Poll for Those with Paint Blistering / Bubbling Defect

[m30rpg]

So cars booked in 29th July, first service £430 and then getting both doors replaced for the blistering. Also had quote for the car getting paint correction and ceramic coated again and lotus have agreed to cover cost and pay invoice issued to them.

Car likely be with them 1-2 weeks and been provided a courtesy car as well for the hassle

All in all top service any time been a issue with them

 

[MIGZ]

Is lotus blending the new doors or just straight replacement ?

 

[m30rpg]

Is lotus blending the new doors or just straight replacement ?

Straight replacement and explained my reason why wouldn’t accept anything else from them

 

[MIGZ]

Straight replacement and explained my reason why wouldn’t accept anything else from them

got it, my thought was just to make sure the paint matched.

 

[freefall_junkie]

Straight replacement and explained my reason why wouldn’t accept anything else from them

Are Lotus now taking cars back to the factory for this work or is it being done by a local bodyshop?

 

[m30rpg]

Are Lotus now taking cars back to the factory for this work or is it being done by a local bodyshop?

Doors being shipped up to dealership and replaced onsite by them at their body shop

 

[freefall_junkie]

Doors being shipped up to dealership and replaced onsite by them at their body shop

I see you're from Edinburgh so I guess this is Lotus Glasgow? Good that they can do the repair in house. Please keep us posted on the outcome.

As an aside we should arrange an East of Scotland Emira meet up sometime. I'm based just south of Edinburgh.

 

[freefall_junkie]

The only information I’ve had is that it seems to be affecting early Emiras. This is from 2 separate dealerships. How true that is

The poll here also shows issues with later cars, albeit it much smaller numbers. Could just be that the issue hasn’t had enough time to surface on newer cars, could be that it’s “fixed”.

I also noted that Lotus offers a 5 year warranty on paint, so at least there is plenty of time for issues to surface before it’s out of warranty.

Quick update on this. Lotus CS have just told me the paint warranty is 3 years, not 5. The extended warranty specifically excludes paint, so if anyone gets the blisters after 3 years you are on your own facing big bills.

 

[Gooner]

Quick update on this. Lotus CS have just told me the paint warranty is 3 years, not 5. The extended warranty specifically excludes paint, so if anyone gets the blisters after 3 years you are on your own facing big bills.

Very surprised by this. The website clearly states it's 5 years.

Detail can be found here - https://www.lotuscars.com/en-GB/lotus-warranty/emira

Below is a screen print from the above link (which is the GB site). Would be great to get a definitive on this as 3 years for the paint given the issues we are seeing would be enough to put me off a purchase (although clearly too late for me now )!

 

[freefall_junkie]

Very surprised by this. The website clearly states it's 5 years.

Detail can be found here - https://www.lotuscars.com/en-GB/lotus-warranty/emira

Below is a screen print from the above link (which is the GB site). Would be great to get a definitive on this as 3 years for the paint given the issues we are seeing would be enough to put me off a purchase (although clearly too late for me now )!



View attachment 47063

I have replied to CS pointing out the discrepancy between their response and what is explicitly stated on the website. Will update when I get a reply.

 

[Go Kart]

I thought I read that the 5 year warranty only applies in the UK. The U.S. market only has the 3 year warranty on paint.

 

[CaptJack]

So far from the POLL data, it appears that the paint blistering/bubbling is confined to early manufactured Emiras....

Sorry for anyone to have this issue, yet good news for those with later manufactured cars....

Thanks to those who took the POLL.

Hi - can you upload some good examples of blistering so the rest of us can understand exactly where and how this issue manifests itself. I have a Nimbus and tan and like others wonder how they can match the rest of the body.

 

[SJones]

Hi - can you upload some good examples of blistering so the rest of us can understand exactly where and how this issue manifests itself. I have a Nimbus and tan and like others wonder how they can match the rest of the body.

I decided to contact Lotus directly to find out what actions had been taken regarding this problem. Here is the intell I received. “ Modified Doors have been fitted at production since 14-06-2023. The way to identify if there are the later spec doors is to check the primer on the inside of the doors, to see if it’s Black/Blue is correct. If it’s white it’s the old spec door.” Not wanting to remove the door cards (and break most of the clips) I put the car in a dark garage, rolled down the windows and looked through a gap near the front of the door around the glass with a strong flashlight. Everything looked dark, no white viable, although verdant green is pretty dark anyway. I then removed the engine covers and looked into the inner sides of the rear fenders but those had white visible in areas that the dark green overspray hadn't covered. I noticed that there is a longitudinal stiffener inside the rear fender that looks like it could potentially trap moisture, but I haven’t heard where exactly the bubbles form in the rear fenders. Another curiosity is an apparent square void at the very top of the rear fender liners where two pieces come together- in rainy weather spray would come through into the backside of the fender and the side of the engine area, but the hole looks intentional. It’s not large, maybe 3/8 of an inch per side- just unexpected

 

[Foxy87]

So the question is do we have people with cars newer then 14.06.23? The poll says yes, so…

 

[Gooner]

So the question is do we have people with cars newer then 14.06.23? The poll says yes, so…

What we don’t know from the poll is where the blistering was. Could be rear fenders on those with a later date (but could also be the doors!).

Is anyone able to confirm how long they have been waiting on a passenger door to come into stock in the UK (or did wait assuming the door has now been replaced)? My service centre has a drivers door good to go but the passenger one is on back order and they have no idea when it will be available. Emails to Lotus CS asking the question have remained unanswered (unsurprisingly…..).

 

[Speedy Emira]

I thought I read that the 5 year warranty only applies in the UK. The U.S. market only has the 3 year warranty on paint.

I asked the dealer today and they confirmed the paint warranty is 5 years.

 

[freefall_junkie]

Very surprised by this. The website clearly states it's 5 years.

Detail can be found here - https://www.lotuscars.com/en-GB/lotus-warranty/emira

Below is a screen print from the above link (which is the GB site). Would be great to get a definitive on this as 3 years for the paint given the issues we are seeing would be enough to put me off a purchase (although clearly too late for me now )!



View attachment 47063

I queried this with CS and they have told me definitively that according to their warranty department the paint warranty is 3 years, not 5, and that the website is wrong.

So what do you think? A genuine mistake on the website? Or some serious backtracking given the number of cars with paint blisters and the escalating warranty costs?

 

[Nick in Sydney]

I queried this with CS and they have told me definitively that according to their warranty department the paint warranty is 3 years, not 5, and that the website is wrong.

So what do you think? A genuine mistake on the website? Or some serious backtracking given the number of cars with paint blisters and the escalating warranty costs?

A lawyer would have a field day with this. It's in plain English on their website and has been for a couple of years. They can't suddenly claim it was a typo.

Paint
In addition to the basic warranty, the paint of your Emira is covered for 5 years, regardless of how much you drive.