Apologies in advance for the long post. Yesterday I drove 2 hours to a Lotus dealership in the South East of the U.K. to view a 23MY V6 Emira in VG. While there my wife and I were handed the keys to a demo and told to take the car for an hour long test drive which I was not expecting but it was great. Everything I’d heard or read about the Emira was spot on and “I want one” was all I came away feeling - that and like I’d just done 10 rounds with my 5 year old after a bag of sugar.
Now to the problem. I was about to pay a deposit on a 2 year old, Verdant Green FE V6 with 5k miles, priced at £63k from Lotus. That was until I noticed the extensive bubbling of the paint along the top of the passenger door. I pointed it out to the dealer but he was dismissive saying it would be sorted before sale but it just didn’t sit well with me. 2 year old £60k+ car with bubbling paint?
Anyway, that’s how I ended up here. Despite hours of YouTube reviews raving about the Emira, I hadn’t come across the paint issue until now. I’ve since spent several hours going through this forum reading everything I can on the paint issues and it’s left me hanging by a thread on buying an Emira at all. I called the dealership back today and asked how long to fix it and if both doors would be sorted and this time I was told that I would need to sort it myself after purchase, through the warranty
. More red flags. The reality as I see it is that in about a years time when warranties start expiring, Emira ownership will be in a game of roulette with these paint issues. Potential mechanical issues, the odd electrical issue, distant dealerships, etc, all manageable, but the risk of the paint blistering in the future and the expense that may follow given it’s not just skin deep, makes this car a sizeable risk for any out of warranty owners of these early cars.
I guess I’m posting because it’s very hard to know how to treat this issue. The shadiness of the 5 to 3 year paint warranty ‘scam’ shows just how Lotus intend to play it - string it out until warranties pass and leave the owners holding the baby. I don’t know if anyone has advice, but my head right now is saying run a mile from Lotus as a brand. Is this really the Lotus “experience”? If Lotus appeared to be owning the situation I wouldn’t have an issue with the defects but who wants to spend £60k+ on a car with that hanging over their head! Am I overthinking this, or is this a ticking time bomb?
Now to the problem. I was about to pay a deposit on a 2 year old, Verdant Green FE V6 with 5k miles, priced at £63k from Lotus. That was until I noticed the extensive bubbling of the paint along the top of the passenger door. I pointed it out to the dealer but he was dismissive saying it would be sorted before sale but it just didn’t sit well with me. 2 year old £60k+ car with bubbling paint?
Anyway, that’s how I ended up here. Despite hours of YouTube reviews raving about the Emira, I hadn’t come across the paint issue until now. I’ve since spent several hours going through this forum reading everything I can on the paint issues and it’s left me hanging by a thread on buying an Emira at all. I called the dealership back today and asked how long to fix it and if both doors would be sorted and this time I was told that I would need to sort it myself after purchase, through the warranty

I guess I’m posting because it’s very hard to know how to treat this issue. The shadiness of the 5 to 3 year paint warranty ‘scam’ shows just how Lotus intend to play it - string it out until warranties pass and leave the owners holding the baby. I don’t know if anyone has advice, but my head right now is saying run a mile from Lotus as a brand. Is this really the Lotus “experience”? If Lotus appeared to be owning the situation I wouldn’t have an issue with the defects but who wants to spend £60k+ on a car with that hanging over their head! Am I overthinking this, or is this a ticking time bomb?