Dealer Demo cars in Europe and UK

[TomE]

I'd love to know which tiny man at Lotus has taken it upon himself to make himself feel better about his own inadequacies by making your purchase experience worse. These petty minded individuals shouldn't be working for a company with ambitions such as 'New Lotus'. Or any company more to the point.
Ridiculous and petty.

Oh it's not just me. This is the whole process for everyone. I don't believe they've actually created a priority test drives list and are just going to email all deposit holders, or at least that's the impression LCC gave.

I'm much more inclined to believe this is cock up rather than conspiracy. Many of my recent conversations with LCC and others indicate they have just not thought things through from a customer perspective.

As an example, when we get past Checkout and reach Delivery we will be offered 3 dates. What happens if (as is likely for me in Nov) you are out of the country on business for a chunk of the month? You can't defer the delivery and have to take it on one of the dates Lotus tell you, unless you make a request for special circumstances. If you want to delay delivery into a different month (or into Jan/Feb next year) you can't and that counts as a delay by you and puts you into the 2023 builds and deliveries.

 

[Leonard]

Oh it's not just me. This is the whole process for everyone. I don't believe they've actually created a priority test drives list and are just going to email all deposit holders, or at least that's the impression LCC gave.

I'm much more inclined to believe this is cock up rather than conspiracy. Many of my recent conversations with LCC and others indicate they have just not thought things through from a customer perspective.

As an example, when we get past Checkout and reach Delivery we will be offered 3 dates. What happens if (as is likely for me in Nov) you are out of the country on business for a chunk of the month? You can't defer the delivery and have to take it on one of the dates Lotus tell you, unless you make a request for special circumstances. If you want to delay delivery into a different month (or into Jan/Feb next year) you can't and that counts as a delay by you and puts you into the 2023 builds and deliveries.

All deposit holders!
Who's making these decisions (or is not making decisions)
I honestly didn't think this could get worse. But I'm actually sat here laughing out loud now

 

[CDM1855]

Oh it's not just me. This is the whole process for everyone. I don't believe they've actually created a priority test drives list and are just going to email all deposit holders, or at least that's the impression LCC gave.

I'm much more inclined to believe this is cock up rather than conspiracy. Many of my recent conversations with LCC and others indicate they have just not thought things through from a customer perspective.

As an example, when we get past Checkout and reach Delivery we will be offered 3 dates. What happens if (as is likely for me in Nov) you are out of the country on business for a chunk of the month? You can't defer the delivery and have to take it on one of the dates Lotus tell you, unless you make a request for special circumstances. If you want to delay delivery into a different month (or into Jan/Feb next year) you can't and that counts as a delay by you and puts you into the 2023 builds and deliveries.

Sounds like Tesla, My Tesla was supposed to be delivered to me in Norfolk. About an hour before it was supposed to arrive, I received an SMS to tell me they weren’t going to be able to deliver it , and I had to get down to Bluewater to pick it up myself. I had to get there no later than 5 pm the following day or they would be giving the car to another customer, and giving me a refund of the full purchase price I paid. When I complained and said that’s ridiculous and could be illegal, they said due to tomorrow being the last day of the quarter, they have to have every single customer car off their books. Take it or lose it

 

[Twin Cam]

Sounds like Tesla, My Tesla was supposed to be delivered to me in Norfolk. About an hour before it was supposed to arrive, I received an SMS to tell me they weren’t going to be able to deliver it , and I had to get down to Bluewater to pick it up myself. I had to get there no later than 5 pm the following day or they would be giving the car to another customer, and giving me a refund of the full purchase price I paid. When I complained and said that’s ridiculous and could be illegal, they said due to tomorrow being the last day of the quarter, they have to have every single customer car off their books. Take it or lose it

They sound nice people to do business with, a couple of my mates have them on order presently and are getting rather smug, can‘t wait to show them this

 

[Leonard]

Sounds like Tesla, My Tesla was supposed to be delivered to me in Norfolk. About an hour before it was supposed to arrive, I received an SMS to tell me they weren’t going to be able to deliver it , and I had to get down to Bluewater to pick it up myself. I had to get there no later than 5 pm the following day or they would be giving the car to another customer, and giving me a refund of the full purchase price I paid. When I complained and said that’s ridiculous and could be illegal, they said due to tomorrow being the last day of the quarter, they have to have every single customer car off their books. Take it or lose it

Seriously these companies don't deserve to be in business.
What a world we live in.

 

[CDM1855]

They sound nice people to do business with, a couple of my mates have them on order presently and are getting rather smug, can‘t wait to show them this

It was a very unpleasant introduction to Tesla ownership, but I heard similar stories from others. They know that the demand outstrips supply

I relented and got myself down there to pick the car up myself. Tesla gave me £100 towards my transportation cost

 

[JohnHoward]

All deposit holders!
Who's making these decisions (or is not making decisions)
I honestly didn't think this could get worse. But I'm actually sat here laughing out loud now

There is some hope. This information is directly from a Lotus retailer today.
Apparently, Lotus are not booking out all test drive slots. They are only booking out three days per week and the retailer can use the other slots/days to book out themselves for their customers as they see fit. So, if a retailer has the capacity to run the demo (i.e enough staff) seven days a week, they can do so, or if not they can run to whatever capacity they can manage.
I have been advised to try and arrange through Lotus, but if the slots all fill up, I can contact the retailer to fix something up.
I am hoping that mine may be more straightforward anyway as I want a non-driving test drive. I haven't driven a manual car for donkey's years and don't intend to start now especially if the weather is bad. All I am interested in is fit and finish. I may ask the retailer to drive me round the block so I can see if the radio stays tuned in. If the radio is anything like as bad as my Evora 410 Sport, that will be a deal breaker and I will walk away. Other than that I will be ready to go ahead and very much look forward to starting the ownership journey.

 

[Twin Cam]

It was a very unpleasant introduction to Tesla ownership, but I heard similar stories from others. They know that the demand outstrips supply

I relented and got myself down there to pick the car up myself. Tesla gave me £100 towards my transportation cost

You nearly said £100 towards petrol, c’mon admit it

 

[donskibeat]

As an example, when we get past Checkout and reach Delivery we will be offered 3 dates. What happens if (as is likely for me in Nov) you are out of the country on business for a chunk of the month? You can't defer the delivery and have to take it on one of the dates Lotus tell you, unless you make a request for special circumstances. If you want to delay delivery into a different month (or into Jan/Feb next year) you can't and that counts as a delay by you and puts you into the 2023 builds and deliveries.

This just gets crazier the more I read! so does anyone know how this 3 date idea works for those of us like me who are doing part exchange as part of the process? As despite asking still have no idea how part-ex will be handled, will it be done at same time as I collect new car or a few days / week before? who handles it? things like this need to be known / planned as obviously going to have a period potentially without a car I need to plan for.....

 

[CDM1855]

You nearly said £100 towards petrol, c’mon admit it

It did go on petrol, I had to frantically call up a mate and beg him to drive me down to Bluewater right away

 

[Leonard]

There is some hope. This information is directly from a Lotus retailer today.
Apparently, Lotus are not booking out all test drive slots. They are only booking out three days per week and the retailer can use the other slots/days to book out themselves for their customers as they see fit. So, if a retailer has the capacity to run the demo (i.e enough staff) seven days a week, they can do so, or if not they can run to whatever capacity they can manage.
I have been advised to try and arrange through Lotus, but if the slots all fill up, I can contact the retailer to fix something up.
I am hoping that mine may be more straightforward anyway as I want a non-driving test drive. I haven't driven a manual car for donkey's years and don't intend to start now especially if the weather is bad. All I am interested in is fit and finish. I may ask the retailer to drive me round the block so I can see if the radio stays tuned in. If the radio is anything like as bad as my Evora 410 Sport, that will be a deal breaker and I will walk away. Other than that I will be ready to go ahead and very much look forward to starting the ownership journey.

Sounds promising. But then my local dealer (whom I thought i had a good relationship with) has failed to bother calling me back the 3 times i have rung them in the last 14 months.

 

[Leonard]

This just gets crazier the more I read! so does anyone know how this 3 date idea works for those of us like me who are doing part exchange as part of the process? As despite asking still have no idea how part-ex will be handled, will it be done at same time as I collect new car or a few days / week before? who handles it? things like this need to be known / planned as obviously going to have a period potentially without a car I need to plan for.....

I imagine it may be done in conjunction with the same people handling PDI and you get given book price and they pick up at a date convenient to you and then auction off

 

[BeHappy]

Oh it's not just me. This is the whole process for everyone. I don't believe they've actually created a priority test drives list and are just going to email all deposit holders, or at least that's the impression LCC gave.

I'm much more inclined to believe this is cock up rather than conspiracy. Many of my recent conversations with LCC and others indicate they have just not thought things through from a customer perspective.

As an example, when we get past Checkout and reach Delivery we will be offered 3 dates. What happens if (as is likely for me in Nov) you are out of the country on business for a chunk of the month? You can't defer the delivery and have to take it on one of the dates Lotus tell you, unless you make a request for special circumstances. If you want to delay delivery into a different month (or into Jan/Feb next year) you can't and that counts as a delay by you and puts you into the 2023 builds and deliveries.

Terrible planning and terrible execution- I’m actually almost hoping this car is just average when I get a test drive so I can just cancel and walk away from this Company as I kinda don’t want to be giving £80k if this is what they call a good customer experience. Walked into Alpine today was very much treat like a customer, got a test drive straight away and he said if new car arrived and I wanted to hold off to registering in 2023 not a problem. For me part of the buying process is how your treat and made to feel about the brand etc etc - not saying I’m going to buy an Alpine but customer service is very important. Lotus come across not very accommodating take it or leave it !

 

[Lotustoronto]

What a funny operation Lotus is doing with it's customers.... It's an exercise on how to make people feel disappointed.

 

[JohnHoward]

This just gets crazier the more I read! so does anyone know how this 3 date idea works for those of us like me who are doing part exchange as part of the process? As despite asking still have no idea how part-ex will be handled, will it be done at same time as I collect new car or a few days / week before? who handles it? things like this need to be known / planned as obviously going to have a period potentially without a car I need to plan for.....

I remember reading somewhere on the forum that a member mentioned the p/x value from Lotus wasn't as good as could be obtained through other car buying channels. So if you can manage without for a few days, or can arrange suitable transport, you may get a better price from somewhere like Motorway, Webuyany car or whoever and have a bit of extra money for the first few tanks of fuel for the Emira.
Sorry I can't remember which thread it was on, but perhaps someone else may recall where it was.

 

[JohnHoward]

What a funny operation Lotus is doing with it's customers.... It's an exercise on how to make people feel disappointed.

Lotus would be a great case study for how not to deliver Customer Service.

 

[Leonard]

Lotus would be a great case study for how not to deliver Customer Service.

They should be trying to go above and beyond now to build brand loyalty. That way when the inevitable teething troubles do happen, their customers reward them with patience and understanding....

 

[Tonyshepp]

Unfortunately I’m neither shocked or stunned at this, disappointed definitely. No wonder people kept away from the brand. It worries me that the man closest to Lotus then a lot of us @TomE, didn’t even get referred for a test drive. What hope do the rest of us have with no contacts at Lotus. Lotus if you are listening please please help us to help you have the enthusiasm to carry on in this journey and evangelise the Lotus brand to others.

 

[Magicman]

This just gets crazier the more I read! so does anyone know how this 3 date idea works for those of us like me who are doing part exchange as part of the process? As despite asking still have no idea how part-ex will be handled, will it be done at same time as I collect new car or a few days / week before? who handles it? things like this need to be known / planned as obviously going to have a period potentially without a car I need to plan for.....

Good lord I hope they're offering a better deal on px tha they did me!

 

[emiraspain]

Not for the 1st time this all seems quite strange.
No UK dealers as of yet have finished cars, since B&C cars were not actually ready and have presumably been taken away. Other dealers, without looking at the spreadsheet/thread, are looking at 3rd week of October. Surely all dealers should get their cars before customers get their cars...RHD I refer to.
I always said I thought the Sept 9 / 13 whatever, would probably not get their cars in October, although I hope they do, but I think Lotus have simply made so many mistakes, them going back on their promises to these guys is not going to worry them one bit and it seems like they have already started to do so.
These guys dont deserve out business I have to say ...... they really dont.
There is no way the Boss, MW, cant know these details.... random test drives for anyone who wants them, 18 year olds off the street, all before customers dying to get a drive to decide if they spend the 80 odd thousand or not.
I've driven the damn car and I have to say Im starting to think its all a bit too much hassle....... this is not the next Messiah, this is not the first MX5, the first Mini, Jeep or 2CV, this is a decent car which looks good... but the looks are starting to wear thin on me.
Wont say more .... If no email this month, I doubt I will continue this charade..... There are other companies that do deserve our money and if not, there are lots of drugs and sex to be had with it instead....