dealership / non-dealership service

[King SuPah]

my elise is still covered by the extended warranty and is coming up to service time, so should i swallow the extra £50 and get the service done at a my local dealership or go to a company who although possibly not approved are well known for their knowledge on all things lotus?

i'm also having the same thoughts on tyres when they're needed - do I go AD07's from lotus dealership or Toyo's from non-dealership

oh the confusion and questions all comments welcome

Edited by King SuPah on Saturday 10th October 11:04

[bogie]

if its under a Lotus warranty and only £50 difference, Id go dealer and save any potential hassle (even though there should be none)

if it were like 50% more expensive, then for sure, go to the specialist

in fact most of the bigger, older specialists ARE Lotus approved anyway, its only warranty work that you have to go to a dealer for these days ...

[jondude]

Agree that for £50 it ain't worth perhaps causing stress with the warranty small print.....BUT....you need to make sure the garage has a decent reputation and doesn't, for example, keep within £50 of independents but then 'find' loads and loads of things 'urgently' need replacing.

[Grinnders]

AJ. Leftovers will charge you for things you don't need but which state on the checklist need inspection.

I used Sportomotive for the latter 4 services. FYI you can drop it off with Cos in Xchurch and have the pleasure of driving a K Series (rover 216) that is there courtesy car! :lol:

[dgr]

As long as anything that needs doing under the warranty is uncovered at the service and sorted before said warrant runs out, I don't think it matters which of the two you use. Sportomotive was founded from the ashes of Haydon Sports Cars who had the Lotus franchise up until their bankruptcy.
Personally I've no complaints with Westovers who've done all the work so far on mine. They have picked up several things and got them fixed under the warranty. That said once it's out of warranty anything with significant labour will be going Sportomotive's way! I'll probably keep the routine servicing at Westovers as it's more convenient. You do need to point out that you don't need a bottle of screenwash though.

Tyre wise I am a big fan of the AD07.