Lotus news

Emira support is terrible sadly as they cannot pay suppliers no wonder parts or service are hard to come by. I feel sorry for anyone in the UK who loses their jobs but its been mismanaged for many years now. £110-115K for a 2025 spec Emira no wonder few are ordering one.
According to this update today the UK gov business secretary Jonathan Reynolds will speak to Lotus tomorrow to try to save it in the UK anyway!

Glad I sold my Emira when I did this will not help anyone trying to sell theirs right now at all & tank prices as existing lack of support is horrendous. They look incredible but vehicle driving dynamics are lacking so is basic comfort & handling due to R&D cost cutting in the wrong places!
 
AWPC said:
Emira support is terrible sadly as they cannot pay suppliers no wonder parts or service are hard to come by. I feel sorry for anyone in the UK who loses their jobs but its been mismanaged for many years now. £110-115K for a 2025 spec Emira no wonder few are ordering one.
According to this update today the UK gov business secretary Jonathan Reynolds will speak to Lotus tomorrow to try to save it in the UK anyway!

Glad I sold my Emira when I did this will not help anyone trying to sell theirs right now at all & tank prices as existing lack of support is horrendous. They look incredible but vehicle driving dynamics are lacking so is basic comfort & handling due to R&D cost cutting in the wrong places!
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It's getting the same with Elise parts as well. Like the soft roof, the company which made them is long gone so there are no more being made. Once they are gone, they are gone.
 
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Lotus cars are made for a demographic that doesn't exist anymore. They were always the middle class toy for the petrol head. Anyone with money goes for the Italian exotica now especially as we live in a world of finance which has made them more affordable. Porsche has eaten what ever tiny market share Lotus had with their Boxster/Caymen too.

An Alpine A110 is basically a Lotus in its DNA and can be serviced anywhere in the UK and is backed up by Renault. The GR86 will give you 90% of the thrill for a fraction of the budget whilst having a ten year warranty and countrywide Toyota dealerships. Then you have the MX5 which is a fantastic sports car in its own right.

They have also found out first hand that people with actual money to buy nice cars have little want or need for an electric car.
 
Rilot said:
Did anyone watch JayEmm's latest video on Lotus? It was quite interesting some of the things he said.
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Yep saw all of that the other day when it dropped on YT.....his comments RE: lack of customer support & respect were accurate & right on the money! Shame as Lotus made some good cars...I cannot see it going on much longer now unless someone with deep pockets want to take on the Emira project while ICE are still allowed to be sold!
 
Nasher said:
It's getting the same with Elise parts as well. Like the soft roof, the company which made them is long gone so there are no more being made. Once they are gone, they are gone.
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Since the Esprit days it was little different LOL they never learn I think its really the end now once you cannot pay suppliers anymore you have nothing much left when you already wrecked your own dealer network by offloading 30% cheaper Emiras last autumn! Few will risk buying a new one again especially as now £110-115K!
 
AWPC said:
Since the Esprit days it was little different LOL they never learn I think its really the end now once you cannot pay suppliers anymore you have nothing much left when you already wrecked your own dealer network by offloading 30% cheaper Emiras last autumn! Few will risk buying a new one again especially as now £110-115K!
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Thankfully for the Esprit there are many companies that kept spares going or fabricated new parts, plus the benefits of Lotus building a car from someone else's parts bin :D. It's how I've kept my Esprit on the road for so long.
 
julianhj said:
I'd honestly rather see the brand consigned to the history books than used for badge-engineering some heavyweight electric SUV that is the antithesis of Colin Chapman's principles. It's a real shame that the Elise (and its derivatives) are no longer a viable new product. I'd love to have been in the position to buy one new when they were still available.
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Nah, I just looked it up on Baidu and it says Chapman's famous quote was "electrify and add a ton and a half" ;)

Seriously though I agree with your statement. Let it die an honourable death so we can don the rose tinted specs to lament how awesome they were back in the day. To think I'll mention Lotus to my son in 15 years time and he'll say "oh, the Chinese SUV brand?" makes me sad.
 
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lordrobs said:
Nah, I just looked it up on Baidu and it says Chapman's famous quote was "electrify and add a ton and a half" ;)

Seriously though I agree with your statement. Let it die an honourable death so we can don the rose tinted specs to lament how awesome they were back in the day. To think I'll mention Lotus to my son in 15 years time and he'll say "oh, the Chinese SUV brand?" makes me sad.
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Yea that does help, the Elise is largely the same. It even has some BMW parts (like the engine bay fuse boxes which are from a BMW bike). But there are certain unique Lotus parts which are now rare :/
 
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Mysterae_ said:
Thankfully for the Esprit there are many companies that kept spares going or fabricated new parts, plus the benefits of Lotus building a car from someone else's parts bin :D. It's how I've kept my Esprit on the road for so long.
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What Esprit you got mate?
 
Mysterae_ said:
Thankfully for the Esprit there are many companies that kept spares going or fabricated new parts, plus the benefits of Lotus building a car from someone else's parts bin :D. It's how I've kept my Esprit on the road for so long.
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I love the Esprit. It's one of the best cars I ever owned, even if it was only for a short time.. How many gearboxes have you gone through? :D
 
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AWPC said:
What Esprit you got mate?
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A 1990 Esprit Turbo SE :)

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Malevolence said:
I love the Esprit. It's one of the best cars I ever owned, even if it was only for a short time.. How many gearboxes have you gone through? :D
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I can honestly say that in my almost 25 years of ownership I've never replaced the gearbox. However :D, I have changed the clutch, the fuel tanks, exhaust manifold, brakes, lights, seats, wheels and a few other bits and bobs ;).

It wouldn't have been possible without the support of the Lotus community and the parts suppliers that keep these beautiful machines on the road. I hope the same can be said for future Lotus's when they get to to 35 years old.
 
Mysterae_ said:
A 1990 Esprit Turbo SE :)

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I can honestly say that in my almost 25 years of ownership I've never replaced the gearbox. However :D, I have changed the clutch, the fuel tanks, exhaust manifold, brakes, lights, seats, wheels and a few other bits and bobs ;).

It wouldn't have been possible without the support of the Lotus community and the parts suppliers that keep these beautiful machines on the road. I hope the same can be said for future Lotus's when they get to to 35 years old.
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Nice car mate I had the 6 years newer Esprit S4s in British Metallic Racing green (ultra rare Esprit so few ever sold!) ! Sadly engine big end bearing blew up at high speed destroyed most of it & the person who bought it from me never got it back on the road again!
 
Malevolence said:
I love the Esprit. It's one of the best cars I ever owned, even if it was only for a short time.. How many gearboxes have you gone through? :D
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The irony is that the Esprit range used a Renault 21 derived gearbox....when Renault said they were closing the production line Lotus could not find another box to fit the chassis so had to cancel it way back in 2003!

That box was always the weak point it used to snap driveshafts on Sport 350s all the time due to not being strong enough for the Lotus V8 twin turbo powertrain!

Mine got the common issue of broken 1st-2nd gears cost £6K to get it repaired :eek: :( Red clutch hose syndrome was also an issue it needed replacing as it would melt leaving you with little to no clutch travel!
 
How many millions of "working people's" taxes do we think it took to grease the palms at Geely to string things along for another six months or so?

Bad news at Sunderland too, best see if there is anything left in the piggy bank for Nissan.
 
The British car industry is dead. We either make **** (JLR, who currently make nothing at all lol), or low volume exotics or track/racing cars.

The French and Germans have a huge government supported car industry. But ours only seem to be interested in propping the failing BBC up. Or a very expensive train no one actually needs.
 
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Nasher said:
The British car industry is dead. We either make **** (JLR, who currently make nothing at all lol), or low volume exotics or track/racing cars.

The French and Germans have a huge government supported car industry. But ours only seem to be interested in propping the failing BBC up. Or a very expensive train no one actually needs.
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90K Range Rover Sports and 70k Range Rovers a year is not 'nothing at all'
 
Well in the context of Nashers post i read 'nothing at all' as less than low volume, which isnt true. Thats all.

Toyota probably wish they got the margins of RR though!
 
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