Auto100 - UK Trader in Sutton in Ashfield

Orchardbike

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I know there has been a. Few mentions of the above company in various posts, but I thought I’d create a specific post, due to the issues I’ve encountered.

Firstly, they are not members the Motor Ombudsman, so if you have issues with them, post purchase, there’s no mediator, you’ll have to do it yourself.

I bought my Emira from them on the 13th December. During the phone discussions regarding the car, they were very pro-active, ringing me regularly and I eventually put a deposit on a 2023 V6, manual with less than 500 miles on the clock. It was described by the sales director (Tom) as “effectively new”. The advert and the conversations during discussions stated the car as “beautiful” and “immaculate”.

When I got to the garage (over 130 miles away), the car was shown to me, in a relatively dark garage, and all the time, they describes the car as effectively new and immaculate. However, even in the relatively dark garage I could see that both the doors had bubbling paint. I knew this was an issue and can be sorted under warranty, but I said that it should have been stated to me, either in the advert, or over the phone, before I drove a 260 mile+ to see the car. As everything else looked OK, from what I could see, and as it had done less than 500 miles and was “effectively new”, I decided to purchase.

At that point, they made it clear that the car only had one key (and one tracker fob, more on that later). I stated that I wasn’t happy with that but they stated that they are ‘only’ £200-£300 pound. I think at that point, I should have walked away, but the car was so low mileage and the colour combination I wanted, that after much thinking I agreed to purchase especially when they said (after 25 minutes of wrangling) that they’d knock the £300 key cost off the car price.

So I bought the car. On the drive home, it became clear that there was a noise from the engine that didn’t sound ‘right’. It was dark when I got home, so I parked the car. The next day, I washed it. It then became obvious that the car had issues (over and above the door paint bubbling). 1. Damaged clear coat on the bonnet. 2. Damage to the grey plastic tailgate liner in 3 places. 3. A faulty door mirror motor. 4. A ‘suspect’ battery.

On the Monday, I tried to buy another car key. It turns out the fob only is circa £300, but that doesn’t include the ‘blade’ key. The total cost is actually £700 plus VAT. Then I tried to sort out the tracker. It turns out that this has never been activated and wasn’t registered to the car. I’d need a lot of documents to get it sorted (some I didn’t have at the time) and pay £155 to activate it and another £40 for a second fob. There’s no point in having a second key, if you haven’t got a second fob, as if you use the key without a tracker fob, the car will show up as stolen.

I noticed that the dash was stating ‘low battery’, so I put the car on charge for the day and overnight. I disconnected it on the Tuesday morning and by Wednesday morning, the dash again said ‘low battery’. Clearly something is wrong. Being that it had only done 500 miles, then I suspect that the battery has been flat for long periods of time and this therefore damaged (it could be other issues of course).

So on Wednesday, I decided to take it to the local Lotus dealer to have them listen to the engine noise and see if they thought it was an issue. Within 10 miles of home, the noise was getting much worse, so I decided to turn around (home was still closer than the dealer). Within a few miles the car became un-driveable. It wouldn’t change gear and the noise was horrendous. The AA was called and they stated that the clutch had “exploded” (their words). They put it on the back of the truck and took it to the lotus dealer.

I tried to contact Auto100, by phone and email, with little success until Friday. The sales director (he who said the car was effectively new), emailed me and said it’s not their issue as the car is under warranty, so I needed to get it sorted. With regards to the costs to sort out the non-warranty items (estimated at £1400 plus the cost of a completely new tailgate liner), he said he’d pay an invoice for a new battery only, so long as it was “a reasonable price”). I have responded and advised that this is not acceptable and they are no longer replying.

The Consumer Rights Act (2015), states that a car bought from a dealer, should be of ‘satisfactory quality’, ‘fit for purpose’ and ‘as described’. A failure on any of these conditions entitles the buyer to a full refund within 30 days of purchase (I’ve had the car 10 days). The car isn’t of satisfactory quality, it isn’t fit for purpose and it wasn’t as described, so it fails on all three counts. The act also states that my contract is with the dealer and not with the manufacturer and therefore any warranty issues are up to the dealer to fix, not the purchaser. So I’ve had my ‘effectively new’ car for 10 days, driven it twice and the Lotus garage think they’ll need 4 -6 weeks to sort out all the warranty issues.

Auto100 have stopped communicating even though they’ve been advised of the consumer rights act and that they are legally required to refund the full cost of my car. I now have to go to court to force them to comply with the consumer act.

Yes, I know I should have walked away at the start, but, as stated, it was the colour combination I wanted at a very low mileage etc. (not to mention that at that point I’d driven two and half hours to get there).

The only reason for my post is so that anyone else looking at dealing with Auto100 know how they operate and go into a]discussions with their eyes open. If the car you buy is a good one, then you’ll probably be fine, but if things go wrong, don’t expect them to help, be sympathetic or even to return your call!
 
Ouch! A few thoughts:

1. really sorry to hear of your troubles
2. consider having the Lotus dealer not only list the problems with the vehicle, but indicate on paper, how obvious those problems would have been and for how long, to better tag the seller with knowledge of them
3. see if the Lotus dealer can develop a history of the car, from Lotus itself (if possible) to see if anyone reported problems with it and what those were and from/to whom they were reported. This may once again establish more knowledge with the seller
4. hopefully you've got pre-sale emails from the seller, stating the car was in "immaculate next-to-new" condition. Regardless, you've got a good recall and if not already done, consider writing out a chronology in great detail, with exact quotes as close as possible, of who said what about the car condition, when and where and in what context. Doing this closer to the events not only preserves your memory, but will encourage the court to find it's likely accurate
5. a quick search on the Web shows "Trustpilot" gives the seller a rating of 4.6/5 stars, supposedly after 1,375 reviews, which is surprising given your experience. Before resorting to a lawyer (?) consider contacting the seller's owner if you can track him/her down, providing your chronology and documentation, and asking for a refund, warning of court action if not rectified. Perhaps (?) offer an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) as part of this, to encourage the seller to help you out, w/o further tarnishing their reputation. This may not work, given your story, but perhaps it's worth a try? Food for thought
6. the usual debate about when to slag the seller on social media (more than just on this Forum with its specific audience): now or after you've reached some sort of resolution, subject to an NDA.

Good luck and as always, it's nice to get an end to a story, so post what happens, subject to an NDA or even if it's just to say "situation resolved mostly to my satisfaction".
 
Geez, that sucks. Good luck to you!

There's some speculation that those were the rejected cars that Lotus fixed and decided to get rid of? I hope either way, you get a satisfactory resolution. At least it sounds to me like the UK consumer protection laws are much stronger than the US.
 
I know there has been a. Few mentions of the above company in various posts, but I thought I’d create a specific post, due to the issues I’ve encountered.

Firstly, they are not members the Motor Ombudsman, so if you have issues with them, post purchase, there’s no mediator, you’ll have to do it yourself.

I bought my Emira from them on the 13th December. During the phone discussions regarding the car, they were very pro-active, ringing me regularly and I eventually put a deposit on a 2023 V6, manual with less than 500 miles on the clock. It was described by the sales director (Tom) as “effectively new”. The advert and the conversations during discussions stated the car as “beautiful” and “immaculate”.

When I got to the garage (over 130 miles away), the car was shown to me, in a relatively dark garage, and all the time, they describes the car as effectively new and immaculate. However, even in the relatively dark garage I could see that both the doors had bubbling paint. I knew this was an issue and can be sorted under warranty, but I said that it should have been stated to me, either in the advert, or over the phone, before I drove a 260 mile+ to see the car. As everything else looked OK, from what I could see, and as it had done less than 500 miles and was “effectively new”, I decided to purchase.

At that point, they made it clear that the car only had one key (and one tracker fob, more on that later). I stated that I wasn’t happy with that but they stated that they are ‘only’ £200-£300 pound. I think at that point, I should have walked away, but the car was so low mileage and the colour combination I wanted, that after much thinking I agreed to purchase especially when they said (after 25 minutes of wrangling) that they’d knock the £300 key cost off the car price.

So I bought the car. On the drive home, it became clear that there was a noise from the engine that didn’t sound ‘right’. It was dark when I got home, so I parked the car. The next day, I washed it. It then became obvious that the car had issues (over and above the door paint bubbling). 1. Damaged clear coat on the bonnet. 2. Damage to the grey plastic tailgate liner in 3 places. 3. A faulty door mirror motor. 4. A ‘suspect’ battery.

On the Monday, I tried to buy another car key. It turns out the fob only is circa £300, but that doesn’t include the ‘blade’ key. The total cost is actually £700 plus VAT. Then I tried to sort out the tracker. It turns out that this has never been activated and wasn’t registered to the car. I’d need a lot of documents to get it sorted (some I didn’t have at the time) and pay £155 to activate it and another £40 for a second fob. There’s no point in having a second key, if you haven’t got a second fob, as if you use the key without a tracker fob, the car will show up as stolen.

I noticed that the dash was stating ‘low battery’, so I put the car on charge for the day and overnight. I disconnected it on the Tuesday morning and by Wednesday morning, the dash again said ‘low battery’. Clearly something is wrong. Being that it had only done 500 miles, then I suspect that the battery has been flat for long periods of time and this therefore damaged (it could be other issues of course).

So on Wednesday, I decided to take it to the local Lotus dealer to have them listen to the engine noise and see if they thought it was an issue. Within 10 miles of home, the noise was getting much worse, so I decided to turn around (home was still closer than the dealer). Within a few miles the car became un-driveable. It wouldn’t change gear and the noise was horrendous. The AA was called and they stated that the clutch had “exploded” (their words). They put it on the back of the truck and took it to the lotus dealer.

I tried to contact Auto100, by phone and email, with little success until Friday. The sales director (he who said the car was effectively new), emailed me and said it’s not their issue as the car is under warranty, so I needed to get it sorted. With regards to the costs to sort out the non-warranty items (estimated at £1400 plus the cost of a completely new tailgate liner), he said he’d pay an invoice for a new battery only, so long as it was “a reasonable price”). I have responded and advised that this is not acceptable and they are no longer replying.

The Consumer Rights Act (2015), states that a car bought from a dealer, should be of ‘satisfactory quality’, ‘fit for purpose’ and ‘as described’. A failure on any of these conditions entitles the buyer to a full refund within 30 days of purchase (I’ve had the car 10 days). The car isn’t of satisfactory quality, it isn’t fit for purpose and it wasn’t as described, so it fails on all three counts. The act also states that my contract is with the dealer and not with the manufacturer and therefore any warranty issues are up to the dealer to fix, not the purchaser. So I’ve had my ‘effectively new’ car for 10 days, driven it twice and the Lotus garage think they’ll need 4 -6 weeks to sort out all the warranty issues.

Auto100 have stopped communicating even though they’ve been advised of the consumer rights act and that they are legally required to refund the full cost of my car. I now have to go to court to force them to comply with the consumer act.

Yes, I know I should have walked away at the start, but, as stated, it was the colour combination I wanted at a very low mileage etc. (not to mention that at that point I’d driven two and half hours to get there).

The only reason for my post is so that anyone else looking at dealing with Auto100 know how they operate and go into a]discussions with their eyes open. If the car you buy is a good one, then you’ll probably be fine, but if things go wrong, don’t expect them to help, be sympathetic or even to return your call!
Sorry to hear that. If you bought the car on finance you'll be able to leverage their rejection process. If not, go nuclear legal, it'll take Lotus ( based on my experience) much more than 4 - 6 weeks to sort that lot.
 
Really sorry to hear this.
I am another Auto100 customer and whilst my experience with them was poor, it thankfully was not this bad.
Given the limited interaction I had with them, post sale, I'd suggest the only option is the legal route, as they were reluctant to remain in contact with me, over just the missing 2nd key.
If you need any corroborating testimony, relating to customer service, let me know, I'll happily provide mine
 
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #7
Really sorry to hear this.
I am another Auto100 customer and whilst my experience with them was poor, it thankfully was not this bad.
Given the limited interaction I had with them, post sale, I'd suggest the only option is the legal route, as they were reluctant to remain in contact with me, over just the missing 2nd key.
If you need any corroborating testimony, relating to customer service, let me know, I'll happily provide mine
Thanks beachbum, I’ll bear that in mind.
 
I know there has been a. Few mentions of the above company in various posts, but I thought I’d create a specific post, due to the issues I’ve encountered.

<snip>

The only reason for my post is so that anyone else looking at dealing with Auto100 know how they operate and go into a]discussions with their eyes open. If the car you buy is a good one, then you’ll probably be fine, but if things go wrong, don’t expect them to help, be sympathetic or even to return your call!

That sounds positively shit. What a horrible experience to have to deal with. Like seriously positively horrible and shit.

Far as I can see you're completely within your rights to give the car back. Wait till the Xmas and new year drama is over - like the end of next week - then send them an email and a signed for letter saying you want to return the car for the reasons you state.

They know the score - they know they're going to have to take it back. Be patient but be clear and firm.

Good luck and keep us posted.
 
I am another auto100 buyer and I had posted my experience previously, and while not as bad as yours, it did indicate how totally heartless they are and unprofessional and basically, dishonest.
Part of the problem is, people like myself, and maybe yourself and the other buyer above do NOT post their opinions on trustpilot, which is why their rating is not affected.

I will post mine soon, I think I didn't do it as I was hoping not to further ruin the relationship...

People clearly need to report under these circumstances, otherwise potential buyers dont know.

THE OTHER thing is that its quite surprising that LOTUS allow their faulty cars to enter the market like this, I find that absolutely disgusting behaviour. They should be fixing these cars and allowing dealers only to sell them at a reasonable price... end of. This is bad for customers and bad for Lotus and bad for the Emira.... but lets face it, LOTUS don't give two hoots about the Emira, its a mean to an end for the EV's or now hybrids.. The whole thing is a disaster.... such a shame.. they all need a huge rocket up their...... and firing!
 
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #10
I am another auto100 buyer and I had posted my experience previously, and while not as bad as yours, it did indicate how totally heartless they are and unprofessional and basically, dishonest.
Part of the problem is, people like myself, and maybe yourself and the other buyer above do NOT post their opinions on trustpilot, which is why their rating is not affected.

I will post mine soon, I think I didn't do it as I was hoping not to further ruin the relationship...

People clearly need to report under these circumstances, otherwise potential buyers dont know.

THE OTHER thing is that its quite surprising that LOTUS allow their faulty cars to enter the market like this, I find that absolutely disgusting behaviour. They should be fixing these cars and allowing dealers only to sell them at a reasonable price... end of. This is bad for customers and bad for Lotus and bad for the Emira.... but lets face it, LOTUS don't give two hoots about the Emira, its a mean to an end for the EV's or now hybrids.. The whole thing is a disaster.... such a shame.. they all need a huge rocket up their...... and firing!
I did post a pretty awful TrustPilot review. I wholeheartedly agree with everything you’ve written.
 
Sorry to hear about your experience OP. I hope you get your money back.

Sadly this type of situation is a symptom of the way Lotus have completely screwed up with oversupply of the Emira to the UK market. Last time I was at my official Lotus dealer they must have had about 15 pre registered and heavily discounted new or tiny mileage Emiras. Pre registering unsold cars and trying to flog them at a discount is the type of tactic Ford and Vauxhall used to employ to get rid of surplus fleet fodder like the Mondeo and Vectra. It is not what you expect of an aspiring 'global premium brand'. It seems that some of this surplus stock is finding its way to non-franchised dealers, and often the cars have suffered from prolonged storage outdoors. Bad news for potential buyers and all of us existing owners who have to watch as residual values tank. I love my Emira, but jeez, Lotus really need to get their act together in how they manage the UK market.
 
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I know there has been a. Few mentions of the above company in various posts, but I thought I’d create a specific post, due to the issues I’ve encountered.

Firstly, they are not members the Motor Ombudsman, so if you have issues with them, post purchase, there’s no mediator, you’ll have to do it yourself.

I bought my Emira from them on the 13th December. During the phone discussions regarding the car, they were very pro-active, ringing me regularly and I eventually put a deposit on a 2023 V6, manual with less than 500 miles on the clock. It was described by the sales director (Tom) as “effectively new”. The advert and the conversations during discussions stated the car as “beautiful” and “immaculate”.

When I got to the garage (over 130 miles away), the car was shown to me, in a relatively dark garage, and all the time, they describes the car as effectively new and immaculate. However, even in the relatively dark garage I could see that both the doors had bubbling paint. I knew this was an issue and can be sorted under warranty, but I said that it should have been stated to me, either in the advert, or over the phone, before I drove a 260 mile+ to see the car. As everything else looked OK, from what I could see, and as it had done less than 500 miles and was “effectively new”, I decided to purchase.

At that point, they made it clear that the car only had one key (and one tracker fob, more on that later). I stated that I wasn’t happy with that but they stated that they are ‘only’ £200-£300 pound. I think at that point, I should have walked away, but the car was so low mileage and the colour combination I wanted, that after much thinking I agreed to purchase especially when they said (after 25 minutes of wrangling) that they’d knock the £300 key cost off the car price.

So I bought the car. On the drive home, it became clear that there was a noise from the engine that didn’t sound ‘right’. It was dark when I got home, so I parked the car. The next day, I washed it. It then became obvious that the car had issues (over and above the door paint bubbling). 1. Damaged clear coat on the bonnet. 2. Damage to the grey plastic tailgate liner in 3 places. 3. A faulty door mirror motor. 4. A ‘suspect’ battery.

On the Monday, I tried to buy another car key. It turns out the fob only is circa £300, but that doesn’t include the ‘blade’ key. The total cost is actually £700 plus VAT. Then I tried to sort out the tracker. It turns out that this has never been activated and wasn’t registered to the car. I’d need a lot of documents to get it sorted (some I didn’t have at the time) and pay £155 to activate it and another £40 for a second fob. There’s no point in having a second key, if you haven’t got a second fob, as if you use the key without a tracker fob, the car will show up as stolen.

I noticed that the dash was stating ‘low battery’, so I put the car on charge for the day and overnight. I disconnected it on the Tuesday morning and by Wednesday morning, the dash again said ‘low battery’. Clearly something is wrong. Being that it had only done 500 miles, then I suspect that the battery has been flat for long periods of time and this therefore damaged (it could be other issues of course).

So on Wednesday, I decided to take it to the local Lotus dealer to have them listen to the engine noise and see if they thought it was an issue. Within 10 miles of home, the noise was getting much worse, so I decided to turn around (home was still closer than the dealer). Within a few miles the car became un-driveable. It wouldn’t change gear and the noise was horrendous. The AA was called and they stated that the clutch had “exploded” (their words). They put it on the back of the truck and took it to the lotus dealer.

I tried to contact Auto100, by phone and email, with little success until Friday. The sales director (he who said the car was effectively new), emailed me and said it’s not their issue as the car is under warranty, so I needed to get it sorted. With regards to the costs to sort out the non-warranty items (estimated at £1400 plus the cost of a completely new tailgate liner), he said he’d pay an invoice for a new battery only, so long as it was “a reasonable price”). I have responded and advised that this is not acceptable and they are no longer replying.

The Consumer Rights Act (2015), states that a car bought from a dealer, should be of ‘satisfactory quality’, ‘fit for purpose’ and ‘as described’. A failure on any of these conditions entitles the buyer to a full refund within 30 days of purchase (I’ve had the car 10 days). The car isn’t of satisfactory quality, it isn’t fit for purpose and it wasn’t as described, so it fails on all three counts. The act also states that my contract is with the dealer and not with the manufacturer and therefore any warranty issues are up to the dealer to fix, not the purchaser. So I’ve had my ‘effectively new’ car for 10 days, driven it twice and the Lotus garage think they’ll need 4 -6 weeks to sort out all the warranty issues.

Auto100 have stopped communicating even though they’ve been advised of the consumer rights act and that they are legally required to refund the full cost of my car. I now have to go to court to force them to comply with the consumer act.

Yes, I know I should have walked away at the start, but, as stated, it was the colour combination I wanted at a very low mileage etc. (not to mention that at that point I’d driven two and half hours to get there).

The only reason for my post is so that anyone else looking at dealing with Auto100 know how they operate and go into a]discussions with their eyes open. If the car you buy is a good one, then you’ll probably be fine, but if things go wrong, don’t expect them to help, be sympathetic or even to return your call!
What a shitshow!

Sorry to hear this.
As already said, this situation (not just yours, all the returned, imperfect cars being 'sold-off') is bad for everyone, Lotus, their dealers, their customers, everyone.

Sad.

Jon
 
I wonder why all of these Auto100 cars are missing the 2nd key? That makes no sense. You'd think there would be a pack that stays with each car containing anything associated with it, like any other car, certainly like the Emira is when new.

Unless of course it's deliberate for some weird reason. In most cases, those 2'nd keys will be pristine/unused, especially on these ultra low miles cars. Several dozen of these represents quite a few ££££, maybe they're somehow entering the spares market somewhere (I appreciate that the blade part will be useless, but assume the fob is re-programmable??).
I mean seriously, where are they all??? Doesn't anyone else think it's odd?
 
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I wonder why all of these Auto100 cars are missing the 2nd key? That makes no sense. You'd think there would be a pack that stays with each car containing anything associated with it, like any other car, certainly like the Emira is when new.

Unless of course it's deliberate for some weird reason. In most cases, those 2'nd keys will be pristine/unused, especially on these ultra low miles cars. Several dozen of these represents quite a few ££££, maybe they're somehow entering the spares market somewhere (I appreciate that the blade part will be useless, but assume the fob is re-programmable??).
I mean seriously, where are they all??? Doesn't anyone else think it's odd?
My 2nd key was present..... but yes it is strange, but indicative of auto100 why they don't get a new key when they get the cars in, they are awful, quantity over quality every time, but they do offer good prices and they get away with it as dealers probably fix all the problems they miss or chose to ignore for most car companies...
 
I get that, but these cars all came with a second key, just seems real odd they're not kept in a pack that goes with the vehicle.
pack to include: 2 keys, V5, handbook, service book, etc etc. It's not like they're years old and been through a load of owners, where you might expect these type of things to get mislaid along the way.

There must be a pile of 2nd keys somewhere, but why??
 
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