Wiper speed issue

[CDM1855]

My wiper problem has been fixed by my lotus service centre. There were a few things that Lotus needed to do to the car as part of a service campaign.

I never drove the car on auto wipers before, but I drove a couple of days ago with it raining quite heavily and it adjusted fine in auto mode

 

[Briggo]

Also had the same email from Caffyns Lotus in Asford today and had my Emira since March.

 

[donskibeat]

Just wondering - if you did factory collection (as I did) and didn't actually deal with a dealer I wonder who contacts you to arrange safety related recalls fixes such as the wiper motor? as if relying on LCC to do it then I suspect it could be a long wait! as had car since Feb so before the above people who are getting contacted and not heard a thing about any of the recall fixes so far.......

 

[CDM1855]

Just wondering - if you did factory collection (as I did) and didn't actually deal with a dealer I wonder who contacts you to arrange safety related recalls fixes such as the wiper motor? as if relying on LCC to do it then I suspect it could be a long wait! as had car since Feb so before the above people who are getting contacted and not heard a thing about any of the recall fixes so far.......

I was having a chat with Stratton motors about something else, and they said my VIN was showing up as needing some updates

 

[donskibeat]

I was having a chat with Stratton motors about something else, and they said my VIN was showing up as needing some updates

Yes that would be the dealer I would go too as just down the road, but I have never been in contact with them yet, so they have no knowledge of me or my car, hence question as to who would ever contact me to tell me about the safety issues, as if it wasn't for being on this forum then I would never know about them in first place.

 

[CDM1855]

Yes that would be the dealer I would go too as just down the road, but I have never been in contact with them yet, so they have no knowledge of me or my car, hence question as to who would ever contact me to tell me about the safety issues, as if it wasn't for being on this forum then I would never know about them in first place.

They only know about me and my car because I had a steering pump failure when I picked it up from the factory, and I ended up at Stratton motors on the third day of ownership replacing the pump

 

[GAVLA]

Just wondering - if you did factory collection (as I did) and didn't actually deal with a dealer I wonder who contacts you to arrange safety related recalls fixes such as the wiper motor? as if relying on LCC to do it then I suspect it could be a long wait! as had car since Feb so before the above people who are getting contacted and not heard a thing about any of the recall fixes so far.......

That's a good point! I opted to collect from my local dealership who have been good at keeping me updated. For all those owners that opted for factory collection who's making sure that you're 'in the know'?

 

[donskibeat]

They only know about me and my car because I had a steering pump failure when I picked it up from the factory, and I ended up at Stratton motors on the third day of ownership replacing the pump

You would think Lotus would automatically notify dealers for all factory collected cars, I know at one point during the checkout process they did email me and ask who my preferred dealer would be, I had assumed that was perhaps so they could pass on details to them to make contact, but this never happened.

 

[CDM1855]

You would think Lotus would automatically notify dealers for all factory collected cars, I know at one point during the checkout process they did email me and ask who my preferred dealer would be, I had assumed that was perhaps so they could pass on details to them to make contact, but this never happened.

I think that unless you proactively contact a dealer, they may just wait until the first annual service to do it. But I think some of the updates they needed to do are quite serious in terms of safety. Not going to get into them here because they may only affect certain cars.

 

[donskibeat]

I think that unless you proactively contact a dealer, they may just wait until the first annual service to do it. But I think some of the updates they needed to do are quite serious in terms of safety. Not going to get into them here because they may only affect certain cars.

Yes it was the serious safety ones which made me post the question to be honest, never ever bought a car directly from manufacturer before and certainly never factory collected one, so used to having dealer or even manufacturers being quite proactive about making contact when any safety recalls needed to be done, especially if serious ones. Something else Lotus might need to work on!

 

[JohnHoward]

10 week wait for me to get my car looked at, booked at beginning of June appointment is mid August for creaking noise and wiper issue. I am reluctant to use the car now if there is any chance of rain for fear of prosecution as I would knowingly be driving a vehicle with defective windscreen wipers. I can't understand why there is no official safety recall.
I did get caught out last week in heavy rain, it is extremely dangerous and terrifying for your passenger!

 

[CDM1855]

10 week wait for me to get my car looked at, booked at beginning of June appointment is mid August for creaking noise and wiper issue. I am reluctant to use the car now if there is any chance of rain for fear of prosecution as I would knowingly be driving a vehicle with defective windscreen wipers. I can't understand why there is no official safety recall.
I did get caught out last week in heavy rain, it is extremely dangerous and terrifying for your passenger!

That’s very poor, I don’t blame you avoiding using the car, especially if there’s predicted heavy downpour

In the few times I had a bit of rain and I used the wipers manually, they seemed to be okay, so there was no real danger.

But my understanding is that if you made the mistake of putting them into auto mode, then you could end up in trouble if it did start raining heavily because you couldn’t revert back to manual

 

[JohnHoward]

That’s very poor, I don’t blame you avoiding using the car, especially if there’s predicted heavy downpour

In the few times I had a bit of rain and I used the wipers manually, they seemed to be okay, so there was no real danger.

But my understanding is that if you made the mistake of putting them into auto mode, then you could end up in trouble if it did start raining heavily because you couldn’t revert back to manual

I find with mine that they will work at double speed immediatley after start up and if you switch them to single or off (trying to avoid the auto setting as you switch through), they just work in a not quite single speed mode thereafter, there is a hesitation between sweeps and it doesn't matter if they are set to single or double. The auto sensing doesn't work at all once it has gone into "slow motion mode".
When I got caught out last week, I was on a rural road and the heavens opened unexpectedly and there was nowhere to pull in and visibility went to zero for me, I had to slow right down which did not go down well with the cars behind me! They were probably wondering why that idiot in front doesn't put his wipers on faster! I am sure that if a Police car had been behind me, they would have pulled me over and I would be in trouble for knowingly driving a defective vehicle.

 

[Concept24]

If your wipers failed for the first time at that moment, or 2 weeks ago, who would the police know? They'd have a weak case against you, IMO.

 

[TomE]

You would think Lotus would automatically notify dealers for all factory collected cars, I know at one point during the checkout process they did email me and ask who my preferred dealer would be, I had assumed that was perhaps so they could pass on details to them to make contact, but this never happened.

For home delivered and factory collected cars, LCC should have asked you as part of Checkout to nominate a servicing dealer. In theory they are then notified.

I say in theory, because I know several dealers who weren’t notified about home deliveries in Dec, Jan and Feb and only found out when the owners got in touch about issues.

The notification process may have been sorted by now, but I’d be inclined to contact your local dealer and tell them the VIN and your contact details. They can run a check to find out what service bulletins are relevant for the car.

 

[JimH]

For home delivered and factory collected cars, LCC should have asked you as part of Checkout to nominate a servicing dealer. In theory they are then notified.

I say in theory, because I know several dealers who weren’t notified about home deliveries in Dec, Jan and Feb and only found out when the owners got in touch about issues.

The notification process may have been sorted by now, but I’d be inclined to contact your local dealer and tell them the VIN and your contact details. They can run a check to find out what service bulletins are relevant for the car.

Except that you can’t nominate Stratton Motor Company (and probably others similar) as they’re a service agent only - “My Lotus” doesn’t list them as an option, even though the main website does…..

 

[JohnHoward]

If your wipers failed for the first time at that moment, or 2 weeks ago, who would the police know? They'd have a weak case against you, IMO.

I wouldn't like to chance it to be honest. I can't understand why Lotus have not contacted owners with a recall notice or some kind of advice or official notification. I do wonder how they are getting away with knowingly allowing people to drive cars with dangerous defects. The dealerships know about the vehicles affected and my dealer has confirmed my car is on the list, but that was only after I contacted them to get it booked in for the creaking noise and I asked them if they could fix the wipers at the same time. If I had not been proactive about it, nothing would have happened, perhaps until the first service.
At the end of the day it is a continuation of the shambles that was the whole buying experience. But unfortunately, if you want an Emira, you have to be prepared to put up with all the nonsense that goes with it.

 

[Concept24]

I wouldn't like to chance it to be honest. I can't understand why Lotus have not contacted owners with a recall notice or some kind of advice or official notification. I do wonder how they are getting away with knowingly allowing people to drive cars with dangerous defects. The dealerships know about the vehicles affected and my dealer has confirmed my car is on the list, but that was only after I contacted them to get it booked in for the creaking noise and I asked them if they could fix the wipers at the same time. If I had not been proactive about it, nothing would have happened, perhaps until the first service.
At the end of the day it is a continuation of the shambles that was the whole buying experience. But unfortunately, if you want an Emira, you have to be prepared to put up with all the nonsense that goes with it.

My first new car was a 2001 Corvette (5th year of that generation). Over the years, I became more and more aggravated at quality issues that should've been fixed long before.
I live 80 miles from the closest Lotus dealership and am getting very hesitant about pushing the go button. For $20K more, I can have a very reliable NSX.

 

[Pugwash]

I did factory collection and for the seatbelt recall Lotus wrote directly to me.

 

[Joel]

Have had a recall letter through this morning for the wiper motors. Booked in to get fixed on the 14th, fingers crossed for no rain between now and then

The letter says it's cars built up to 21/3/2023, so mine must have been one of the last to have the faulty motor. Shame they didn't replace it in the three months between build and collection but oh well