The lotus dealer in st albans (london Lotus centre) is no more as of last weekend, and you have to be a fiat, err, Ferarri driver to warrant their attention now (even though i spent �30k with them not 2 months ago - choppers)
Does anyone know where the nearest dealer is now? I live in Hertford, nr the A1/M25/A10/M1 etc… my front indicator has popped out and wont go back in no matter how hard i thump it with a mallet
Thanks, Bruce
SGT? To the West?
Bell & Colvill? South (jct 10 M25)
Neither particularly close to you. Have you rung Lotus?
Ian
If you want to drive around 50-60 miles try Orchard Lotus Dealerships in Northampton approx 5 miles down the A45 off the M1 junc.15.
Steve.
I drive past HR Owen quite a bit, it looks like they’re having a big revamp. Not a Lotus in sight. Just Maseratis, Rarri’s parked up and a couple of porkers this am.Have you tried Wilsons or Sinclars, both in Romford?
On the other hand, some dealers have no clue at all of what they’re selling.
Look what I found browsing the net:
On the other hand, some dealers have no clue at all of what they’re selling.
Look what I found browsing the net:
All that equipment AND insurance group 0!!
I bought the wrong Exige!!
Airbag, Power steering, Cruise Control -
Barnster
I live not far from you and used LLC a couple of times not altogether sucessfully
No easy fix I’m afraid - I have used Nick Whale in Birmingham - very good but a long drive and means spending the day walking around Brum. Also used Kelvedon in Spalding - again very good but a long drive again and have left the car with them for the week.
There is Wilsons in Chadwell Heath (I think)never used them and means crossing into bandit country in Essex
There’s an outfit in Hoddesdon called Seven Workshop (Roger King) who specialise in Caterhams but might also do Lotus.
Not a lot of help I know but as I said there’s no easy fix
Regards - David
Yikes! LLC were my local dealer too. I will have to travel miles now. This is bad news! I have just called them and they have confirmed the situation, no Lotus servicing. They recommended HR Owen in North Acton. I ain’t going there, that’s for sure!
\
I think I read somewhere recently that Lotus were in the process of rationalising their dealership network - I think their new boss has different ideas about the marketing of our loved ones…
I guess LLC going down is part of this??
Mike
Rationalising is one thing, but usually it is simply a eupemism for cost cutting…
What we need is a network of independent Lotus specialists who care about the cars (and owners!!) and offer more than original Lotus bits, e.g. brake conversions, a range of exhausts, tuning goodies etc
There are of course already some very good guys out there, but perhaps a lack of ‘fitting included’ deals for those of us who have no mechanical aptitude (like me!!)??
Of course I’m not saying that all dealers are bad, either !!!
Wodja fink??
Mike
I absolutely agree… the problem is tho’ that Lotus are notoriously (sp.??) difficult to deal with as a third party supplier, so specialist garages have difficulty giving reliable customer support and getting parts etc…
The other thing is the small volume and the costs associated with that. Don’t get me wrong, I would LOVE to have a specialist within 50miles of where I stay, but failing that… if the new Lotus boss manages to pull of his philosophy of more quality less quantity then maybe we’ll get better support (but then again… there is a limit to what we will pay, i suppose…)
ramble ramble…
Chaps
Just to add another angle…
One problem for Lotus, is that they will always have concerns about “Product Liability” for any after market bits they “source/supply”. For example, if they sell an upgrade brake kit, & it fails causing a traffic accident…!! I suspect that the legal implications would be different if the kit was sourced/supplied by an Independent specialist, or by the owner of the car!
Pesky
I totally agree and I guess a small company like Lotus just want to keep things safe & simple…
However, when my Lotus Dealer wants �110+vat for some front driving lamps and I can get them for �35 inc vat from Lotus Ecosse for EXACTLY the same part, then there is something amiss.
I have heard from a totally reliable source that there will shortly be a new Lotus dealership on the Herts/Essex border
So Bruce if you haven’t got your indicator fixed yet wait a little while and you should be able to get it sorted relatively locally
David
hey guys - thanks for all your help. Not been on here for a while - work is always bananas this time of year
I hope this rumour about a dealership on the herts/essex border is true - otherwise i will probably take her up to N’hampton (essex bandit country indeed )
I gotta be honest though - North Acton??? Birmingham? Spalding!!! It’s enought to make you look closer at the new boxster coupe…
I have semi-fixed the problem anyway - the front indicator poppped out and doesn’t clip back in easily (too loose). It’s likely to pop out again if i hit a speedbump too hard though! (135-R v hard susp)
Cheers!
Bruce
have just used merrits of amersham a new lotus dealership,got my first service done, nice bunch had no problems ,not to far from st albans…give em a try you wont be disappointed
“I have semi-fixed the problem anyway - the front indicator poppped out and doesn’t clip back in easily (too loose). It’s likely to pop out again if i hit a speedbump too hard though! (135-R v hard susp)”
Bruce - I am sure you have probably checked but you aren’t putting it in back to front are you? I just changed my indicators for clear ones and found the same thing - they only go one way. By the way - the indicators are from a Vauxhall Corsa - you can buy clear indicators for �3.00 each for your local Vauxhall Dealer if it is knackered
I live in Amersham and have so far chosen not to use Merrits - they have only been open a few months and have trained up some of their existing Jaguar mechanics - they seem more interested in Toyota engined cars and were not very helpful when I asked them about my S1 Exige. I plan to carry on using Nick Whales until Merrits get more experience in the vagaries of our cars!!
David
Dave do a search of the site. If that’s the mob near Gerrards Cross, I’d heard some dodgy things about their servicing of Jags (like not changing plugs because they were too hard to get to!).
Ian