North America Emira Experiences

[K_Squared]

Went to Cars and Coffee in Morrisville today near Raleigh (Well over 2,000 people/cars attend). It was the first one for the Emira as I got it just after last month's C&C. I saw a DV there and my friends said they spotted another Nimbus but I wasn't able to see it.

The attention was INSANE. Right when I parked I was swarmed with smiling faces all wanting to see/talk about the Emira. I dare say it got more attention than the McLaren's and Ferraris around it. Probably lots has to do with its rarity/newness, but people just seem to LOVE this car. I had countless people walk up and give me thumbs up and tons of people around saying stuff like "that is the most beautiful car I've ever seen." I was also given an invitation to an invite-only car show at a local country club and the organizer asked me at least three times to "please, please bring this car to the show."

Nobody knows what it is. I heard one guy standing next to it telling his friends "they only made 50 of these" and another guy saying "it has a monster twin turbo 4 cylinder in it". It was quite entertaining listening to the erroneous-yet-confidence-filled comments about the car.

I didn't even take any pictures (oops) but the Emira had at least 100 photos taken of it today. I'll see if I can find some and post them here as they pop up on Facebook and such.

What a fun time this morning in the Emira!

 

[NicolasB]

Wait 'til I pull out a banjo!

That's West Virginia!

 

[EspritGuy]

Wait 'til I pull out a banjo!

Emira Deliverace Edition

 

[EyeFour Eemeerah!]

Problems TEC
Which affects the communication WiFi Bluetooth, SOS plus a few other things.
Car has been in shop for 12 days
Dealership is still waiting on parts.
In all fairness this not their fault and they have kept me updated every other day
Here is what I know Lotus as a company are a bunch of F:;$&@$ assholes
No one at Lotus USA knows what the f:$& is going on. Lotus UK even less
I cannot get into specific details of what I do know.
Dealership has not been let know by lotus when the parts will get to them even though they have asked to be given some idea and been given none.
I think The parts are apparently coming from China.
I choose to wait as it’s a magnificent car
But if my issue and other issues with other owners persists I believe many will return their cars.
They way lotus has handled things since launch is a total F up
They imo do not deserve to be in business
Thanks for listening to my rant but I am more than angry.
I’m fortunate that I have other cars while I wait. But what about others who only have 1 car.
I will keep updating. Again I can’t disclose all I know at the moment.

EDIT if anyone at Lotus reads this them maybe they will have the balls to DM or contact me to discuss my and other owners issues.
I make no excuses as to what I have said about Lotus Corporate

Regrettably, this is what I had been forecasting for the U.S. for some time. No follow up in place for these issues, no parts and owners already talking lemon law. Not the start for Lotus US distribution that they needed. I was lucky enough to tell them go scratch, when after waiting a year and a half, they wanted to give me two days to finalize my build on an i4 and put my final deposit down. No way in hell. Then to find weeks later that they in fact plan to only release the i4 globally (excepting the Chinese drop)in June 2025! It is good to look at, drives alright, but is slow to get to the upper speeds. I honestly get more out of dailying my Miata than the lotus, and for the money it’s no contest.
I wish you luck and hope you get resolution soon.

 

[Porter]

That's West Virginia!

Nah, they play the mouth harp! The twang is nonstop.

 

[Shahaf2911]

Some customers in Spain have been waiting for more than three months for spare parts of well identified issues, like faulty steering pumps, or as simple as TPMS sensors.

I’m certain there’s backing to your claims as I also remember reading such things but it’s so odd that each customer in every country experiences something differently.
For example I also had the faulty steering pump which had a small leak apparently, that was diagnosed on the 13th of March (car brought in on the 11/12th) and the part arrived on the 25th (car was ready on the 27th, will collect it in 2 weeks).
Another issue I had that was resolved (on the 3rd or 4th day of ownership, Nov 22’ car arrived at dealer so really early build) is that the A/C didn’t have heat/cold which they resolved the same day I brought it in somehow (as others are still having this issue).
I’m certain Lotus isn’t a saint by any means, but some people waiting 3 months and I waited 12 days for the same part, and the A/C was fixed the same day and others still don’t have a fix make me wonder if it’s entirely Lotus’s fault (my dealer isn’t a saint as a different user unfortunately didn’t have the same experience I’ve had and needed to switch dealers to find a fix (which he found relatively fast)).

 

[Maurice R]

Update to my previous posts about the problems occurring.
Friday went to dealership to find out if they had heard when the part was expected. Lotus had not responded.
Was told they reset everything but that it was not fixed. Said I wanted the car for the weekend to try get to 1000 miles.
They did not want me to take the car, but a little bit of arm twisting they let me take it. But be prepared for faults possibly recurring.
Car was fine yesterday did about 70 miles no problems.
This morning I started the car and SOS warning comes on you can still drive. Drove a few miles stopped. Locked the car. Then unlocked and get in it fires up an no warning screen.
Drove 98 miles on some back roads no issues.
So as far as driving and pushing but not exceeding 4000 rpm.
The car drives and handles magnificently. Cars handles bump and ruff roads with ease. Absorbs bumps superbly cornering at speeds fantastic.
No problems at all but as mentioned earlier it’s not fixed. It will be as soon as parts arrive.
Pulled into fill and saw this. Took a couple pictures. The guy could not stop asking about the car. He had never seen one. Was very impressed

 

[GrahamClark_60-68]

Greatly enjoying hearing and reading about everyone enjoying their new Emiras! Happy for all of you and living vicariously through your adventures! I'm likely still a few months out from my delivery and not sure if this is the right place for this question, but here goes. I currently live just 12 minutes from the nearest Lotus dealer but the wife wants us to move to a city 500 miles away to be closer to our adult son, potentially putting me and my new Emira a good 7 hour drive from said closest dealer. Short of getting a new wife, which I've contemplated, and considering I know quite a few of you have driven your cars home quite a ways from the dealer where you picked it up from (and maybe also own or have owned previous Lotus cars at a similar distance from the dealer), how has this experience been and how do you deal with this when it comes to service? I'm of course especially concerned near term with all the new car bugs which may require frequent trips to the dealer but also longer term. Any thoughts you could share on this would be appreciated.

 

[DaaS]

Greatly enjoying hearing and reading about everyone enjoying their new Emiras! Happy for all of you and living vicariously through your adventures! I'm likely still a few months out from my delivery and not sure if this is the right place for this question, but here goes. I currently live just 12 minutes from the nearest Lotus dealer but the wife wants us to move to a city 500 miles away to be closer to our adult son, potentially putting me and my new Emira a good 7 hour drive from said closest dealer. Short of getting a new wife, which I've contemplated, and considering I know quite a few of you have driven your cars home quite a ways from the dealer where you picked it up from (and maybe also own or have owned previous Lotus cars at a similar distance from the dealer), how has this experience been and how do you deal with this when it comes to service? I'm of course especially concerned near term with all the new car bugs which may require frequent trips to the dealer but also longer term. Any thoughts you could share on this would be appreciated.

If my nearest Lotus dealership was 2+ hours away (and I am being generous), I wouldn’t buy it. It would be a PITA to address warranty and service related issues. Imagine if the car went into limp mode, you can’t safely drive it for hours to the nearest dealership. You would have to get it towed.

 

[EyeFour Eemeerah!]

Greatly enjoying hearing and reading about everyone enjoying their new Emiras! Happy for all of you and living vicariously through your adventures! I'm likely still a few months out from my delivery and not sure if this is the right place for this question, but here goes. I currently live just 12 minutes from the nearest Lotus dealer but the wife wants us to move to a city 500 miles away to be closer to our adult son, potentially putting me and my new Emira a good 7 hour drive from said closest dealer. Short of getting a new wife, which I've contemplated, and considering I know quite a few of you have driven your cars home quite a ways from the dealer where you picked it up from (and maybe also own or have owned previous Lotus cars at a similar distance from the dealer), how has this experience been and how do you deal with this when it comes to service? I'm of course especially concerned near term with all the new car bugs which may require frequent trips to the dealer but also longer term. Any thoughts you could share on this would be appreciated.

I test drove to the nearest dealership prior to making a decision. Travel time was two hours each way. Given that you’re (probably) not going to wait for service to be done, that now makes two days that need to be allocated for any service to be done. This coupled with the issues that (some) owners are plagued with, was a strong deterrent to my going forward with the purchase. Talk of new dealerships in the states are nothing more than popups meant for sales distribution. Not true service stations.

 

[Nova]

A Lotus shouldn't be your only car. Lotus will pay for tows related to warranty issues. So I personally don't find this to be an issue. I ordered the car knowing that my closest dealer at the time was 4.5 hours away. Now there is a new dealer 30 minutes away, which, not going to lie, does make me feel much better about owning a Lotus, but the original situation was fine too.

This is a special car. There is nothing else out there like it.

 

[Aero]

A Lotus shouldn't be your only car. Lotus will pay for tows related to warranty issues. So I personally don't find this to be an issue. I ordered the car knowing that my closest dealer at the time was 4.5 hours away. Now there is a new dealer 30 minutes away, which, not going to lie, does make me feel much better about owning a Lotus, but the original situation was fine too.

This is a special car. There is nothing else out there like it.

I believe the maximum towing distance they will pay for is around 150 miles. This issue was a concern for me since I am 120 miles away so I asked. I dont remember exactly since I was just under it.

EDIT: NOVA 15 mins later clarified in link that towing distance is unlimited.

 

[robrmon]

Greatly enjoying hearing and reading about everyone enjoying their new Emiras! Happy for all of you and living vicariously through your adventures! I'm likely still a few months out from my delivery and not sure if this is the right place for this question, but here goes. I currently live just 12 minutes from the nearest Lotus dealer but the wife wants us to move to a city 500 miles away to be closer to our adult son, potentially putting me and my new Emira a good 7 hour drive from said closest dealer. Short of getting a new wife, which I've contemplated, and considering I know quite a few of you have driven your cars home quite a ways from the dealer where you picked it up from (and maybe also own or have owned previous Lotus cars at a similar distance from the dealer), how has this experience been and how do you deal with this when it comes to service? I'm of course especially concerned near term with all the new car bugs which may require frequent trips to the dealer but also longer term. Any thoughts you could share on this would be appreciated.

I agree with the other posters. Having had an Evora since new, with a warranty, you will be back at the dealer on several occasions, the good times are when you plan around it, the bad times (and it won’t happen too often), the car might leave you stranded in Limp mode requiring a tow - these cars are very susceptible to electrical gremlins. You can minimize these chances by always keeping the car on a tender when not driving. This feedback is based on Evora ownership, but I’m suspecting it will be similar. I’ve joked, but people ask if I’m selling my Evora when the Emira comes, I tell them “no, it’s my spare lotus for when the other one is at the dealer”.

Edited to add that my dealer doesn’t offer courtesy cars, that’s something to check

 

[EyeFour Eemeerah!]

This is a special car. There is nothing else out there like it.

Except an Evora!!

 

[Nova]

Except an Evora!!

LOL, yea. So you can view the Emira as sort of a "Gen 2" of the Evora, with a name change.

 

[Nova]

I believe the maximum towing distance they will pay for is around 150 miles. This issue was a concern for me since I am 120 miles away so I asked. I dont remember exactly since I was just under it.

No, there's no limit to the distance:

Canada Emira Warranty Comments/Questions

Hope it’s OK to start a new thread on this topic. I haven’t seen any info about a Canadian Emira warranty and invite anyone “in the know” to point the way, if it’s now available. A few questions and perhaps Canadian owners of other Lotus models can answer based upon their experience: 1. If...

www.emiraforum.com

I wonder how they handle people who move their car to Alaska...

 

[Aero]

No, there's no limit to the distance:

Canada Emira Warranty Comments/Questions

Hope it’s OK to start a new thread on this topic. I haven’t seen any info about a Canadian Emira warranty and invite anyone “in the know” to point the way, if it’s now available. A few questions and perhaps Canadian owners of other Lotus models can answer based upon their experience: 1. If...

www.emiraforum.com

I wonder how they handle people who move their car to Alaska...

Another example of a dealer not knowing the facts I guess.

 

[Nova]

Another example of a dealer not knowing the facts I guess.

Do you have a link to something more official?

Thanks!

 

[Aero]

Do you have a link to something more official?

Thanks!

Nope. just what i was told at the first test drive when asked about it. Lotus might not have even come out with anything official at that point.

 

[brainf18]

I believe the maximum towing distance they will pay for is around 150 miles. This issue was a concern for me since I am 120 miles away so I asked. I dont remember exactly since I was just under it.

I live 141 miles from Gator. When I get my car and "if" it needs service I'll definitely be using the tow provision.