UK test drive booking process

[TomE]

But if we have to have a Lotus chaperone with us then my other half can't be there to change over mid route. Unless I'm made aware of the route in advance and abandon her in a layby for a long wait....?

Good point, I'd forgotten they're all accompanied test drives. Handover in a layby or car park seems the only option, or a double booking - which is impossible with all the slots now taken.

 

[emiraspain]

But if we have to have a Lotus chaperone with us then my other half can't be there to change over mid route. Unless I'm made aware of the route in advance and abandon her in a layby for a long wait....?

I met my wife in a layby …. Just saying … don’t diss it haha

 

[Jon_N]

Well, it was “simple” until Lotus called me to say the garage I selected & booked yesterday was no longer part of the “test drive” process & suggesting I rebook for another garage 1 to 2 hour drive away!
Wrote back & said “you’re not Ferrari, I’m not travelling that far for a test drive”!

Final straw for me, utter incompetence….

 

[Leonard]

Well, it was “simple” until Lotus called me to say the garage I selected & booked yesterday was no longer part of the “test drive” process & suggesting I rebook for another garage 1 to 2 hour drive away!
Wrote back & said “you’re not Ferrari, I’m not travelling that far for a test drive”!

Final straw for me, utter incompetence….

What is that all about....
What dealer? Did they rage quit after having to jump through too many Lotus hoops

 

[Jon_N]

What is that all about....
What dealer? Did they rage quit after having to jump through too many Lotus hoops

Hendy Lotus in Poole…. no idea tbh… maybe Hendy has ditched the brand?…. They have plenty of other marques who don’t “deal direct” & cut them out of the process!

I’d decided I’d do the test drive & then decide, but I’ll now wait to see if any premium from flipping, else I’ll just cancel the order

 

[JohnHoward]

Well, it was “simple” until Lotus called me to say the garage I selected & booked yesterday was no longer part of the “test drive” process & suggesting I rebook for another garage 1 to 2 hour drive away!
Wrote back & said “you’re not Ferrari, I’m not travelling that far for a test drive”!

Final straw for me, utter incompetence….

Thats crazy. How on earth did Lotus include them on the list. It beggars belief how Lotus continue to make such basic mistakes and it seems makes no effort to improve. Do they not realise that all of our posts and comments will remain on the internet forever. Anyone new to the brand doing their homework by reading this forum will surely be horrified by their incompetence.
I am still waiting for a reply to my e.mail re auto test drives. I haven't driven a manual car for over 20 years and I am sure having to do so would spoil the test drive. I am not in a rush to test drive as there are many others with manual deliveries before me for whom test drives are becoming a matter of urgency. I do feel that as an V6 auto depositor that we are being ignored, Lotus could have easily avoided this by putting a line in the e.mail to say that auto test drives will be available in the New Year.

 

[First Lotus]

Thats crazy. How on earth did Lotus include them on the list. It beggars belief how Lotus continue to make such basic mistakes and it seems makes no effort to improve. Do they not realise that all of our posts and comments will remain on the internet forever. Anyone new to the brand doing their homework by reading this forum will surely be horrified by their incompetence.
I am still waiting for a reply to my e.mail re auto test drives. I haven't driven a manual car for over 20 years and I am sure having to do so would spoil the test drive. I am not in a rush to test drive as there are many others with manual deliveries before me for whom test drives are becoming a matter of urgency. I do feel that as an V6 auto depositor that we are being ignored, Lotus could have easily avoided this by putting a line in the e.mail to say that auto test drives will be available in the New Year.

If I thought there were choices for me, I'd have bailed by now. But I don't want a porsche (great cars, but too numerous) and I my main priority is looks (I know, so vain!) ... So really they've got me by the short and curlies!
Come on Lotus, keep all this incompetence coming... I'll still be your slave and wait for my car

 

[TomE]

Thats crazy. How on earth did Lotus include them on the list. It beggars belief how Lotus continue to make such basic mistakes and it seems makes no effort to improve. Do they not realise that all of our posts and comments will remain on the internet forever. Anyone new to the brand doing their homework by reading this forum will surely be horrified by their incompetence.
I am still waiting for a reply to my e.mail re auto test drives. I haven't driven a manual car for over 20 years and I am sure having to do so would spoil the test drive. I am not in a rush to test drive as there are many others with manual deliveries before me for whom test drives are becoming a matter of urgency. I do feel that as an V6 auto depositor that we are being ignored, Lotus could have easily avoided this by putting a line in the e.mail to say that auto test drives will be available in the New Year.

You’d think Auto vs Manual was an easy thing to handle in the emails.

They also haven’t published which dealers have Touring vs Sports, or which colours or leather vs alcantara etc. These are possible factors for people deciding where to test drive and whether to pop over to look at a static car at a dealership.

We’ve crowd-sourced the info on here. If you didn’t know about this place (yes there are some people ) you’d been in the dark about all that.

 

[Magicman]

Well, it was “simple” until Lotus called me to say the garage I selected & booked yesterday was no longer part of the “test drive” process & suggesting I rebook for another garage 1 to 2 hour drive away!
Wrote back & said “you’re not Ferrari, I’m not travelling that far for a test drive”!

Final straw for me, utter incompetence….

What a total circus, how has all this not made it into the mainstream motoring media? Might give them a wake up call if it did...
Or they might not care at all just relying on that ever depleting order book. At some point it will matter.

 

[Jon_N]

What a total circus, how has all this not made it into the mainstream motoring media? Might give them a wake up call if it did...
Or they might not care at all just relying on that ever depleting order book. At some point it will matter.

There’s enough diehard Lotus fans to buy what will be made. The issue is, for people like me, who come from other marques, we’ll vote with our feet & they miss a trick in terms of stepping into a new market.
I have a 911 C4 GTS coming in December & the service from my dealer is outstanding…. For example, I’ve just received an invite to Xmas drinks & a chance to view some classic 911’s & new GT cars. I can also send a message any time & take the demo for a weekend… no need to travel 2 hours for an accompanied 45 min drive!

 

[Davidexige]

Just noticed my local dealer now has dates available for Jan and Feb, this morning they only went up to the end of December.

 

[jimbobc]

Told CS I hadn't got the e-mail and they said it was sent yesterday to all deposit holder. I know that! That's why I am saying I didn't get it!

 

[Joel]

You should be able to do that within the constraints of your test drive slot, which probably means stopping part way along the designated route and changing drivers. I don't believe there is time to do the route twice in one slot. Otherwise you'll need to book a second session.

Dealers are today being passed details of who has booked when, so if you contact your test drive dealer They should be able to annotate it about the two drivers.

I managed to talk to them and they have said basically this, if I'm willing to take a shorter drive, they can also accommodate my partner. Lotus are giving a 20 mile limit per test drive so we would both have to fit within that. Also, even though the slots are scheduled as an hour, each one is 90 mins apart, so there's a little slack if you need just a touch more time

 

[Emira]

Wow this is shocking, still not received my test drive email and have been too busy today to call CS.

If my dealer (B&C) are booked up until Jan/Feb already then that's simply unacceptable from Lotus. I'll be calling them tomorrow and ensuring they do something about this.

 

[Billyidoliser]

Wow this shocking, still not received my test drive email and have been too busy today to call CS.

If my dealer B&C are booked up until Jan/Feb already then that's simply unacceptable from Lotus. I'll be calling them tomorrow and ensuring they do something about this.

Have seen more slots become available in the last half hour.... Now booking into January, hopes this helps?

 

[Blue97]

Have seen more slots become available in the last half hour.... Now booking into January, hopes this helps?

I think there have been as I just booked December Silverstone

 

[TomE]

What a total circus, how has all this not made it into the mainstream motoring media? Might give them a wake up call if it did...
Or they might not care at all just relying on that ever depleting order book. At some point it will matter.

I know some UK dealers have lists of over 1,000 people who want to test drive but haven't yet placed a deposit. Even at a very low conversion rate, that's potentially a lot of new orders to offset the people who might now drop out because of how they've been treated while waiting for the last 16+ months.

I don't think Lotus care if people drop out or are fed up, which is sad. It means people who might convert from other brands and buy an Emira and then EVs will go elsewhere. I don't think dealers care much either, because Lotus has taken so much away from them that they can't influence sales or overall customer experience very much. They're grateful to have long waiting lists for test drives and some decent cars to show people. Most have had high test drive to sales conversion rates in the past, so will be looking at an uptick in revenue now cars are at dealers and reaching customers.

 

[sam041]

Have seen more slots become available in the last half hour.... Now booking into January, hopes this helps?

Good spot, thanks. Just booked in for a test drive at lotus prestbury early Jan - additional availability has definitely been added

 

[Grumpy]

I’m a pre reveal by a few months - Manual. No test drive email, having been told I was locked in ,now shifted back to January “estimate, subject to change’ - just awful process. I accept delays but not regular completely misleading information.

 

[ADC]

Seeing as there seems to be more availability popping up, I guess I don't need to "save" a slot for some poor bugger here. Last call if anyone here wants a 12 midday spot at Rybrook Bristol on December 12th.
I'll wait a couple of hours before I throw it back to the internet-piranhas.