Footwell Corision Warranty Thing

[jeegnesh]

I just brought Elise S1 1998 (Jan), I took it into my local Lotus dealer they took pics of the footwell and sent of to Lotus.

As I am out of the 8 year warranty by 6 months, they said as a good will gesture they will pay 50% (175), I tried calling Lotus direct spoke to warranty folks and they would not budge on that.

Currently my footwell has alot of white powder looking substance on the footwell, one of the guys said it was not bad but all the same needs doing.

Do you think I should get this job done ?

Edited by jeegnesh on Tuesday 13th June 20:41

[S Works]

Talk to another Lotus dealer and see if they are a bit more helpful. Frankly I don't think it's a problem which is terminal unless there are holes appearing, but for peace of mind it maybe worth doing.

[greysquirrel]

Had my 98 elise in for some work last year and they randomly rang me a few weeks later saying it was due back in for the warranty work on the footwell, didnt pay a penny, and that was 6 years out of warranty!

[S works]

Sorry but it can't have been grey - the chassis warranty/time limit for this is 8 years. If yours was built in '98 it'd be 2012 by the time it was 6 years out.

[DSS123]

jeegnesh,

If it's just at the "white powder stage" you've probably nipped it in the bud.

It doesn't look very nice but it's not a real problem. Just give it a really good clean and refit some removable mats. Make sure you lift them and give everything a good clean from time to time.

The repair does look nice though, so it depends how important that is to you.

Be interested to know how much the work costs though, being as I didn't pay a penny for mine! (sorry to rub it in!)


Dunc

[jeegnesh]

If it was last year then you were just within the warranty period.

Anyone else have experiences outside the warranty period ?

Any more opionons on whether the job should be done ?

[S Works]

Per Dunc above, it's not a big problem at your stage at all. However I'd just get it done. For £175 it's not a huge outlay, and then you have total peace of mind.

Plus they'll valet the car for you if they're any good. To be honest you can't blame the dealer, they have to claim warranty/recall costs from Lotus and if they won't pay, then the dealer is stuffed.

[andybuk99]

i think you will find it doesnt matter about being under any warranty. i have had my 96 s1 done and it was over the 8 year anti corrosion warranty.

[stsly]

Waiting to hear back from Lotus about getting my "99 done.

It's at the powder stage, no holes thank god!

I would deffo look at getting this done as it's the right thing to do for the car and will help if you ever come to part with your beloved.

Lotus said they might want the car for a day and will fit new mats which suggests it's not a quick job.

[stu hill]

Might be wise to check this out at the same time

www.grouplotus.com/generic/generic.php?page=35

[jeegnesh]

Well my mats are in real bad state anyway, to get a nice new set seems like its around 70 anyway, so figure I might as well pay and get the footwell done, have peace of mind and get a set of breatable mats (as they call them) which I hear are pretty thin.

This is a cost I really did not factor in, guess I will have to wait a while to get lens covers, white indicators & side lights, red indicators on the back, oh and black lotus badges :-)

Anyone going to Ace Cafe tommorrow night, I read its Lotus night, thought I would go down and see what its all about.

[andybuk99]

like i said you shouldnt have to pay, this is the correspondence i got from Valerie Milton-Keates at lotus last april.

hi valerie.
thank you for your quick reply to my email. my elise
was a very early model registered 21/12/1996 and it
would appear that it is just over the 8 year anti
corrosion warranty. or is this not an issue.

regards
andy

------------------------------------------------------
Dear Andy

We are pleased to be able to assist you.
The footwell rectification is a goodwill gesture offered by Lotus and
is not dependant on the car being under warranty.

We trust this answers your query.

Kind regards

Valerie Milton-Keates
Customer Service Co-ordinator
Lotus Cars Ltd
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

[jeegnesh]

Spoke to customer services and they still hold there line that your outside 8 years, even mentioning that other people have had work done outside of 8 years did not wash with them.

They said they let people that registered there cars with Lotus or offcial dealer know about this regardless of age, if they got the repair done from that note, then that was fine. But any other repair jobs for the footwell after this is judged by the 8 year warranty.

I sent an email to Lotus customer services complaining this is not fair, I don't think its gonna do anything, fingers crossed.

PS - I almost booked it in for repair today