Emira i4 servicing costs??

[TomE]

Lotus Customer service have advised me that you can take your Emira to any reputable service centre for a service, without affecting the Lotus warranty, providing the car is serviced in accordance with Lotus stipulations i.e time/mileage, parts, oils etc. As to be expected, any warranty repairs must be carried out by Lotus man dealers only. They also advised that the main difference between the V6 and i4 servicing cost is the 3rd year service, as the i4 takes 6 hours and includes Engine oil, DCT gearbox oil and filters and spark plugs. The V6 does not apparently require gearbox oil or spark plugs in this time. Even so, this still does not justify an extra £1100 in my opinion. I would definitely be asking Mercedes if they could do this for me. They know the engine and transmission better than Lotus anyway and are nearly half the price. Why would you not!!! If not for years one and two, definitely for year three (warranty expires by end year 3 anyway).
I have repeatedly asked CS if the i4 3 yr plan price is correct (Lets face it, we know Merc dealers are not cheap but they are almost half the price Lotus are asking!) and they have not confirmed for some reason. We need to make a stand and not accept these Bullsh*t service plan prices Lotus are quoting for i4.

The V6 gearbox oil is every 4 years or 36k miles, spark plugs are every 54k miles. It doesn't explain the big AMG versus Lotus price difference for the i4.

 

[virtualmacho]

Drop the engine and transmission, crate it, send it to Mercedes, get it back, re-install to the car. Not cheap.

 

[PsymonR]

I was having a play with the updated configurator now it is live on the UK site and was interested to see that the service plan is now offered within the configurator, and against the I4 it has the price at £1,599...

That said though, the enhance page on the website still lists the I4 service plan at £2,699. So I'm wouldn't be surprised if the price in the configurator is wrong... (though you can't actually proceed to place an order anyway at the moment)

 

[avinson85]

Has anyone got any update to this. I have been looking at an i4 on autotrader and happed to check the service plans on offer and couldn't believe the difference in price. For this you may aswell just go for the more expensive v6.

 

[Andy H]

I was fortunate enough to qualify for the free service plan offer they made for early orders. However, I did pay for a running in service outside of the plan and Bell & Colvill charged me the same price as the V6 which was about £430.

 

[PsymonR]

There's still no exemplar fixed price service costs for the i4 on the Lotus website

Like Andy I also qualified for the free service plan and this will likely be the case for most if not all the early cars so it may be a while still before there is any indication of how individual service costs will compare for i4 vs v6.

 

[JohnS]

Has anyone got any update to this. I have been looking at an i4 on autotrader and happed to check the service plans on offer and couldn't believe the difference in price. For this you may aswell just go for the more expensive v6.

Be warned, the V6 has it's expensive service every 4th year. Ouch!

Oh, and one other issue, should the clutch friction plate need changing due to drag strip type starts, I've been informed it's an engine out job, not cheap.

Forgot to mention the i4 is a lot lower in petrol consumption and hence running costs.

 

[Andy H]

Forgot to mention the i4 is a lot lower in petrol consumption and hence running costs.

Good shout. I am amazed at the MPGs I get on a long run. Easily pushing 40mpg+. You can comfortably cruise at around 70mph and 1,500rpm in 8th. I never even considered this when choosing but it's a nice bonus.

 

[CraigO]

Good shout. I am amazed at the MPGs I get on a long run. Easily pushing 40mpg+. You can comfortably cruise at around 70mph and 1,500rpm in 8th. I never even considered this when choosing but it's a nice bonus.

Completely agreed with this. Not a consideration in purchasing the car but a great bonus, especially if using the car on a tour or something. I'm getting high 40's (UK) on a long run.

 

[avinson85]

yeh the fuel economy is one of the reason why i was looking at the i4 rather than v6. Currently have a GR86 and paying £36pm for service but they have recently increased the service costs so £315 to £365 & then £470 to £545 (full)