V6 Autobox News

[Dommo]

Are you just trying to wind up @AudR8

Well she did call the Yaris ugly (and I have one too!) But it's a real thing in my email

 

[emiraspain]

Well she did call the Yaris ugly (and I have one too!) But it's a real thing in my email

in that case she's not for Leonard, shes more for me.. it is ugly..... its a toyotaaaaaa haha

 

[Dommo]

in that case she's not for Leonard, shes more for me.. it is ugly..... its a toyotaaaaaa haha

Ahh, but being a Toyota it comes with a 10 year warrantee, so it should just see me by until the Emira arrives!

 

[BeHappy]

Ahh, but being a Toyota it comes with a 10 year warrantee, so it should just see me by until the Emira arrives!

I actually found this out today - couldn’t believe it - that is good isn’t it. I’ve never owned a Toyota - I once demo the Celica as was going to get one but thought performance was lacking, so didn’t get one lol

 

[Leonard]

I actually found this out today - couldn’t believe it - that is good isn’t it. I’ve never owned a Toyota - I once demo the Celica as was going to get one but thought performance was lacking, so didn’t get one lol

10 year guarantee. £25 a month service plan....
Did you like it?

 

[Dommo]

I actually found this out today - couldn’t believe it - that is good isn’t it. I’ve never owned a Toyota - I once demo the Celica as was going to get one but thought performance was lacking, so didn’t get one lol

Yeah, it's amazing! Particularly for performance cars that will invariably get a thrashing

 

[petermal57]

News of the news....delivery Date FE V6 Auto.. 1.Quartal 2023
Payment 10. Juli 2021…Hope the very best…until then…

 

[JohnHoward]

It seems that UK Type Approval for the V6 auto is not granted yet as it is still not possible to get V6 auto insurance quotes through comparison sites. The only explanation for this is that Type Approval is not granted at this point in time.

I have e.mailed Customer Services to ask them about progress with this and I will share the answer on this thread when I hear back from them.

 

[Nova]

What is type approval, for the benefit of us non-Brits?

 

[Duncx]

It seems that UK Type Approval for the V6 auto is not granted yet as it is still not possible to get V6 auto insurance quotes through comparison sites. The only explanation for this is that Type Approval is not granted at this point in time.

Lack of Type Approval is not the only possible explanation - Lotus may have simply 'forgotten' to tell them (and Thatcham) about the Auto.
Check out my post on page 3 of this thread regarding the V6S Exige Auto - exactly the same scenario

EDIT: Sorry John, I can see that you replied to my page 3 post so you've obviously seen it! Did I send you the contact for Thatcham, I can't remember?

 

[JohnHoward]

What is type approval, for the benefit of us non-Brits?

It is also referred to as homologation. I'm not sure if that is a term used in the US, but the definition is the granting of approval by an official body. So in other words, it is the process required to ensure that a vehicle adheres to the relevant laws of the land and in the UK it also includes verification of emissions and these are used to determine tax rates (vehicle excise duty in the UK).

Now that the UK has left the EU, the UK process is separate from the EU and this seems to have caught Lotus out last year with the manual version and a bit of a last minute scramble that was discussed in these forums. The cut off date for all the changes could catch Lotus out again with the V6 auto, but I won't go into detail here as I am hoping that won't become a problem, but my personal view is that a risk remains, although I would hope that someone in Lotus has gone through the same thought process as me!

As the V6 auto is sufficiently different in terms of powertrain and emissions, it needs separate approval from the manual car to satisfy the UK authorities. I would expect that this would be the case worldwide.

 

[JohnHoward]

Lack of Type Approval is not the only possible explanation - Lotus may have simply 'forgotten' to tell them (and Thatcham) about the Auto.
Check out my post on page 3 of this thread regarding the V6S Exige Auto - exactly the same scenario

Good point! They do have history in this regard as you very correctly point out. They certainly didn't have approval for the V6 auto late last year when I did a lot of investigation around this. I have contacted Lotus today directly to ask them the question and will share their answer as soon as I receive it.

 

[kbhoz]

Hmm, I got this from Lotus Cars Australia a few days ago in relation to my V6 Auto.

"Your car is currently scheduled for completion in Q2 2023 (Apr-Jun). I anticipate shipping times of between 50-60 days on average (depending on where you are located) which means you could anticipate a delivery window within Q3 2023 (Jul-Sep).I must caveat this with the obvious statement that the production plans we are provided are always subject to change due to supply chain and workforce impacts that are out of our control."

So at this stage I am believing the local team that they have approvals sorted as that is not "supply chain and workforce" related.
The comms for LCA has been pretty good, not the news I wanted to hear but that's not their fault. I have sympathy for the dealer as car dealers need to sell cars to keep the business viable and they haven't has too many new cars in the last year.

Hopefully they will surprise me and it will arrive early. Ordered 10/07/21.

 

[JohnHoward]

It seems that UK Type Approval for the V6 auto is not granted yet as it is still not possible to get V6 auto insurance quotes through comparison sites. The only explanation for this is that Type Approval is not granted at this point in time.

I have e.mailed Customer Services to ask them about progress with this and I will share the answer on this thread when I hear back from them.

I am still waiting for an answer to my e.mail that I sent on 12/1/23. I appreciate that they don't like being asked about Type Approval from previous experience and it seems that they feel ignoring me is the best policy. I hope that if we find that we have issues with our cars when we receive them and have to contact Customer Care, that this policy is not adopted in these circumstances also.

 

[DJS]

I am still waiting for an answer to my e.mail that I sent on 12/1/23. I appreciate that they don't like being asked about Type Approval from previous experience and it seems that they feel ignoring me is the best policy. I hope that if we find that we have issues with our cars when we receive them and have to contact Customer Care, that this policy is not adopted in these circumstances also.

On the online chat customer service told me last week that type approval is complete for the V6 auto, its still not showing up on the car insurance sites.

You would think type approval is complete as V6 auto depositors on here have received their protect emails options already.

 

[JohnHoward]

On the online chat customer service told me last week that type approval is complete for the V6 auto, its still not showing up on the car insurance sites.

You would think type approval is complete as V6 auto depositors on here have received their protect emails options already.

This post is UK specific, other countries/territories will vary according to local regulations.
That is great news, I wonder why they didn't reply to me.
Once Lotus have Type Approval granted by the Vehicle Certification Agency, Lotus have to notify Thatcham (the car safety and security company) who hold the contract to load the information onto the insurance databases. So the process relies on someone at Lotus contacting the relevant person at Thatcham. As @Duncx noted, Lotus actually forget to do this with the V6S Auto Exige and this created a problem for buyers as they couldn't get their new cars insured because according to the insurers they didn't exist.
So it could simply be timing and the message being sent to Thatcham and then being acted on. There is one person at Thtacham who has the responsibility for the task, so if they are away from the office, busy with other things etc. I guess it gets done when it gets done.
@Duncx, yes I have the details thanks.
I will ask Lotus to answer my question and ask them why they did not answer. I will post their reply for info on this thread.

 

[Tonygcar]

My Emira which is an auto, is a march build April delivery and I check out the insurance sites most days but no type approval yet as pic NO AUTO in the drop down selection box. I got a few months, Please Lotus pull your finger out

 

[JohnHoward]

My Emira which is an auto, is a march build April delivery and I check out the insurance sites most days but no type approval yet as pic. I got a few months, Please Lotus pull your finger out

Same for me March build, April delivery, also auto.

 

[DJS]

Just a heads up to inform you my Auto V6 April build May delivery has now moved forward a month so the same is likely for everyone else.

Again I was told this on the chat option on the Lotus website, no email of course.

 

[CDM1855]

Just a heads up to inform you my Auto V6 April build May delivery has now moved forward a month so the same is likely for everyone else.

Again I was told this on the chat option on the Lotus website, no email of course

That’s positive, sounds like we will see some Auto’s in the next month or two