Southern California?

[vantage]

Out of curiosity, is anyone paying MSRP for an FE at Galpin? It's sort of water under the bridge now, but curious to see if they have honored that for anyone or whether they are just trying to move all their FE deposit holders to the base list.

I suppose we may not truly know the answer to this question until Galpin actually sells an FE to a deposit holder.

 

[morphious]

I didn't have a good experience with Galpin either. Felt like they were / are playing games to basically get out of having to sell cars to deposit holders at MSRP. Many other Lotus dealers were openly promising MSRP and would have been a better choice from both a price and timing perspective.

My Galpin history:
- I placed a deposit on July 1, 2022, before the Emira was even shown to the public. Was told it would be for MSRP. Salesperson told me I was around #4 or 5 on the list.

- When I got the call from the manager (Ivan) with some news in February 2022, I was told I didn't make the cut for FE by one spot and was actually around #40 (might have been around 25, but I have to check my notes later). So they claim to have gotten 39 deposits for the Emira before me and before the car was even shown to the public. Okay, let's say I believe that these 39 customers are real deposits and not fillers so that Galpin could say they have more demand . . .

- On the same February 2022 call, I was told that if they get more FE allocations, those would be sold for over MSRP and that I would not move up the list even one spot to get an FE. This jives with what people are saying having been offered an FE at $20k. When I wrote the manager an email memorializing that I was skipped over and that they were offering me the #1 non-FE, the manager refused to confirm that in writing and wanted to talk on the phone. So I finally call him and he doesn't respond for a while. Writes me back saying that he understood I wanted a non-FE / base all along, which is not what I had said.

Similar antics are being played by dealers for other marques too these days. But this left a bad taste in my mouth because it wasn't what I understood going into the deposit. At least when another dealer tells you that you aren't getting a car without $XX ADM, that is straightforward and direct, not bait and switch. And frankly, I am not sure the Lotus brand can withstand this kind of customer service when there is already other baggage involved in choosing Lotus over something else.

Ultimately, I ended up sticking with my GT4, especially given (1) hassle of dealing with Galpin and (2) now having to pay a much higher price for the same car because they wouldn't sell me an FE, and (3) unknown release date of base model.

Anyway, my personal take is to avoid Galpin. If you are on their list, confirm every little thing in writing and get it signed by Galpin.

Out of curiosity, is anyone paying MSRP for an FE at Galpin? It's sort of water under the bridge now, but curious to see if they have honored that for anyone or whether they are just trying to move all their FE deposit holders to the base list.

I suppose we may not truly know the answer to this question until Galpin actually sells an FE to a deposit holder.

Not sure how Galpin decided the order of their list honestly. I was always under the impression from day 1 with them that I was only placing a deposit for a build allocation reservation with no guarantee of Edition. I have email confirmation from them that; "We will not charge a mark up on regular orders. (Special Editions are excluded)" My assumption is that every FE from Galpin will have ADM and my thought is that they collected all the orders to get a baseline for demand which possibly in return contributed to how many FE's they are getting. Once they had an allocation number of FE's, they ran down the list and offered FE's to people and whomever said yes to ADM got one and those that said no were placed on the non-ADM Base list. This is of course all only my 2cents and I have nothing to base this off of except reading what people have said.

 

[981KMAN]

Reading these Deposit Issues and have a question..... When you made the deposit with Galpin, did it not come with a written contract stating all the terms, price, refund options, etc...?

Both Lotus Atlanta & Lotus Naples sent me written contracts to review, clearly stating all terms of the Deposit. I assume Galpin or other Dealers in CA did not do this??

Thanks for any clairification.

 

[vantage]

Not sure how Galpin decided the order of their list honestly. I was always under the impression from day 1 with them that I was only placing a deposit for a build allocation reservation with no guarantee of Edition. I have email confirmation from them that; "We will not charge a mark up on regular orders. (Special Editions are excluded)" My assumption is that every FE from Galpin will have ADM and my thought is that they collected all the orders to get a baseline for demand which possibly in return contributed to how many FE's they are getting. Once they had an allocation number of FE's, they ran down the list and offered FE's to people and whomever said yes to ADM got one and those that said no were placed on the non-ADM Base list. This is of course all only my 2cents and I have nothing to base this off of except reading what people have said.

When did you place your deposit? Definitely plausible that what you state is how they are running their list, but that is totally inconsistent with everything they told me at time of my deposit.

Reading these Deposit Issues and have a question..... When you made the deposit with Galpin, did it not come with a written contract stating all the terms, price, refund options, etc...?

Both Lotus Atlanta & Lotus Naples sent me written contracts to review, clearly stating all terms of the Deposit. I assume Galpin or other Dealers in CA did not do this??

Can't speak to others in CA, but in July 2021, Galpin would only provide a web portal to pay the deposit and so I had to email my salesperson concurrently with my understanding of what the deposit was for.

When I got my GT4 @ MSRP the writing I made at the time of my deposit definitely helped.

 

[2BIG2FAIL]

Out of curiosity, is anyone paying MSRP for an FE at Galpin? It's sort of water under the bridge now, but curious to see if they have honored that for anyone or whether they are just trying to move all their FE deposit holders to the base list.

I suppose we may not truly know the answer to this question until Galpin actually sells an FE to a deposit holder.

I just placed my order for a I4 FE at Galpin. I deposited late 2022, and at the time, I was assured no ADM. This happened over the phone. Reading this thread, this has me slightly concerned. I don’t have any backup in writing supporting the deposit at MSRP, but haven’t been notified anything about any potential ADM. I just emailed the sales rep to confirm. Selfishly hoping this is just a V6 issue…

EDIT: Within a few minutes of asking, I am confirmed for MSRP for an I4 FE @ Galpin.

 

[morphious]

Reading these Deposit Issues and have a question..... When you made the deposit with Galpin, did it not come with a written contract stating all the terms, price, refund options, etc...?

Both Lotus Atlanta & Lotus Naples sent me written contracts to review, clearly stating all terms of the Deposit. I assume Galpin or other Dealers in CA did not do this??

Thanks for any clairification.

Nothing written, I was always under the assumption I was only making a deposit of "YES, I WANT AN EMIRA." I personally was never influenced, made to believe, think, told, mislead into believing, or anything else that may or may not be misconstrued as you are getting a FE. I ALWAYS knew I made a deposit for a V6 Manual Emira base or otherwise, I knew I was getting one before they showed up on dealer's lots. I have no issues being transparent, besides my private information or giving to much detail, here is what I received for my $5k (haven't paid another cent since) deposit:

When did you place your deposit? Definitely plausible that what you state is how they are running their list, but that is totally inconsistent with everything they told me at time of my deposit.



Can't speak to others in CA, but in July 2021, Galpin would only provide a web portal to pay the deposit and so I had to email my salesperson concurrently with my understanding of what the deposit was for.

When I got my GT4 @ MSRP the writing I made at the time of my deposit definitely helped.

I did place my deposit after you. I obviously have no idea of your discussions with them nor is it any of my business. For me personally, I feel Galpin has been honest and forth coming with me about everything up front and things I have communicated with them since.

 

[vantage]

Galpin said they don’t have many i4 deposits so I imagine the market opportunity to charge ADM isn’t there frankly.

And I don’t give any kudos for charging only MSRP for base V6 editions because that’s where they are pushing early depositors who they are shafting. And plus there is no ADM market for those cars currently since they are 2024 deliveries at best.

 

[2BIG2FAIL]

Galpin said they don’t have many i4 deposits so I imagine the market opportunity to charge ADM isn’t there frankly.

They told me at the time of deposit (Dec 2022) that they had about 300 for the 6 cylinder and 60 for the 4 cylinder. I said this another thread, but given how late I deposited, I am assuming that the I4 list has been absolutely destroyed by the price hikes.

 

[morphious]

Maybe the problem here in NA is that this car is called FE. In the UK, there was "no limit" on FE's, they were simply the first edition of a specific vehicle. Here in NA, there were originally only 700 FE's that were going to be issued, now with 2.0 another 600? Maybe for us NA people, they should have called it LOTUS EMIRA V6 FE LAUNCH Edition???

 

[Balboa]

I had my deposit with Galpin since Oct of 21. Took my deposit away and placed it with Naples in FL. Galpin wanted 20K DMU/ADM on top of MSRP (which I thought was ironic when they said that only FE's get the "lower price") Talked to the sales, and they told me base editions will not have any ADM. However, base editions will not be ordered until all the FE/FE 2.0's are out of the way. So waiting in line for a base edition is the same as waiting in line for an i4: There is no wait list, just they'll build it based upon your deposit with lotus themselves accordingly.

Then I thought about it: Lotus of Galpin is likely holding on to over 100 deposits of 5K. That's a minimum of 500,000.00 They put that money in a bank earning themselves a sweet 4.0%+ APY and that's a free 20K for every year that Lotus doesn't deliver. (or an extra 1.7k monthly). They're the winners here. Imagine if they had 200-300 deposits... Sitting on top of that mountain of cash accumulating interests FOR THEM not us.... Hoping that Lotus will just push it back one more year... And then slapping a ADM on top of that... Just a thought...

You should have kept your deposit w Galpin for an FE 2.0 and ordered an auto in the most hideous clashing configuration possible, then walked away w your $5K deposit. Good luck to them then trying to put a $20K ADM on it.

 

[morphious]

I would be nervous about having my car transported.

 

[idleuser]

Not only Socal dealer, Los Gatos is also playing games with my deposit. They said I was 22/22 for FE 1.0. That came and went and then some how I became #11 inline for the next batch.. Still no calls or updates yet. At this rate, I will probably wait for a cancel order or a base edition or deal with a more honest dealer. I've already waited 2 years (soon to be 3 years) and my enthusiasm for this car has gone down quite a bit. My theory is that they have been offering up FE deposit for ADM and those who are willing to pay can jump the line.

 

[morphious]

Not only Socal dealer, Los Gatos is also playing games with my deposit. They said I was 22/22 for FE 1.0. That came and went and then some how I became #11 inline for the next batch.. Still no calls or updates yet. At this rate, I will probably wait for a cancel order or a base edition or deal with a more honest dealer. I've already waited 2 years (soon to be 3 years) and my enthusiasm for this car has gone down quite a bit. My theory is that they have been offering up FE deposit for ADM and those who are willing to pay can jump the line.

For us NA buyers, I feel this is CAPITALISM at it's best, maybe worst. Except for a very FEW if only a couple of Direct-To-Consumer vehicles, we are all at the "OWNERS" of a private business = dealers doing the best for their customers, but not before lining their pockets beckoning. I was, back in the day looking at opening a dealership, sure there are somethings a manufacturer can say what can and can't be done, but NONE of them are going to give a rats behind if you can't keep the lights on at your dealership.

 

[kin]

Yeah Galpin was super shady when I tried dealing with them a while ago - for those who already have deposits/paid ADM it's too late but for those thinking about them, I would not recommend. Disrespectful, did not care at all when I called, all around shady. Avoid.

I went all the way to Boardwalk and the two guys there are amazing, absolute class acts - promised MSRP, and no additional deposit required for build lock-in either.

 

[morphious]

Yeah Galpin was super shady when I tried dealing with them a while ago - for those who already have deposits/paid ADM it's too late but for those thinking about them, I would not recommend. Disrespectful, did not care at all when I called, all around shady. Avoid.

I went all the way to Boardwalk and the two guys there are amazing, absolute class acts - promised MSRP, and no additional deposit required for build lock-in either.

I, find it strange that anybody would call Galpin shady. I could care less, but I don't feel I was ever lied too nor promised something I wasn't, and as I have posted before, I have a locked in order:

 

[idleuser]

I, find it strange that anybody would call Galpin shady. I could care less, but I don't feel I was ever lied too nor promised something I wasn't, and as I have posted before, I have a locked in order:

View attachment 29927View attachment 29927

This is a case of "I've got mines" It's a known fact that Galpin was shopping around for 10K ADM for FE slots.

 

[morphious]

This is a case of "I've got mines" It's a known fact that Galpin was shopping around for 10K ADM for FE slots.

OK... More so if this was a "known fact" then nobody should be upset over it. There were many there at Galpin's Emira reveal event night salivating about being one of the first to get the car and then turning right around and flipping it, so? I guess, "I've got mines" and I don't care about anybody else, nor does anybody else care about me. My only point of all this is that I have never felt lied to or deceived by them.

 

[vantage]

I’m confused. Your order form with lotus shows you got an FE. So are you in fact getting an FE for MSRP? Your earlier post suggested the answer was no.

I don’t have any problem with any dealer being up front about their ADM intention or skipping people in line. That’s not what happened with Galpin for me and others.

 

[morphious]

@vantage YES I am getting a V6 FE, YES I am paying ADM, YES I always knew there would be ADM on V6 FE's and MSRP for base models. Again the only point I was trying to make is they have always been open and transparent with ME. I cannot speak for anything or anyone else, I am only expressing my personal dealings with Galpin.

 

[vantage]

@vantage YES I am getting an V6 FE, YES I am paying ADM, YES I always knew there would be ADM on V6 FE's and MSRP for base models. Again the only point I was trying to make is they have always been open and transparent with ME. I cannot speak for anything or anyone else, I am only expressing my personal dealings with Galpin.

Understood. It’s great that they decided to be honest once they started openly asking for adm. I’m guessing your interactions with them were after the car was revealed, and the demand was apparent.

Unfortunately, your dealings just prove that they skipped over me and other people that were earlier depositors.