Had the Emira 3 months it’s been in for repairs most of that time

[ChrisW]

Having only had the Emira 3 months it’s been in for repairs most of that time - now in for the 6th time - the last repair taking 3 weeks. It’s been nothing but trouble and customer services have not provided their complaints escalation policy despite numerous requests- I have no confidence in the car or the brand anymore and just want it refunded plus the cost of the PPF now being a wasted expense. Here’s a list of some of the problems:

1/ upon delivery the brake pads were not touching all of the discs. After 4 weeks to book in, these were all replaced. Then came the new faults.

2/ When driving, the passenger seat gets very hot - as if heated seats are on max.

3/ The passenger mirror does not close when locking the car, and sometimes does - totally random and when it doesn’t close, the passenger door can only be opened from the inside

4/ The rear boot lid driver side vent is wobbly, as if not secure like the other side is.

5/ The front lights often steam up / condensation but clear eventually - I’ve read this is a common problem on emira

6/ One by side air intake feels as if it moves when I clean the car - as if a catch isn’t secured.

7/ passenger window doesn’t move up or down - locked

8/the car completely broke down a few days after recent fix and left me stranded 60 miles from home. It now requires new ECU

9/ passenger seatbelt doesn’t work 90% of the time as the tensioner is too tight.

After 6 repair visits and constant emails requesting replacement car or refund, my emails are often left unanswered or I’m simply provided with estimate on timescale for parts and repair. Totally dissatisfied with the car, I have no confidence in its safety. This should not happen with a high cost vehicle and customer services should be responsive. My next step is to publicise and put into legal hands if I am not refunded for this problem car. A truly shocking experience.

 

[Magicman]

Having only had the Emira 3 months it’s been in for repairs most of that time - now in for the 6th time - the last repair taking 3 weeks. It’s been nothing but trouble and customer services have not provided their complaints escalation policy despite numerous requests- I have no confidence in the car or the brand anymore and just want it refunded plus the cost of the PPF now being a wasted expense. Here’s a list of some of the problems:

1/ upon delivery the brake pads were not touching all of the discs. After 4 weeks to book in, these were all replaced. Then came the new faults.

2/ When driving, the passenger seat gets very hot - as if heated seats are on max.

3/ The passenger mirror does not close when locking the car, and sometimes does - totally random and when it doesn’t close, the passenger door can only be opened from the inside

4/ The rear boot lid driver side vent is wobbly, as if not secure like the other side is.

5/ The front lights often steam up / condensation but clear eventually - I’ve read this is a common problem on emira

6/ One by side air intake feels as if it moves when I clean the car - as if a catch isn’t secured.

7/ passenger window doesn’t move up or down - locked

8/the car completely broke down a few days after recent fix and left me stranded 60 miles from home. It now requires new ECU

9/ passenger seatbelt doesn’t work 90% of the time as the tensioner is too tight.

After 6 repair visits and constant emails requesting replacement car or refund, my emails are often left unanswered or I’m simply provided with estimate on timescale for parts and repair. Totally dissatisfied with the car, I have no confidence in its safety. This should not happen with a high cost vehicle and customer services should be responsive. My next step is to publicise and put into legal hands if I am not refunded for this problem car. A truly shocking experience.

Wow that's by far the worst I've heard. I had similar levels of issues with a brand new cayman and after 3mths did eventually reject the car and get my money back. You have to give them fair opportunity to put the car right but sounds like you have done. Loss of faith in the safety of tge far should surely be enough. Good luck with it

 

[4380r]

Having only had the Emira 3 months it’s been in for repairs most of that time - now in for the 6th time - the last repair taking 3 weeks. It’s been nothing but trouble and customer services have not provided their complaints escalation policy despite numerous requests- I have no confidence in the car or the brand anymore and just want it refunded plus the cost of the PPF now being a wasted expense. Here’s a list of some of the problems:

1/ upon delivery the brake pads were not touching all of the discs. After 4 weeks to book in, these were all replaced. Then came the new faults.

2/ When driving, the passenger seat gets very hot - as if heated seats are on max.

3/ The passenger mirror does not close when locking the car, and sometimes does - totally random and when it doesn’t close, the passenger door can only be opened from the inside

4/ The rear boot lid driver side vent is wobbly, as if not secure like the other side is.

5/ The front lights often steam up / condensation but clear eventually - I’ve read this is a common problem on emira

6/ One by side air intake feels as if it moves when I clean the car - as if a catch isn’t secured.

7/ passenger window doesn’t move up or down - locked

8/the car completely broke down a few days after recent fix and left me stranded 60 miles from home. It now requires new ECU

9/ passenger seatbelt doesn’t work 90% of the time as the tensioner is too tight.

After 6 repair visits and constant emails requesting replacement car or refund, my emails are often left unanswered or I’m simply provided with estimate on timescale for parts and repair. Totally dissatisfied with the car, I have no confidence in its safety. This should not happen with a high cost vehicle and customer services should be responsive. My next step is to publicise and put into legal hands if I am not refunded for this problem car. A truly shocking experience.

Matt Windle is is on LinkedIn and he is actually on there frequently, posts, and replies to messages. I’d punt your disaster right to the top.

 

[VL3X]

Welcome to the forum @ChrisW. Thank you for sharing your experience and sorry to hear it's been a mess so far. Another member here was able to return the Emira and get a refund. Hopefully you can do the same since it seems like you got a bad one. Some members have reported no issues. Many have reported at least some minor bugs. Please keep us updated!

 

[Nova]

This is very sad to read. Instead of keep building cars that people are not buying, they could take some time to improve quality and fix these issues. I know the building/repairing folks are different - I am talking about management focus.

 

[Porter]

This is very sad to read. Instead of keep building cars that people are not buying, they could take some time to improve quality and fix these issues. I know the building/repairing folks are different - I am talking about management focus.

Not buying? What? They have a 2+ year backlog of orders.

 

[Auto Smiler]

Sorry to hear this @ChrisW

I took delivery last month, the car is currently with Lotus after a breakdown. Added to other issues and I have lost confidence in the vehicle. Today, I submitted a request for a full refund, under the consumer rights act 2015. The refund request must be submitted within 30 days (today is 30 days for me).

I’ve heard that others have received a full refund beyond 30 days so I don’t think Lotus are strictly adhering to it. But it might be worth checking when you first emailed.

Good luck!

 

[Nova]

Not buying? What? They have a 2+ year backlog of orders.

Based on what I've read recently, there are tons of unsold brand-new cars in the UK as a result of canceled orders - pre-price-increase. If there was healthy demand, these should have been snapped up.

 

[kennyn]

@ChrisW I can sympathise, unfortunately, your experience sounds all too familiar. You have experienced some different issues, but the lack of ownership by Customer Care was as frustrating as the issues with the car, which ultimately led to me rejecting the car and receiving a refund. I have posted my experience here.

 

[Ftype]

Not buying? What? They have a 2+ year backlog of

Based on what I've read recently, there are tons of unsold brand-new cars in the UK as a result of canceled orders - pre-price-increase. If there was healthy demand, these should have been snapped up.

40 now for sale on Autotrader many are below list price and from private sellers

 

[Porter]

40 now for sale on Autotrader many are below list price and from private sellers

Ok... and you're also in a country going through some pretty significant economic turmoil, combined with tightened credit and high interest rates. The rate of real estate transactions have fallen off a cliff as well. I wouldn't read too definitively into the vibe you get from Autotrader as an indication of anything unique to this product.

 

[K_Squared]

Ok... and you're also in a country going through some pretty significant economic turmoil, combined with tightened credit and high interest rates. The rate of real estate transactions have fallen off a cliff as well. I wouldn't read too definitively into the vibe you get from Autotrader as an indication of anything unique to this product.

100% agree. If those were in the U.S. they'd be gone in a day just based solely off the huge waiting list. I'd snatch one up for sure.

 

[eriegz]

customer services have not provided their complaints escalation policy despite numerous requests

In all seriousness, though, sorry to hear about your crummy ownership experience...

 

[K_Squared]

40 now for sale on Autotrader many are below list price and from private sellers

I don't get why this keeps getting repeated in this forum. The lowest price on UK Autotrader that I find is £75,500 which I believe is several thousand above original MSRP and about 2K below the updated/increase pricing of £77,795. To me, the pricing makes sense and nobody is losing their shirt on the Emira. If anything, these early buyers are still likely at least breaking even if not turning a small profit which is not bad for any new vehicle purchase.

 

[vision]

View attachment 28084

In all seriousness, though, sorry to hear about your crummy ownership experience...

Im not in that group, mine has been spot on from day one, although all my issues are all cosmetic, mechanically it has been good.

One thing I would say and this is my experience only is that during running in I kept to the 4K limit, but drove it like I stole it through all gears and conditions really hard through that range with premium fuel, to me the engine needs to be used. Ive not had any lights since taking this approach.

 

[Auto Smiler]

I don't get why this keeps getting repeated in this forum. The lowest price on UK Autotrader that I find is £75,500 which I believe is several thousand above original MSRP and about 2K below the updated/increase pricing of £77,795. To me, the pricing makes sense and nobody is losing their shirt on the Emira. If anything, these early buyers are still likely at least breaking even if not turning a small profit which is not bad for any new vehicle purchase.

£77,795 is i4 price.

 

[K_Squared]

£77,795 is i4 price.

Thank you, I stand corrected! £81,995 is the post-price increase for the V6. I don't know what the previous price was but it still does not appear that it would be far off from the £75,500 number which is still the lowest on Autotrader.

I think the bottom line is that Emira demand in the UK is likely largely fulfilled or the price break (from current pricing) simply isn't enough for order holders to jump ship for a used one that they can't spec to their specific taste.

 

[KJD]

Previous price was £75,995.

You’ve also not factored in the £3520 extra “on the road” costs that everyone has to pay to get a new one.

So, minimum “drive away” price, with no extras selected, was £79,515.

 

[Porter]

But, I heard from my uncle's cousin's college roommate on Facebook that there were 200 of them unsold on AutoTrader for half price!

 

[K_Squared]

Previous price was £75,995.

You’ve also not factored in the £3520 extra “on the road” costs that everyone has to pay to get a new one.

So, minimum “drive away” price, with no extras selected, was £79,515.

Good to know and thanks for the clarifications. I'm not familiar with the UK-based costs but that makes sense. Stiil, a roughly 5% loss on reselling a new car is minimal in normal terms. I don't see any reason for the panicky sentiment.

The idea of buying a new car and flipping it for profit is a somewhat new phenomenon since the supply crunches started. Perhaps that isn't holding true with the Emira (at least in the UK...I still have a sense that they'll sell for more of a premium on the second hand market here in the U.S. if other recent high-end sports car releases are even a slight indicator).