I'm out - the cancellations thread

[emiraspain]

My car has been at PDI now for 6 weeks, CS do not know why have no answers. I think Lotus have made a big mistake with not involving their agents (dealers) with the delivery process including PDI. If the dealers received the car damaged/faulty at least the end customer could be advised that it needs work which will completed at the dealer facilities and then delivered to the customer. Lotus CS have always been very poor even before Geely so nothing has improved from manufacturing right through to cumstomer liason.

while I certainly believe this is what they are telling you, I simply dont believe its actually true.
PDI will not correct any faults, just find them, so unless its actually unmovable, it makes no sense for it to be there. I'd have to imagine it had an/some issues at PDI and was sent back and is now awaiting rectification at hethel.... but to be even more honest, I think its probably not even left hethel and hasn't been finished in the first place... my point being, you cant after 2 3 4 5 6 weeks trust what CS tell you. Your car could be upside down on the track and they would not know it.
If I were you I would be livid and would be writing an email to someone way above CS..... 6 weeks... come on.... you can figure out the email easy enough. Its not your fault obviously, but I dont know how you can take it laying down....I'd have told them where to shove it after week 4.
Email an exec... get them on it....

 

[emiraspain]

Thanks Tom. I appreciate all the work you have put into running this forum.

I doubt they had a ferry booked and I doubt very much that a paint issue was suddenly found on my car Fter PDI.
My build was apparently complete in November and I paid for the car in full in December.

I'm afraid I simply don't believe anything Lotus say any more. I have run mynown business for many years and this is not the type of company I want to do business with.

If I was a betting man, I would say Geely are watching what is happening and I don't give Matt much longer at the helm if he can't get processes under control. No-one at these levels tolerates such a high level of failure for long.

I echo those sentiments, I doubt the same management will be in place in 12 months. Ive nothing against the boss, but he does not come across as a boss or someone who can control / fix / trouble shoot / get things right.... I dont know him, just reading and jumping to big conclusions based on interviews and appearances.

Now I think someone wants to see your incoming phone records....... hard to show whats not there though .
Let us know how you get on with your refund..... quite shocking what they have done to you.... Things like this put even more doubts in others minds!

 

[DJS]

Thanks Tom. I appreciate all the work you have put into running this forum.

I doubt they had a ferry booked and I doubt very much that a paint issue was suddenly found on my car Fter PDI.
My build was apparently complete in November and I paid for the car in full in December.

I'm afraid I simply don't believe anything Lotus say any more. I have run mynown business for many years and this is not the type of company I want to do business with.

If I was a betting man, I would say Geely are watching what is happening and I don't give Matt much longer at the helm if he can't get processes under control. No-one at these levels tolerates such a high level of failure for long.

I agree Matt is in big trouble, if I were Lotus I would be all over you on Monday morning trying to appease this situation ensuring you are given Lotus undivided attention your also an Eletre depositor for god sake.

Mike just stop for a second don't jump the gun and let Lotus try and resolve this issue for you early next week, if you are ignored then I agree just walk. Please keep us updated.

 

[spice]

Minimum 10% discount to even consider taking the car

 

[TomE]

PDI will not correct any faults, just find them, so unless its actually unmovable, it makes no sense for it to be there. I'd have to imagine it had an/some issues at PDI and was sent back and is now awaiting rectification at hethel....

BCA have been trained to rectify the most common issues likely to come up in PDI. Lotus staff are based on site at BCA to train and supervise the BCA team.

It would have to be a major issue to result in the car being sent back to Hethel to be rectified.

 

[Leonard]

Thanks Tom. I appreciate all the work you have put into running this forum.

I doubt they had a ferry booked and I doubt very much that a paint issue was suddenly found on my car Fter PDI.
My build was apparently complete in November and I paid for the car in full in December.

I'm afraid I simply don't believe anything Lotus say any more. I have run mynown business for many years and this is not the type of company I want to do business with.

If I was a betting man, I would say Geely are watching what is happening and I don't give Matt much longer at the helm if he can't get processes under control. No-one at these levels tolerates such a high level of failure for long.

Unfortunately they probably think they are doing a faultless job

 

[kratedisease]

Minimum 10% discount to even consider taking the car

hahaha......any dealer can get 10% OVER window sticker MSRP today.

 

[emiraspain]

BCA have been trained to rectify the most common issues likely to come up in PDI. Lotus staff are based on site at BCA to train and supervise the BCA team.

It would have to be a major issue to result in the car being sent back to Hethel to be rectified.

ok thats interesting, although I assume they are small issues indeed...seat belt, maybe some paint buffing ... but 6 weeks...
I dont believe the car could possibly still be there unless its a part missing and thats unlikely as they are shipping cars each day.

Id be emailing mr W..or someone no?

 

[kitkat]

If you're concerned about quality and thinking about porsche just had this txt from my mate that picked up his new gt4 before Xmas:-

Hmmm. The pads got stuck on the discs on all 4 wheels and then separated and snapped. GT4 undriveable. A known issue apparently .

Common with pads with a high amount of metallic content in wet weather.

Pads basically bond to the rotor and sheer when you get the car moving again. This also happens to Lotuses

 

[SmallerBaller]

Common with pads with a high amount of metallic content in wet weather.

Pads basically bond to the rotor and sheer when you get the car moving again. This also happens to Lotuses

Would this not be an issue with the carbon ceramics then?

 

[kitkat]

Would this not be an issue with the carbon ceramics then?

It's caused by corrosion (rust), carbon ceramics shouldn't rust.

 

[Nova]

How long would it have had to sit in wet weather for the pads to fuse to the rotors?

 

[DerTheDer]

I echo those sentiments, I doubt the same management will be in place in 12 months. Ive nothing against the boss, but he does not come across as a boss or someone who can control / fix / trouble shoot / get things right.... I dont know him, just reading and jumping to big conclusions based on interviews and appearances.

Now I think someone wants to see your incoming phone records....... hard to show whats not there though .
Let us know how you get on with your refund..... quite shocking what they have done to you.... Things like this put even more doubts in others minds!

He gets a carrot

He does not.

What about the CEO?

 

[Pegasi]

Thanks Tom. I appreciate all the work you have put into running this forum.

I doubt they had a ferry booked and I doubt very much that a paint issue was suddenly found on my car Fter PDI.
My build was apparently complete in November and I paid for the car in full in December.

I'm afraid I simply don't believe anything Lotus say any more. I have run mynown business for many years and this is not the type of company I want to do business with.

If I was a betting man, I would say Geely are watching what is happening and I don't give Matt much longer at the helm if he can't get processes under control. No-one at these levels tolerates such a high level of failure for long.

Just making another point here. Different factors can contribute to any business rise or fall. In the USA the really only mid engine sports car is Emira, C8, and Cayman. Only two of those have a manual. Having extraordinary demand and having resources are two really strong factors in whether a business can scale. And whether a business has room to make mistakes and still scale. I believe Lotus has this indicative of USA and worldwide deposits and of course Geely cash. Sometimes positioning with a strong product trumps service or experience. A lot on this thread is about shortcomings. I hope everyone thinks this is a positive. I agree though, Lotus has yet to parlay this.

 

[Lotustoronto]

Unfortunately they probably think they are doing a faultless job

Oh I don't think so.... 100% they do not sleep well at night knowing what a disaster the production had become.

They won't even let Journalists test out the final product out of fear. Believe me, they are fully aware, they just didn't have the right people from the beginning and what we are seeing is the result. Geely or someone will figure it out and remedy the situation, the question is will they do it in time to save the ship.

 

[Lotustoronto]

@Mike - Sorry to hear about that terrible CS on the Emira delivery. Truly shocking, but unsurprising from a company that has delivered 100 cars directly to customers for the first time in its 70 year history. Someone was going to feel the growing pains, unfortunately it was you. Keep us posted how the refund experience goes.

 

[digilotus]

Can I remind everyone to keep things cordial and not make them personal. Lets stay on topic please.

I have deleted all off-topic, personal and inflammatory posts.

 

[Mctaff]

How long would it have had to sit in wet weather for the pads to fuse to the rotors?

My vantage would do this in under a week… happened a lot then I just learnt to move the car after it had been wet.

never ripped the pads off but did sometimes tear up my gravel drive when I drove off with one wheel not turning!

 

[Nova]

My vantage would do this in under a week… happened a lot then I just learnt to move the car after it had been wet.

never ripped the pads off but did sometimes tear up my gravel drive when I drove off with one wheel not turning!

Geez, gotta say, that's a new one to me. Sounds brutal.

 

[VL3X]

I feel your pain and frustration @TomE. As you mentioned me, i took delivery of my car 17th December, but with the way Lotus treated me, aswell as others, as a very early depositor, i will never buy a new Lotus again. I would however buy a used Lotus as the dealer was fantastic with excellent customer service. Still can't work out what Lotus hoped to achieve by treated people like this.

It's pretty sad when early depositors, forum moderators, and self-proclaimed super fans are all at the point of frustration that we're considering cancelling our orders and/or never buying a new Lotus again. It's really sad... I was so.. SOOOOOO excited when the Emira was announced (clearly), but that excitement has burned out quite a bit (almost entirely at this point). There are times when I blame myself.. thinking it's because I'm too obsessed and spend too much time on the forums talking about it everyday.. but then I hear everyone else's stories and it really bums me out. Lotus had such a great opportunity to rebrand themselves and launch the Emira properly, but it's been a let down this past year. One thing after another. Better comms could have gone a long way... maybe even had us overlook the detuned powertrain, lack of options on the First Editions (color palette, ADAS, interior features, etc), mediocre reviews and endure the continued delays... but here we are. Delays and zero communication (especially to North American buyers). My dealer won't even get back to me on updates (likely because he has none). There is no way NA production is starting this month and no way we'll actually see deliveries in March and it really sucks. If early order customers are treated like this, I can only imagine how painful warranty work, recalls, and servicing in general will be. I'm strongly considering other options, but most mean paying a lot more and giving up the manual transmission that I really want.