Nick Whale Dropping Lotus

General General Lotus Talk
1

Sorry if this is “old news” but I have just found out that NW are dropping the Lotus franchise on 31st July.

I bought my S from them last December, so the thought of travelling all over the place for servicing etc didn’t sit too well.

But, I have had a chat with Paul Matty Sportcars (who are a mile closer!) and am quite happy that having the car looked after by them will be as good as using a franchised dealership and their stamp in my service book will be as good as a FLSH - anyone have experience of them, good, bad or indifferent?

2

I think the dealer has done you a favor.

3

NW dropped Lotus - are you sure it’s not the other way round?

4

LOL, not sure about that one, but the impression they are giving is that they are moving on to a new, exciting brand?

I haven’t had the chance in 6 months of ownership to form much of an opinion about them, other than they sorted some of my niggles out such as replacement AC control panel, but not the leaking boot (which I did myself) or the humming from the rear which they attribute to tyre noise.

Why are Lotus dropping dealers anyway, in todays market they may be better off dropping their prices?

5

Not all dealers are the same, I’ve had good and bad service from NW.

I now take the Exige back to Hethel for any work requried, Lotus Motorsport are top notch and don’t charge over the odds. It’s also easy to make your point if you’re at the factory.

6

Think you will find NW will still do servicing and stamp your book - so if you got on well with them no reason to stop just because they dropped Lotus due to there being no money in new Lotus anymore

7

…but not the humming from the rear which they attribute to tyre noise.

Thread drift - this could be true - I had what I thought was a noisy wheel bearing or two whilst I had A038s on my Elise. Now with R888s, it’s gone.

8

People have good and bad service everywhere but I’ve personally found NW to be excellent, they sold me 2 cars and helped me out of a mess a couple of times and on one occasion were VERY good on the bill when my car took up their ramp for almost a whole week.

As Andy said they are dropping Lotus (definitely not the other way round) as they can’t make any money on new Lotus’s as the range is now so small, a shame as the guys there were big Lotus fans. Thankfully they will continue to do Lotus servicing until IIRC next year or if Lotus find a new Midlands dealer.

They will be selling some interesting red cars in the future.

9

They will be selling some interesting red cars in the future.

Thats’ a bit of a change ! Mind you they will only need to sell a car every 2 months to make a massive profit?

10

…but not the humming from the rear which they attribute to tyre noise.

Thread drift - this could be true - I had what I thought was a noisy wheel bearing or two whilst I had A038s on my Elise. Now with R888s, it’s gone.

I think that will be my next move, I find the humming really irritating - it drowns out all the squeaks and rattles

11

they can’t make any money on new Lotus’s as the range is now so small

Isn’t that a little odd? considering that the lotus range has effectively been a single car range since the end of Esprit production in 2004… where now there is also the Europa (whether you like it or not) about to be an Eagle (or whatever it is eventually called) and then a new Esprit in 2010…

12

They will be selling some interesting red cars in the future.

Postal Vans?

13

Unfortunately I think the problem is that although there has only been the Elise/Exige for quite a few years, they have still been selling them quite well to lotus enthusiasts, however it’s not a car that can go to the mainstream market with and sales of what is really a toy has been dropping.
Hopefully the Eagle will revitalise the lotus sales however I think NW basically ran out of time, I understand just closing the dealership was an option for a while.