Service in London area (or around)
Discussion
I am due to do an MOT and B service on my 05 Lotus Elise 111S. My car is under warranty until 1st March but I am debating whether (i) to extend it (as it ain't cheap: £500) and (ii) to have the car serviced by a specialist or an official Lotus dealer (have heard all sorts of things about dealsers). Any ideas?
kevin ritson said:
If you want a dealer stamp and will be driving out of London, take it to Fibreglass Services, they'll charge around £175 for a 'B'
Don't get me wrong I'm a fan of Fglass. But Lipscomb would be closer & only about 50 quid more, plus do the MOT onsite & let you use the gym round the corner & perve over the new cars. Nothing against Miles, but Arundel is a bit of a pita to get to whilst Lipscomb is just a blast up the m25.
with an LTI 20:20 on the mickelham bypass on the way back from there last time 
Many thanks gentlemen for all your suggestions. Seems like a no-brainer. Dick Lovett (where I bought the car) will charge £570 (+£50 MOT) and £880 for renewal of the warranty. Bell & Colvill charge £880 for the whole thing. Fibreglass charge £200. I think I won't bother with the warranty. Even if a head gasket should blow, it will cost less to fix than renew the warranty alone. Fibreglass it is then. Has anyone been to Fibreglass?
What are the prices on a C service (at 45.000) on a 2001 Elise S1 in the UK these days? Actually it is a much shorter drive to Bergen and the ferry to Newcastle than to the nearest Lotus workshop in southern Sweden... Could be a nice trip in the summer. Cambelt was replaced last year so I guess that could be subtracted from the total amount in my case.
Touffaye said:
Fibreglass it is then. Has anyone been to Fibreglass?
It's a bit 'different' from the average dealer 
Miles (the proprietor) is a disorganised, cantankerous old sod. But he's also a great mechanic and an artist with fibreglass.
His premises reflect his character - a complete mess, hidden behind a second hand Van forecourt. There are a couple of old Lotuses gathering dust in what was once a showroom, behind this is a workshop that is more work than shop - pretty much as you'd imagine a 1970s garage. It's a complete mess with tools, parts, half-restored cars everywhere. To the side of this is a pile of used bits, clamshells, bodyshells, boxes. Alledgedly behind the workshop there's a bodywork repair area but I haven't been in there yet. I've heard good things about this, so perhaps it's for the most loyal customers.
Sometimes Ian might be there too, he's more laid back. When he's in Miles seems less harrassed and may even hose your car down after the service. You may even get a lift to the station (just don't ask for a courtesy car!)
I say this, not to put you off, but to be prepared. If you can put up with the lack of creature comforts, you'll get your car serviced, plus you can watch it happening, engage Miles in conversation (it's very easy to get him to rant about the state of the world!) and not part with a fortune, plus you'll get a stamp in the book.
Best ring him ASAP though, as he may need a couple of weeks' notice and you will need to let the phone ring for a bit before he answers
Agree with all of the above. It is like travelling back in time going there. If it's just a service & you're quite confident its not going to need anything else replacing that could take longer or require parts to be got in then no problem, book it in, go for a walk or pop down the pub whilst they do it or admire the lotus massacre lying around!
My only complaint is anything bigger takes them longer as they usually have too much on & not very good at time management. In these situations you end up with Miles being a real grumpy sod. This drove me away from them, as my two week fibreglass repair took nearly 4 weeks & lots of constant badgering. However, I cannot criticise the quality of their work. He and Ian know every inch of the Elise inside out & any job they do is of the highest quality.
My only complaint is anything bigger takes them longer as they usually have too much on & not very good at time management. In these situations you end up with Miles being a real grumpy sod. This drove me away from them, as my two week fibreglass repair took nearly 4 weeks & lots of constant badgering. However, I cannot criticise the quality of their work. He and Ian know every inch of the Elise inside out & any job they do is of the highest quality.
But he is a genius. 
I used to take my old Esprit there and the quality of the work is second to none. Agree with the previous posts about the disorganised nature of the place, but I kinda like it that way.
And I've also seen the body repair shop. There were some VERY interesting cars in there when I last went (including an Esprit that had allegedly been a crew car during the filming of one of the Moore-era Bond films); and an Elite which had ben sitting there for years waiting for the owner to come up the readies to start the restoration!!
I used to take my old Esprit there and the quality of the work is second to none. Agree with the previous posts about the disorganised nature of the place, but I kinda like it that way.
And I've also seen the body repair shop. There were some VERY interesting cars in there when I last went (including an Esprit that had allegedly been a crew car during the filming of one of the Moore-era Bond films); and an Elite which had ben sitting there for years waiting for the owner to come up the readies to start the restoration!!
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