Do any of you lot have any good or bad things to say about the Lotus Dealerships?!I have been using a dealership in the South East (Who shall remain nameless at the moment!) since I purchased my Elise about 2 1/2 years ago and after getting my Exige in Feb I am beginning to lose my patience with them.I have given them enough chances and now have had enough and am looking around for a decent dealership. Any thoughts?I was considering the Canary Wharf one, anyone use them at the moment?
HR Owen have a dealership in Canary Wharf + Kensington (where I got my car), but share the same workshop.I can’t recommend them at all, having goofed up my 190 upgrade, and making me wait eons while they prepared my ex-demo for collection (I secretly think they were still using it as their demo car).Kings Lotus Warwick don’t seem to know their arse from their elbow either, unless a guy from Lotus Technical is visiting that day.No recommendations here. Sorry.
I use HR Owens in Canary Wharf and have had no trouble at all. Their workshop guys are the few I have spoken to that know what they are doing.Maybe I am lucky
The only dealer I’ve heard good things about was Haydons, but now they’ve gone tits-up. I’ve only had dealings with London Lotus and Kings Warwick. I wouldn’t trust London Lotus with a plank of wood let alone my car. When I got my Elise they tried to rip me off by claiming the sports exhaust was expensive to fit cos they had to remove the whole rear clam first. I’ve only dealt with the sales guys at Kings - they were ok - but haven’t had the pleasure of the service dept. I’ll probably go to B&C for my next service.
Forget about Nick Whale in Birmingham. Picked up a new Exige 2 weeks ago with 11 miles on it, and a knacked gearbox!!! Get a dealer who knows how to carry out a PDI properly coz these guys can’t.
I bought my Lotus Elise from Nick Whale and I have to say the level of service I had from them is second to none. I can not complain abotu them, even though the previous posted message says likewise.Because I live in Surrey, I now use Bell & Colvill (B&C). In the couple of times that I’ve had to deal with them they have always been approachable, courteous, and professional in their manner. I would be happy to recommend either of the above two dealers.Unfortunalty choosing a dealer is always going to be difficult when you ask everyone else, becuase it only needs one ****ed off customer to spread bad news about them, without you knowing all the facts behind the reason why they are ****ed off in the first place.Come along to a run and speak with the drivers and you’ll get a gauge for who’s good to trust [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]Hope that helps…
![http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif[/image]Hope](http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/grin.gif%5B/image%5DHope){kind=link}
Are you the Red Exige living in the Southend area?My only Lotus dealership experiance is with Stratton, and that was to buy the car. However good the sales departments are (and Guy Munday was good) the service is always another matter, time will tell.Chris…Also in the Southend area.
Haydons are still doing servicing (I can Highly recomend them) I had my exige serviced there on Saturday - I’m not letting HR Owen, B&C or Porfield go near my car - so not sure where to go for waranty work.Guy
i also heard that Haydons were very good but when i spoke to them earlier this year they confirmed that they had gone “tits up” but a new company would rise from the ashes with a Lotus Dealership- that little lotus stamp makes a hell of a difference to the resale value especially if trading in. Does anyone have any more info on the current situation at Haydons?
I’d agree with the previous posts regarding HR Owen (kensington this time) - i wouldnt go near them again (friendly salesmen but once you’ve bought the car, hahaha seeya - nearly zero aftersales service and their ‘approved’ bodyshop managed to spray my front clam a different shade of silver to the rest of the car!) But have been going to Nelmes of Romford for the last two years and can totally recommend them, although they were mumbling about closing/moving soon.
Are you mad OwenB??!?!I have too been going to Nelmes for the last two or three years and in that time they have managed to leave my old Elise parked outside where it got reversed into and then they failed to inform me of this when I picked it up! They took 3 months I think to repair it. Then so far they have not had a clue about fitting the 190 upgrade kit for my Exige and managed to lose track of the SS Exhaust I had ordered for about 2 months!Are you related to or working with anyone from Nelmes as I cannot recall anyone that I have met actually recommending them!
well now you mention it they did seem a bit surprised when i thanked them for their good service! …but all i can say is that they’ve done nothing wrong for me, and are therefore a lot lot better than the evil HR Owen (and no i’m not related to them either)
I have just seen on the Lotus Life Site that Nelmes of Romford are closing and a Subaru/Isuzu Dealership in Chadwell Heath is taking over!It has been confirmed with the owner of Nelmes but nothing has been sent to any of the owners that used Nelmes (or at least not to me)! Typical of Nelmes I guess!!