Emira deposit refunds - anybody got theirs?
Discussion
I placed an order for a V6 manual first edition at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2021. The delivery date slipped from late Spring 2022 to August, then November, then December, then January, then February, then March. Maybe it will turn up sometime but March/April/May but my patience is at an end. I've lost count of the number of times I needed a car and regretted selling the good one I had previously to have the cash in hand.
The test drive was a disappointment. Performance was similar to my wife's A45 AMG but the whining engine sound was annoying. I've been sticking it out because the Emira is a good looking car but £81,664 OTR for a car I'm not particularly in to just doesn't seem worth waiting for any longer. I tried phoning customer care to cancel a few times but the phone line is closed. The good news is everyone else should be moving up one place in the queue soon.
The test drive was a disappointment. Performance was similar to my wife's A45 AMG but the whining engine sound was annoying. I've been sticking it out because the Emira is a good looking car but £81,664 OTR for a car I'm not particularly in to just doesn't seem worth waiting for any longer. I tried phoning customer care to cancel a few times but the phone line is closed. The good news is everyone else should be moving up one place in the queue soon.
Ah, so it turns out the car is finally in production. Looks like I'm getting it sometime after 10th March but "before April". My wife's A45 sounds a lot nicer but I've been told by an AMG specialist that engine runs very hot and it will be a problem for Lotus to run it much above 360BHP without overheating issues, so V6 with supercharger whine it is.
Fantic Super T said:
…the Emira is a good looking car but £81,664 OTR for a car I'm not particularly in to just doesn't seem worth waiting for any longer.
This seems sad to me, the car is now on its way to you (according to Lotus) but you’re not particularly into it and would rather have your money back. Hope you fall back in love with it within a few miles. I was seriously excited waiting for my Exige 410, couldn’t wait. That’s part of the fun of buying a brand new car. Best of luck with it. I emailed my refund request on 30th December, and received the refund on 17th January.
My order was placed in Feb 2022, build slot was Q2 2024. I got fed up with waiting, wanted out of my Cayman GTS, and meanwhile went off the idea of owning another sports car.
If I'd hung on, I would have been caught by the recent price increase, and would definitely have cancelled at that point instead. The MD has broken his promise on pricing.
My order was placed in Feb 2022, build slot was Q2 2024. I got fed up with waiting, wanted out of my Cayman GTS, and meanwhile went off the idea of owning another sports car.
If I'd hung on, I would have been caught by the recent price increase, and would definitely have cancelled at that point instead. The MD has broken his promise on pricing.
Took 19 days to receive the deposit back after lots of chasing. I cancelled before the price increase over build quality concerns on cars that have already been delivered. Lots of problems being reported over on the Emira forums which have highlighted poor quality control and inferior parts. A common problem is seat belts imported from China which jam when the car is on a gradient. Engine warning lights, leaking door seals, gear box failures and numerous other issues convinced me that it was too big a risk. I also tried it on track through “A taste of Lotus” at Hethel and found it slow with a very disappointing engine tone. All this with an appalling customer service and poor dealer network made my final decision very easy.
Took 19 days to receive the deposit back after lots of chasing. I cancelled before the price increase over build quality concerns on cars that have already been delivered. Lots of problems being reported over on the Emira forums which have highlighted poor quality control and inferior parts. A common problem is seat belts imported from China which jam when the car is on a gradient. Engine warning lights, leaking door seals, gear box failures and numerous other issues convinced me that it was too big a risk. I also tried it on track through “A taste of Lotus” at Hethel and found it slow with a very disappointing engine tone. All this with an appalling customer service and poor dealer network made my final decision very easy.
Took 19 days to receive the deposit back after lots of chasing. I cancelled before the price increase over build quality concerns on cars that have already been delivered. Lots of problems being reported over on the Emira forums which have highlighted poor quality control and inferior parts. A common problem is seat belts imported from China which jam when the car is on a gradient. Engine warning lights, leaking door seals, gear box failures and numerous other issues convinced me that it was too big a risk. I also tried it on track through “A taste of Lotus” at Hethel and found it slow with a very disappointing engine tone. All this with an appalling customer service and poor dealer network made my final decision very easy.
Coupefan said:
Took 19 days to receive the deposit back after lots of chasing. I cancelled before the price increase over build quality concerns on cars that have already been delivered. Lots of problems being reported over on the Emira forums which have highlighted poor quality control and inferior parts. A common problem is seat belts imported from China which jam when the car is on a gradient. Engine warning lights, leaking door seals, gear box failures and numerous other issues convinced me that it was too big a risk. I also tried it on track through “A taste of Lotus” at Hethel and found it slow with a very disappointing engine tone. All this with an appalling customer service and poor dealer network made my final decision very easy.
I think you are over egging the problems a tad much hereYou seem to have forgotten this is a brand new car and teething issues are going to happen.
The seat belt issue is not something owners are concerned about
Door seals again most have got a fix. You have not mentioned that when cars are being brought back to dealers they are getting sorted. Your post implies that they are broken beyond repair.
I honestly don’t know why you think it’s slow, been to Hethel and done a recent TD on public roads and imho it covers ground very quickly indeed and extremely usable for UK roads.
Ok you are unhappy with handling of orders by Lotus we are all pissed off but I don’t think it’s fair to just slate the car on that basis. Definitely not the car for you
Again you quote issues but how many are fatal that car is unusable
How many have lotus chosen to ignore?
You are not painting a clear picture of what is going on
I stand by what I said I don’t think Emira ownership is for you.
How many have lotus chosen to ignore?
You are not painting a clear picture of what is going on
I stand by what I said I don’t think Emira ownership is for you.
Coupefan said:
Over on the Emira owners forum 60% of respondents have reported problems which even for a new car is unacceptable.
the déjà vu us strong here
back in 1990 ( ! ), the car markets were collapsing just as elan production was ramping up
the first few hundred cars were the ones to avoid, as new employees learnt new techniques to produce the car ( we're talking pop-up headlight covers flying over your head bad )
no two dealers were quoting the same timescales, and hethel were absolutely clueless
i took one dealer to court over their repeated delivery delays
an 8% price increase was imposed
bottom line was that despite the frustrations, the car came good in the end, and i kept it for 21 years ( a record )
back in 1990 ( ! ), the car markets were collapsing just as elan production was ramping up
the first few hundred cars were the ones to avoid, as new employees learnt new techniques to produce the car ( we're talking pop-up headlight covers flying over your head bad )
no two dealers were quoting the same timescales, and hethel were absolutely clueless
i took one dealer to court over their repeated delivery delays
an 8% price increase was imposed
bottom line was that despite the frustrations, the car came good in the end, and i kept it for 21 years ( a record )
Coupefan said:
Try this link https://www.emiraforum.com/threads/emira-issues-fr...
Thanks, was looking in completely the wrong place!BertBert said:
Coupefan said:
Try this link https://www.emiraforum.com/threads/emira-issues-fr...
Thanks, was looking in completely the wrong place!I know people want to blame Pat in accounts but this smells bad to me and is yet another example of the monumental cock up around the Emira launch.
I was still being chased for a test drive despite having cancelled. Apparently the test centres don't talk to Lotus. They couldn't organise the proverbial brewery celebration. Christ only knows what's going on with quality control judging by the reports on the forums.
I requested my deposit back via email on 15th February (price increase plus multiple delays to the i4 build date really meant I had lost a bit of interest in getting the car) I received my deposit back on 6th March so not the 14 days but not too bad in my view considering they will probably be dealing with a lot of refunds and admin doesn’t seem to be a Lotus strong point.
Hope all that get their cars delivered enjoy them. I have not ruled the Emira out as an option in the future, just not for me at the moment.
Hope all that get their cars delivered enjoy them. I have not ruled the Emira out as an option in the future, just not for me at the moment.
Gassing Station | Emira | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff