Door seal imperfections

[John777]

The trim tools I used were the same ones you could use for radio replacement, just various size and shape plastic things. Just took a flat one under the rubber to unhook it. And yeah the massaging was basically just using a bit of pressure to push it into all the corners like you would with a carpet.

Or readjusting he door rubber ..lets say it wasn't installed perfectly, I would undo a section and flatten it out make it fit better or in corners if it was short,, use hand and hit it into corner for tighter fit. a I'm not too good at explaining in words.. Would take literally 15 seconds to show someone how to finesse everything and get a perfect fitment.

 

[Tonyshepp]

Or readjusting he door rubber ..lets say it wasn't installed perfectly, I would undo a section and flatten it out make it fit better or in corners if it was short,, use hand and hit it into corner for tighter fit. a I'm not too good at explaining in words.. Would take literally 15 seconds to show someone how to finesse everything and get a perfect fitment.

Create a YouTube video and tag lotus in it for them to learn!

 

[Lolub]

Wow, such excellent and helpful posts on the tools and techniques, thank you so much everyone!

 

[Climber]

Pictures of my Emira - left door at the A-pillar, right door at the A-pillar and right door at the B-pillar. Not that big problem but I don't like such imperfections.

View attachment 10791View attachment 10792View attachment 10793

This sucks, hope they find a solution

 

[Lolub]

This sucks, hope they find a solution

Man, this is making me really nervous, something I've not felt before about getting the Emira... Should I be worried? Is this the start of many other issues, which could start small but then grow big? Like I'm wondering if the whole seal around the door could unravel at some point...

 

[vision]

Man, this is making me really nervous, something I've not felt before about getting the Emira... Should I be worried? Is this the start of many other issues, which could start small but then grow big? Like I'm wondering if the whole seal around the door could unravel at some point...

Ah man? get a life its a rubber seal, what is up with you all! PS pink fluff, really

 

[FederGigant]

Normally those rubber settle in over time by the way. Just fiddle around a bit with them, a bit heat might help as well. Or just try to readjust them. It’s really a non issue, but would be nice if fitted perfect in the first place.

 

[Tonyshepp]

Normally those rubber settle in over time by the way. Just fiddle around a bit with them, a bit heat might help as well. Or just try to readjust them. It’s really a non issue, but would be nice if fitted perfect in the first place.

And that’s the thing, why couldn’t they be fitted first time correctly.

 

[912Matt]

And that’s the thing, why couldn’t they be fitted first time correctly.

@ Tonyshepp - You want a lot for your £80k don’t you

 

[Tonyshepp]

@ Tonyshepp - You want a lot for your £80k don’t you

Lol seems so

 

[Lolub]

Lol seems so

I totally agree with you, and why shouldn't we? It's not chump change, and a door seal to me is a basic thing to get right. Even the most economic cars on the market, such as Corollas and Civics, have a perfect door seal.

 

[VL3X]

I totally agree with you, and why shouldn't we? It's not chump change, and a door seal to me is a basic thing to get right. Even the most economic cars on the market, such as Corollas and Civics, have a perfect door seal.

There will always be seemingly simple things that are a struggle for a smaller "boutique" manufacturer when compared to the multi billion dollar giants like Toyota and Honda. Lotus just doesn't have the resources, experience, suppliers, R&D, or quality control to make everything to the same standards as these bigger companies.

 

[Tonyshepp]

There will always be seemingly simple things that are a struggle for a smaller "boutique" manufacturer when compared to the multi billion dollar giants like Toyota and Honda. Lotus just doesn't have the resources, experience, suppliers, R&D, or quality control to make everything to the same standards as these bigger companies.

I’m sorry but I don’t buy that excuse. It’s a repetitive job sure but with repetition comes experience and inherent quality. maybe the build time per station has been shortened and therefore there’s more to do and less time to check quality at each station. However we don’t know how many are experiencing problems compared to ones fitted correctly, so don’t have a quality ratio.

 

[John777]

Man, this is making me really nervous, something I've not felt before about getting the Emira... Should I be worried? Is this the start of many other issues, which could start small but then grow big? Like I'm wondering if the whole seal around the door could unravel at some point...

Never happen..

 

[TomE]

I’m sorry but I don’t buy that excuse. It’s a repetitive job sure but with repetition comes experience and inherent quality. maybe the build time per station has been shortened and therefore there’s more to do and less time to check quality at each station. However we don’t know how many are experiencing problems compared to ones fitted correctly, so don’t have a quality ratio.

I agree. Lotus have made big investments in a new factory and said many times that getting quality right is paramount. They’ve said some of the delays are because they didn’t want to let a sub-standard car leave the factory.

Whilst a visibly-wrong door seal may seem a minor (and easily sorted) issue, it is evidence that Lotus haven’t got built quality or quality control right yet.

Fitting a door seal correctly on a largely hand-built car depends on supplier product quality, tools and training. Checking it’s been fitted correctly is a fairly simple QA step, provided someone has identified it as something that should be done to a specific quality standard.

 

[VL3X]

I agree. Lotus have made big investments in a new factory and said many times that getting quality right is paramount. They’ve said some of the delays are because they didn’t want to let a sub-standard car leave the factory.

Whilst a visibly-wrong door seal may seem a minor (and easily sorted) issue, it is evidence that Lotus haven’t got built quality or quality control right yet.

Fitting a door seal correctly on a largely hand-built car depends on supplier product quality, tools and training. Checking it’s been fitted correctly is a fairly simple QA step, provided someone has identified it as something that should be done to a specific quality standard.

It doesn't help these cars are being built by a mostly young and inexperienced crew. The majority of the factory workers are new hires, no?

 

[TomE]

That's not quite right. Yes they've had to hire extra manufacturing staff, to go from 1500-2000 cars per year to 5000+, but they still have most of the previous workforce who are experienced at producing hand-built cars. The new hires include some young and less experienced people but also a lot of experienced hires from other local industries.

I think training (which they've also invested heavily in) and hiring people with a quality mindset will be important factors too. There's certainly a buzz and a positive can-do atmosphere at the factory. We need to see that being translated into fewer issues on the January deliveries.