First Emira Breakdown?

[Bilbao-Emira]

Interesting you mention the gearbox. I was one of 2 to get their Emiras PPF’ed this week. Apparently the difference in the gearboxes between our 2 brand new cars was bizarre. Mine was much lighter, he stalled the other one twice moving the other guys about. This is a guy who has super cars in every day and has to move them.

Understandable, supercars are not manual anymore!

 

[Ftype]

Interesting you mention the gearbox. I was one of 2 to get their Emiras PPF’ed this week. Apparently the difference in the gearboxes between our 2 brand new cars was bizarre. Mine was much lighter, he stalled the other one twice moving the other guys about. This is a guy who has super cars in every day and has to move them.

That’s the beauty of a hand built car no two cars have the same faults

 

[ManOfSteel]

I just had the same experience as the OP!

Must be something about yellow...

I flew to Indianapolis from Minneapolis to take delivery of the car from Gator Motorsports on Tuesday, May 7. My birthday, yay!!

After a 34 month wait it was a FANTASTIC experience, but more on that in another thread.

I headed out on my 600 mile drive home to Minneapolis. 36 miles later as I accelerated onto I-74 I spotted a HUGE plume of blue smoke behind the car which quickly filled the engine bay and began to enter the cabin. I immediately pulled over to the shoulder and shut the car off. I frantically contacted Tony at Gator who quickly put me through to Lotus Roadside Assistance. The dispatcher did an excellent job taking down my information and they texted a GPS utility to pinpoint my location. It took about 3 hours for a tow truck to be sourced and take the car back to the dealer. The folks at Gator were MORTIFIED. Tony (sales) gave me a lift to a nearby hotel where I waited for an update the next day. The service team had already diagnosed the problem by mid-morning. During manufacture someone either forgot to tighten or failed to secure a transmission cooling hose, so when the transmission came up to temperature the cooling pump shot gear oil all over the engine bay and exhaust. According to Gator Service, Lotus USA had never heard of this happening before. Gator insisted on keeping the car for a couple extra days for testing and to make sure they had thoroughly de-greased the engine bay. Gear oil - ugh - what a sticky mess!

Lotus Customer Care has been great. I've had multiple follow-up calls, they're shipping the car from Indy to Minnetonka next week at their expense. Per the terms of the US warranty costs of transporting the car are covered, but my transportation and lodging costs are not.

What an adventure. The worst part was waiting on the freeway with thunderstorms, hail, and tornados in the area! As frustrating as this experience was, it reinforced everything I've heard about Gator for years. Their passion for Lotus and commitment to their customers is exemplary.

Now I wait! Car should be here first of next week.