Not Happy

[HoweBank]

Just received a call from Lotus and feeling quite disgruntled. very fresh so perhaps I need time to dwell on the moment.


My July date communicated to me previously has been adjusted to August delivery at best. (Almost worth waiting for the September plate)

The Emira will be a hobby vehicle; this means here in the UK I will have limited driving usage in nice weather if I get it in August.

I have also been told there is a further £1045 fee to pay.

This fee covers

* Delivery to a dealer which is not exactly close (100 miles away),
* A valet which I'm fussy over who does this work,
* Number plates,
* A tank of fuel
* And what they call a pdi which amounts to a pre-delivery inspection.

Possibly being tight here but given they have received 5k for over a year ago now I'm of the opinion I'm getting the poke here.

They have informed the car will be moved to oxford before any of these things happen and so any movement of the car on a truck will be full of road grime anyway negating what is achieved on valet. The polite lady said it would be covered, but I also object to a cover fidgeting on the paintwork as it gets blown about at speed.

surely a pre-delivery inspection is normal business for newly manufactured cars!

How ownerous does a valet need to be on a new car? Agan should this normal business.


therefore plates and a tank of fuel sounds expensive

 

[Nova]

therefore plates and a tank of fuel sounds expensive

At the rate we are going, Lotus is going to be losing money on charging you so little for a tank of gas.

Edit: For the US people, what's a valet in this context?

 

[NickR]

I'm afraid both the delay and cost have already be communicated, June cars -> July etc. The £1045 fee is a bit steep. However they will deliver to your house or place of work. The PDI etc done at Oxford is being done as part of their commissioning process. The cars are being delivered in batches and will be on car transports

 

[Pav]

Yep it’s not ideal (I’m in same boat) but I think this is pretty standard new car stuff these days. It’s the communication of it that has been lacklustre.

If they’re on open transporters to/from Oxford I’d hope they have that white protection film on the wings and bonnet etc.

Once I’d slept on it a bit and revisited some of the latest photos/videos I felt a lot more positive again..

 

[Matthaus]

Just received a call from Lotus and feeling quite disgruntled. very fresh so perhaps I need time to dwell on the moment.


My July date communicated to me previously has been adjusted to August delivery at best. (Almost worth waiting for the September plate)

The Emira will be a hobby vehicle; this means here in the UK I will have limited driving usage in nice weather if I get it in August.

I have also been told there is a further £1045 fee to pay.

This fee covers

* Delivery to a dealer which is not exactly close (100 miles away),
* A valet which I'm fussy over who does this work,
* Number plates,
* A tank of fuel
* And what they call a pdi which amounts to a pre-delivery inspection.

Possibly being tight here but given they have received 5k for over a year ago now I'm of the opinion I'm getting the poke here.

They have informed the car will be moved to oxford before any of these things happen and so any movement of the car on a truck will be full of road grime anyway negating what is achieved on valet. The polite lady said it would be covered, but I also object to a cover fidgeting on the paintwork as it gets blown about at speed.

surely a pre-delivery inspection is normal business for newly manufactured cars!

How ownerous does a valet need to be on a new car? Agan should this normal business.


therefore plates and a tank of fuel sounds expensive

This delivery, valet and fuel fee has been on their website for about 6 months.

Not exactly news.

 

[HoweBank]

A valet is a clean of the car for the US member’s information


If delivered to the door it will require a clean again is my view unless transported on a sealed trailer which they can't guarantee.

pdi is what they should be doing anyway and not pushed onto the customer later. It amounts to verifying your own build quality or marking your own homework. i.e. should be part of their normal business.

I requested to collect straight from factory to therefore delete some of the intermediate steps of processing at Oxford but they want to charge me an additional £199 on top because I have to walk around their factory and eat lunch there.

Everyone can see that it is a cloak and dagger way of hiking up the price. The car was promised in spring when they took my money which was paid on the day they went on sale. It will be nearly autumn when I receive.

Not good business. I advise writing to customer services to inform

 

[NickR]

A valet is a clean of the car for the US member’s information


If delivered to the door it will require a clean again is my view unless transported on a sealed trailer which they can't guarantee.

pdi is what they should be doing anyway and not pushed onto the customer later. It amounts to verifying your own build quality or marking your own homework. i.e. should be part of their normal business.

I requested to collect straight from factory to therefore delete some of the intermediate steps of processing at Oxford but they want to charge me an additional £199 on top because I have to walk around their factory and eat lunch there.

Everyone can see that it is a cloak and dagger way of hiking up the price. The car was promised in spring when they took my money which was paid on the day they went on sale. It will be nearly autumn when I receive.

Not good business. I advise writing to customer services to inform

Even if you collect the car from Hethel it still goes to Oxford. This is what customer service told me anyway.

 

[MCS]

It’s annoying I agree but if the car was a grand more and all this was included you’d probably still think it was good value. Given inflation at the moment The car gets better value every day

 

[Daz]

A valet is a clean of the car for the US member’s information


If delivered to the door it will require a clean again is my view unless transported on a sealed trailer which they can't guarantee.

pdi is what they should be doing anyway and not pushed onto the customer later. It amounts to verifying your own build quality or marking your own homework. i.e. should be part of their normal business.

I requested to collect straight from factory to therefore delete some of the intermediate steps of processing at Oxford but they want to charge me an additional £199 on top because I have to walk around their factory and eat lunch there.

Everyone can see that it is a cloak and dagger way of hiking up the price. The car was promised in spring when they took my money which was paid on the day they went on sale. It will be nearly autumn when I receive.

Not good business. I advise writing to customer services to inform

You’re not the first to complain about the £1000+ PDI fee and you certainly won’t be the last. I think that it’s a con too, I think I’d have felt better if they had shafted me on the QT by adding it to the car price but that’s just the way it goes. I really do think that by collecting the car from the factory then it should be cheaper not more expensive

 

[HoweBank]

Sorry if this annoys but I don’t understand folk whether they have sufficient funds or not to justify the product as being worth it.

The costs of cleaning inspecting and delivering a car can be approximated up front and communicated openly on purchase. Not stiffed later and told to swallow it.

 

[GetawayDriving]

Sounds like US equivalent is "destination fee". I believe destination on Evora in the US is $2,400 USD? And that's just delivery to the dealer.

 

[Daz]

this has been known for a long time, why is this even being discussed again, if you feel this is "unacceptable" then "go buy a Porsche" - probable be banned again for pointing out stupid posts, anyway roll on august, won't be posting any photos as all you do is pull everything apart.

This section is called ‘Not Happy’ , if you’re happy with the purchase price then technically you shouldn’t be here

 

[NickR]

this is not accurate I'm afraid. I believe the lotus purchase website has updated since the launch so its not the head slap you think it is perhaps.

I have checked through my correspondence and there is nothing in there at all. I would be interested to obtain views from those whow were the very first purchasers of the car to see if they understand what fees came later.

I'm in the top 50 depositors. Agree that lotus hasn't communicated directly this information, but its been in the public domain for months. Just looking through this site would have told you that

 

[MCS]

It’s like mumsnet on here sometimes

 

[HoweBank]

I'm in the top 50 depositors. Agree that lotus hasn't communicated directly this information, but its been in the public domain for months. Just looking through this site would have told you that

thanks for the reply

interested in how you determined what number of depositers you were to ascertain my own positon.

I have not read the forum in an avid sense I must confess and my order was placed the day of launch which I think was early october 21 some 8 months ago.

 

[NickR]

thanks for the reply

interested in how you determined what number of depositers you were to ascertain my own positon.

I have not read the forum in an avid sense I must confess and my order was placed the day of launch which I think was early october 21 some 8 months ago.

Was confirmed by customer service. Launch was July 6th 2021

 

[HoweBank]

Was confirmed by customer service. Launch was July 6th 2021

Oh, I might ask myself. cant believe it has been that long. incredible. I had it in memory that it was later than that but that may have been my second payment.

thanks

 

[emiraspain]

Your character is on full display for all to read. I only heard the news a few hrs ago for the record and there could be many more not aware at all. I have not read every post on here!


Suggestion to buy a Porsche,

Why don’t you keep your passive aggressive tone to yourself and do as others suggest and read something else. I have been very polite and respectful throughout. I find it poor show of Lotus to hide costs and present them later.

The car is for sale from new and not up for auction where the end value is determined by the seller at the day of delivery.

Respectfully disagreeing with you

I MAY be wrong, but I honestly dont recall seeing this cost or if I did, I casually forgot it, so you're right, not everyone knows about it. I have had an email each time from Lotus, as I have never been able to communicate when they called me, so I have even more reason to have it in writing.
If its burried in the website somewhere, it hardly counts, it should be there in plain sight when you configure the car.
I expect any car I buy to come clean... no pun intended, but quite good that one.... and I dont expect to see any part of that singled out as a charge. As has been mentioned, it should all be in the initial cost.
I accept on the road costs, which could be delivery and road tax, fine, but again I agree, if I am going to Lotus to collect it then delivery should not be charged, but I more or less accept the 199 for the hassle of someone there having to dedicate an hour of their time to show me how to "use" the car and have what I hope is a very nice lunch, including desert dessert dessert. I would have paid 3/400 if it included 15 mins around the track at the same time.. not the same time as lunch as that wouldnt go down well, final pun to end with...
yes a bit aggressive this section ... we can all differ in opinions, but be polite at the same time

 

[Eagle7]

Just received a call from Lotus and feeling quite disgruntled. very fresh so perhaps I need time to dwell on the moment.


My July date communicated to me previously has been adjusted to August delivery at best. (Almost worth waiting for the September plate)

The Emira will be a hobby vehicle; this means here in the UK I will have limited driving usage in nice weather if I get it in August.

I have also been told there is a further £1045 fee to pay.

This fee covers

* Delivery to a dealer which is not exactly close (100 miles away),
* A valet which I'm fussy over who does this work,
* Number plates,
* A tank of fuel
* And what they call a pdi which amounts to a pre-delivery inspection.

Possibly being tight here but given they have received 5k for over a year ago now I'm of the opinion I'm getting the poke here.

They have informed the car will be moved to oxford before any of these things happen and so any movement of the car on a truck will be full of road grime anyway negating what is achieved on valet. The polite lady said it would be covered, but I also object to a cover fidgeting on the paintwork as it gets blown about at speed.

surely a pre-delivery inspection is normal business for newly manufactured cars!

How ownerous does a valet need to be on a new car? Agan should this normal business.


therefore plates and a tank of fuel sounds expensive

We have something like this in the U.S. and it's called the Destination Fee. It includes transportation from the POE (Port of Entry) to the dealer, and a full inspection which includes making sure all liquids are filled at correct levels, tire pressures are correct, no marks or damages anywhere, etc. and they do a full car wash. It also includes a full tank of gas. The price of gas here seems to be going up by the week, so it remains to be seen what the price is going to be by the time we get cars here in the U.S. We have to pay extra for sales tax, registration and license fees which are determined by the state and county you live in.

Covered delivery usually means an enclosed carrier here, not an open carrier and they put a car cover over the car. I'm having mine delivered enclosed, so I expect the price of that is going to go up by the time my car is available for delivery. I'm 500 miles away from the dealer I purchased from. Right now it's about $1,500, but if the price of diesel gas goes up to $10 a gallon that could push the cost over $2,000. I read where the gas stations in Washington are already reprogramming their pumps to add the extra digit. My dealer is in Washington.

So as much of a pain as it is, a destination fee or a version of it, is and has been standard for as long as I've been ordering cars, which is decades. It's not something new that Lotus has just made up.

 

[Daz]

I MAY be wrong, but I honestly dont recall seeing this cost or if I did, I casually forgot it, so you're right, not everyone knows about it. I have had an email each time from Lotus, as I have never been able to communicate when they called me, so I have even more reason to have it in writing.
If its burried in the website somewhere, it hardly counts, it should be there in plain sight when you configure the car.
I expect any car I buy to come clean... no pun intended, but quite good that one.... and I dont expect to see any part of that singled out as a charge. As has been mentioned, it should all be in the initial cost.
I accept on the road costs, which could be delivery and road tax, fine, but again I agree, if I am going to Lotus to collect it then delivery should not be charged, but I more or less accept the 199 for the hassle of someone there having to dedicate an hour of their time to show me how to "use" the car and have what I hope is a very nice lunch, including desert dessert dessert. I would have paid 3/400 if it included 15 mins around the track at the same time.. not the same time as lunch as that wouldnt go down well, final pun to end with...
yes a bit aggressive this section ... we can all differ in opinions, but be polite at the same time

Well said