the car or refund my money. The car has approximately 3,000 miles on it, and well over ¼ of all its mileage is purely from driving to and from the dealer. I am stuck with a £28,000 car that is unsafe and not roadworthy, a car company who is unwilling to take responsibility for the deathtraps it places on the roadway, and a headache that is nearly the size of my continuing car payments.
Please, I urge anyone thinking of buying any Lotus to consider any other automobile you can. While the Lotus is pretty (from a distance), you’re playing roulette with your investment, and possibly playing roulette with your life.
P.S. If you insist on taking your chances, I know of a new 2002 Lotus Elise 111s with low mileage for sale at a reasonable price.
Fun Email Sent To Me At Work
Started by
JonP
, Jan 23 2003 04:29 PM
3 replies to this topic
#1
JonP
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- 169 posts
Member
- Gender:Male
- Location:Hertfordshire
Posted 23 January 2003 - 04:29 PM
This was forwarded to me in the company internal mail - kind of fun really-
TAKEN FROM LOTUS BULLETIN PAGE.
The purpose of this letter is to inform all current or potential owners of Lotus Elises that the build quality of their newest automobiles is potentially life threatening, and that the so-called “customer service†provided by some Lotus dealers and Lotus Inc. is no better.
In the first 2 ½ months that I’ve owned my 2002 Lotus Elise 111s (their top of the line, £28,000 sports car), the car has been in the dealer or legally undriveable for 1 ½ months. Aside from the generally poor build quality and attention to detail, the car’s paint has chipped or flaked off in over 60 places. My dealer assures me that this is completely normal for Lotus cars.
Within the first month, the car’s front brakes developed an uneven and dangerous tendency to lock one wheel up instantaneously upon heavy braking, thus making the car difficult to control and very difficult to stop quickly. My local Lotus dealer again assured me repeatedly it was “normal†for it to do that. It took an inspection by a Lotus technical representative to convince the dealer that these problems were not normal.
At 6 weeks of ownership, the car’s entire turn indicator assembly literally flew out of the car while driving on the expressway at night. “Luckily†it was constrained by its wires, and simply smacked and bounced around the entire front of the car until I was able to make an emergency stop and remove the entire assembly. Had the wires broken, the assembly could have flown into me or my passenger (as the roof was off), or more likely into the cars behind me. My speedy dealer had the new part installed in a prompt 45 days (by taking one out of another Lotus they had in the shop). The new part still has not arrived from the factory.
At 11 weeks of ownership, the car once again proved that Lotus cars are horribly built and unsafe. While driving at night in the rain on a section of unlit expressway, the entire car’s electrical system shut off by itself, leaving me driving over 80 mph at night in the rain with no lights and no windshield wiper. I was nearly killed. My girlfriend was nearly killed.
Throughout all of this, Lotus “Customer Service†has provided me with nothing other than reassuring words, but no actions. Initially the dealer refused to repaint any section of the car and insisted the brakes were normal. Eventually a Lotus Representative convinced the dealer otherwise. The car then sat for 30 days with no work at all being completed by the dealer. Customer Service has apologized repeatedly, but has not fixed anything. Lotus Customer Service has made appointments with me to inspect my vehicle, only to call me 1 hour after the appointment time to tell me they would not be coming at all. Yet again, more time I had to take off of work due to Lotus’ poor customer service.
I am now unwilling to drive this particular car (for fear of what is the next piece to fly off or what system will just quit working on the road, leaving to me drive blindly into a guard rail or overpass). Lotus is unwilling to replace the car or refund my money. The car has approximately 3,000 miles on it, and well over ¼ of all its mileage is purely from driving to and from the dealer. I am stuck with a £28,000 car that is unsafe and not roadworthy, a car company who is unwilling to take responsibility for the deathtraps it places on the roadway, and a headache that is nearly the size of my continuing car payments.
Please, I urge anyone thinking of buying any Lotus to consider any other automobile you can. While the Lotus is pretty (from a distance), you’re playing roulette with your investment, and possibly playing roulette with your life.
P.S. If you insist on taking your chances, I know of a new 2002 Lotus Elise 111s with low mileage for sale at a reasonable price.
TAKEN FROM LOTUS BULLETIN PAGE.
The purpose of this letter is to inform all current or potential owners of Lotus Elises that the build quality of their newest automobiles is potentially life threatening, and that the so-called “customer service†provided by some Lotus dealers and Lotus Inc. is no better.
In the first 2 ½ months that I’ve owned my 2002 Lotus Elise 111s (their top of the line, £28,000 sports car), the car has been in the dealer or legally undriveable for 1 ½ months. Aside from the generally poor build quality and attention to detail, the car’s paint has chipped or flaked off in over 60 places. My dealer assures me that this is completely normal for Lotus cars.
Within the first month, the car’s front brakes developed an uneven and dangerous tendency to lock one wheel up instantaneously upon heavy braking, thus making the car difficult to control and very difficult to stop quickly. My local Lotus dealer again assured me repeatedly it was “normal†for it to do that. It took an inspection by a Lotus technical representative to convince the dealer that these problems were not normal.
At 6 weeks of ownership, the car’s entire turn indicator assembly literally flew out of the car while driving on the expressway at night. “Luckily†it was constrained by its wires, and simply smacked and bounced around the entire front of the car until I was able to make an emergency stop and remove the entire assembly. Had the wires broken, the assembly could have flown into me or my passenger (as the roof was off), or more likely into the cars behind me. My speedy dealer had the new part installed in a prompt 45 days (by taking one out of another Lotus they had in the shop). The new part still has not arrived from the factory.
At 11 weeks of ownership, the car once again proved that Lotus cars are horribly built and unsafe. While driving at night in the rain on a section of unlit expressway, the entire car’s electrical system shut off by itself, leaving me driving over 80 mph at night in the rain with no lights and no windshield wiper. I was nearly killed. My girlfriend was nearly killed.
Throughout all of this, Lotus “Customer Service†has provided me with nothing other than reassuring words, but no actions. Initially the dealer refused to repaint any section of the car and insisted the brakes were normal. Eventually a Lotus Representative convinced the dealer otherwise. The car then sat for 30 days with no work at all being completed by the dealer. Customer Service has apologized repeatedly, but has not fixed anything. Lotus Customer Service has made appointments with me to inspect my vehicle, only to call me 1 hour after the appointment time to tell me they would not be coming at all. Yet again, more time I had to take off of work due to Lotus’ poor customer service.
I am now unwilling to drive this particular car (for fear of what is the next piece to fly off or what system will just quit working on the road, leaving to me drive blindly into a guard rail or overpass). Lotus is unwilling to replace the car or refund my money. The car has approximately 3,000 miles on it, and well over ¼ of all its mileage is purely from driving to and from the dealer. I am stuck with a £28,000 car that is unsafe and not roadworthy, a car company who is unwilling to take responsibility for the deathtraps it places on the roadway, and a headache that is nearly the size of my continuing car payments.
Please, I urge anyone thinking of buying any Lotus to consider any other automobile you can. While the Lotus is pretty (from a distance), you’re playing roulette with your investment, and possibly playing roulette with your life.
P.S. If you insist on taking your chances, I know of a new 2002 Lotus Elise 111s with low mileage for sale at a reasonable price.
#2
vx_220
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-
- 199 posts
Member
- Location:London
Posted 23 January 2003 - 05:00 PM
This was posted on the Lotus BBS, and the kids on there gave the guy such a hard time for daring to slate their beloved Lotus.
Chris
#3
JonP
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-
- 169 posts
Member
- Gender:Male
- Location:Hertfordshire
Posted 23 January 2003 - 05:15 PM
Came from one of my American Colleagues who has a couple of Ferrari's – you should have heard him when one of them’s gearbox got stuck in second the day after it got serviced cause they didn’t put the gearbox back together again properly!!!
But anyway shows that Lotus build quality is known about in the States too.
#4
Guest_Cracker (Guest)
Guest_Cracker (Guest)
Posted 27 January 2003 - 11:29 PM
Yes
This may all be true...but it's a Lotus..and most owners would be seen dead
driving anything else...sorry meant to say "wouldn't be seen dead...
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