Newbie with some used Emira UK purchasing questions

[tankski]

Hi folks,

Have been a lurker on this forum for a few months while I’ve planned my own purchase of a Lotus Emira. Thankfully I’m now in a spot to make that move and I am now looking for my car.

I’ve searched a bit and I’ve found a few cars I’m interested in (V6 manual, touring suspension, not black wheels and no alcantara steering wheel) and I am arranging viewings/test drives. I’ve perused the issues issues thread and the main things I’m mindful to check for are:

- Working air conditioning
- Paint bubbles
- General presentation of the vehicle like kerbed wheels and tyre wear

The other check I want to do is on the service history. The usual stuff like has it been serviced on time, plus other details like has it had body panels replaced for aforementioned paint blistering issues. Is the service history digital for the Emira? I’ve only had paper-based cars until now. If you have any other things to look at or particular questions to ask, I’m all ears.

The first car I’ve got on my list to visit is one at a local independent. It’s pretty much what I’m looking for, with the exception of an alcantara steering wheel. The dealer has offered to make a deal to replace or re-upholster the wheel with leather if the rest of the car is up to snuff. I’m hesitant about this idea because of possible warranty issues. Is it going to void the warranty of the car in the UK if I go ahead with this?

It’s been a pleasure to read the conversations in the community over the past few months, I’m looking forward to joining as a proper owner in the near future!

Cheers

 

[Nick Sticks]

Hi folks,

Have been a lurker on this forum for a few months while I’ve planned my own purchase of a Lotus Emira. Thankfully I’m now in a spot to make that move and I am now looking for my car.

I’ve searched a bit and I’ve found a few cars I’m interested in (V6 manual, touring suspension, not black wheels and no alcantara steering wheel) and I am arranging viewings/test drives. I’ve perused the issues issues thread and the main things I’m mindful to check for are:

- Working air conditioning
- Paint bubbles
- General presentation of the vehicle like kerbed wheels and tyre wear

The other check I want to do is on the service history. The usual stuff like has it been serviced on time, plus other details like has it had body panels replaced for aforementioned paint blistering issues. Is the service history digital for the Emira? I’ve only had paper-based cars until now. If you have any other things to look at or particular questions to ask, I’m all ears.

The first car I’ve got on my list to visit is one at a local independent. It’s pretty much what I’m looking for, with the exception of an alcantara steering wheel. The dealer has offered to make a deal to replace or re-upholster the wheel with leather if the rest of the car is up to snuff. I’m hesitant about this idea because of possible warranty issues. Is it going to void the warranty of the car in the UK if I go ahead with this?

It’s been a pleasure to read the conversations in the community over the past few months, I’m looking forward to joining as a proper owner in the near future!

Cheers

There is a normal paper service booklet with room for an impressive 23 services + the pre-delivery inspection.

Although I prefer and have the leather steering wheel I would be reluctant to have it covered or changed from the alcantara if it was me.

 

[tankski]

I appreciate you taking the time to comment @Nick Sticks , thank you!

There is a normal paper service booklet with room for an impressive 23 services + the pre-delivery inspection.

Lovely, keeping things analogue. I'll be asking for any associated paperwork for the services when taking a look at any of the cars. 23 services is quite a lofty aspiration, hopefully some of them reach it!

I would be reluctant to have it covered or changed from the alcantara if it was me.

I think I agree with you here, I'd prefer it to be right from the factory. At the same time I am not against the idea of re-upholstering it or swapping it for an OEM leather steering wheel. The condition here is that it is ok if and only if it doesn't affect any of my warranty. Being frank, I imagine that doing anything like it would probably void a part of it, so I'm expecting this to be a non-starter.

 

[Martylemoo]

Dealer told me today that every car that gets washed or in the rain will have paint blisters at some point.

Apparently it’s moisture that traps behind the door bars. When you see a car with it the blisters are in straight lines along the doors.

Probably best that it happens within the warranty period. The dealer charges 6k to change the doors and have them painted.

 

[tankski]

Dealer told me today that every car that gets washed or in the rain will have paint blisters at some point.

Might as well let it sit out in the rain and get it over and done with then (I'm half joking, but that "when not if" matter isn't the brightest outlook)!

Thanks for the tip. I'm sure Sod's law will rear it's ugly head around 2 years, 11 months and 29 days from date of registration.

 

[seriously]

Dealer told me today that every car that gets washed or in the rain will have paint blisters at some point.

Apparently it’s moisture that traps behind the door bars. When you see a car with it the blisters are in straight lines along the doors.

Probably best that it happens within the warranty period. The dealer charges 6k to change the doors and have them painted.

While we all suspected this it’s nuts to hear a dealer say this. How can any modern car manufacturer sell a new car with a risk of paint blistering after wash or in the rain? Strangely this issue doesn’t seem new as it appeared on some older Lotus but to my understanding did not plague cars at a high rate. It’s definitely something it will be helpful for the forum to keep track of. While this latent defect may be present in some or all cars it doesn’t seem likely for whatever reason to affect a high percentage of cars (fingers crossed).

 

[Martylemoo]

The issues we have with blisters are two fold, the door blisters on a straight line are a very specific issue that has not been a problem on other cars. The replacement doors come with a modification to prevent the ingress of moisture around that part. Hopefully, once they caught this issue then from a certain VIN it will no longer be a problem. To note, my car has zero blisters and is an early V6. The loan car I recently had literally had a line of blisters on both doors.

The general blisters in the paint have plagued Lotus since the Elise S1, it’s thought to be moisture either trapped in the composite layers or in the paint process, I suspect both.

 

[Speedy Emira]

The answer could be buy a mint car that’s had the fix.