The Evora 400 Diaries

[Barrykearley]

I'd be really grumpy about this shambles.......

seems a real pity but it's just life being a shit. I know someone who did indeed reject a car - took 9 months of hassle and wrangling to sort that out in the end. So it's not the easy option some may think. Frankly the only way of speeding that process up if it's the way you want to go is to have done the ground work regarding rejection of vehicle. Ensuring documented and chances to put right. Then you would need to issue court papers to get a resolution. It's just not simple

[JayEmm]

See, secretly, I had really really hoped that a couple of months back - when I was already having myriad problems - someone at Lotus or the dealer would have taken the initiative, said "we're very sorry, this isn't right, please can we try again" but no.

If I weren't totally smitten with the way the car rides, handles, looks and sounds I can quite easily see how another person in my situation could easily go "Oh yeah, so that's why Lotus have this reputation. Bollocks to this, I'm off to Porsche"

But I don't want one of those. I want a Lotus that works. Why does that seem like such a tall order in the year 2016?

[C8RKH]

If as you say the dealers read this forim then they need to go away with their heads bowed in shame and have a very long hard think about this situation.

Keep your pecker up Jay.

[JayEmm]

Thanks Andy. I know all of us on the forum have our differences of opinion from time to time but at the end we are united by a love of great cars and I just want to get back to boring you all with how nice my car is, rather than the issue of the week!

[C8RKH]

Banter is just that, Banter. At the end of the day you wouldn't wish the hassle you've had on any one and you can only sympathise and support.

Unless of course you're a James Hunt

 

[Barrykearley]

Pah - you think it's bad - buy a bloody knackered v8 that hasn't run for 4-5years.

then you'll see ...........

[JayEmm]

At this rate I probably should have!

[auRouge]

A work friend of mine bought a 997 (under 3 years old) from a main dealer a number of years ago near Hatfield, it went badly wrong. After the second issue that stopped him from driving the car he simply offered the keys back and demanded a refund, they agreed after a legal threat.

Your list of problems is too long and now a transmission out?... You can't drive it right?!

The dealer should be sorting this out with the factory not you. You're a practical guy with time to chat during office hours which is lucky, how many people (who can afford £60-80k cars!) have the time to deal with this sort of BS?! 

Unacceptable. 

[JayEmm]

To clarify the transmission issue is the car sometimes refuses to go into first or reverse. The issue developed a few months ago. We suspected that is was a gear cable issue but we found that the cables are perfectly setup.

The car shouldn't do this so the only possible explanation is a problem within the box itself - only one way to find out and thats to crack the box open and see inside. But it will take a long time to do that, Lotus are the only people able to fix it if there is a problem and we don't know what they are going to find. All a bit worrying.

I can drive the car but if there is an issue with the gearbox Lotus want to know, it could be something really trivial or it might not be. I want the car fixed obviously but I have no intentions of waiting six weeks for that to happen. Very uncool. If they wanted to lend me an Exige to bum around in for that time, groovy, but I'm not paying £70K to drive round in a SEAT Leon.

[auRouge]

I feel your pain, it's a tricky situation.

Doesn't matter how great a car it is when you can't drive it.

You're in warranty, fingers crossed they look after you properly??

For the love of cars ehh! ???

[Vanya]

8 hours ago, JayEmm said:

To clarify the transmission issue is the car sometimes refuses to go into first or reverse. The issue developed a few months ago. We suspected that is was a gear cable issue but we found that the cables are perfectly setup.

The car shouldn't do this so the only possible explanation is a problem within the box itself - only one way to find out and thats to crack the box open and see inside. But it will take a long time to do that, Lotus are the only people able to fix it if there is a problem and we don't know what they are going to find. All a bit worrying.

I can drive the car but if there is an issue with the gearbox Lotus want to know, it could be something really trivial or it might not be. I want the car fixed obviously but I have no intentions of waiting six weeks for that to happen. Very uncool. If they wanted to lend me an Exige to bum around in for that time, groovy, but I'm not paying £70K to drive round in a SEAT Leon.

I understand that this might not be the first course of action for a new car under warranty, but have you personally verified that the cables are in spec? And also, what does in spec even mean? The Esprit had a spec for its translator mechanism but to get it working optimally you had to set it way out of spec on certain cars.

How friendly is the 400 for a home mechanic? If you all of a sudden developed these issues after a while it seems unlikely the box has packed up?

Again, I get it - you paid good money for a car that should work right, and you probably don't have the time to roll around under the car or in tight spaces chasing the problem yourself. But sometimes it's the only way as nobody cares as much about a car as its owner! 

Edit: on the plus side, you can roll around in not one but TWO Lotuses while you wait!!!! Now THAT'S a luxury.

[JayEmm]

@Vanya I am not going to spend a single second of my time fixing problems with this car. I spent four hours in the Excel trying to sort the stereo the other day, I did that happily -  that is why I bought it. I did not buy a brand new car to end up underneath it. As it happens, the Evora is not a car for home mechanics at all.

Apparently Lotus made adjustments to my cables on one of my visits to Hethel. I didn't ask them to adjust any thing and I only found out they did that because I told lotus the gearbox seemed worse for some reason. They then admitted they had played around with it. For this reason I had hoped that "unadjusting" it would fix the problem and that it was a trivial matter - I know how delicate cable gearshift are

But Lotus' service engineers have inspected my car and they have looked at the cables and they have determined there is nothing in the front end of the car which could be causing problems, the only possible cause is an issue in the gearbox itself. I've had strange noises from my clutch since day one (no, not the noises every one has) so I don't mind this in principle but it's the fact it is one in a long line of problems and is not going to be a quick fix -  we have no idea what they might find 

[Mxvx]

Should have bought an old NA, I've had no issues in 12 months now. Taken it from 42k to 51k miles. 

[JayEmm]

@Mxvx I think the benefit there is probably in the "old" bit more than anything else. Plenty of NAs that had issues.

[Mxvx]

I know they're not issue free. I told a porkie too, I had the boot water ingress issue and the passenger lock doesn't always come up. I wasn't being serious - I am just jealous, the 400 at 60k/70k is a stretch for me just now.

[JayEmm]

Some positive news, another set of Lotus engineers - drivetrain specialists - have been out to my car and had a fiddle with the cables and reckon that may have, as originally suspected, been responsible for the issues. Hopefully that is the case.

I am going to go and collect the car now, to drive it and see if the issue remains solved. I hope that they do, I like "ticking off" problems. Just a shame the most simple one of all (seat) seems so impossible to fix.

[Inkyfingers]

Best of luck James.

If the guys from the factory can't sort it, then not sure where you go from there...

[JayEmm]

Cheers. One worrying item which has resurfaced is the hideous clicking noise made when the car is on left lock. Its been tended to and the remedy was the same as before, cleaning the hubs... but I am concerned that it can come back so quickly. 

[JayEmm]

Here's some positivity. I like positive stuff, honest. Picked the car up from Stratton as they've asked I drive it for a bit to see if our fixes have taken. It was a cold, wet (although not too rainy) evening. It's been over a week since I drove the Evora. In that week I've sat in a few Ferraris, and driven a McLaren 650S.

Had a mostly clear run home. Holy shit, this car is good. Like really, seriously good. Like I can draw comparisons with the McLaren and not feel like an idiot, or a pauper (Even though I am now).

I hope I get more of this, and less of the week-in-hospital stuff.

[Ccd]

 

McLaren and Ferrari would not be on my wish list because there is no manual option available

 

 

[auRouge]

Problems will always happen, it's how they are dealt with that counts. Great to hear Lotus taking it seriously and sending out engineers...

On 02/12/2016 at 13:37, JayEmm said:

Some positive news, another set of Lotus engineers - drivetrain specialists - have been out to my car and had a fiddle with the cables and reckon that may have, as originally suspected, been responsible for the issues. 

you're back on the road?? Hope the cars ok?

 

[JayEmm]

@Ccd I have to say having a manual (and a good one at that) is definitely part of the appeal for me. I suspect if the Lotus hadn't been offered with a manual I wouldn't have even tried one.

I thought it was such a shame that Audi ditched the manual from the R8, the car is already a bit old fashioned by having an NA large capacity engine - and the manual box was a genuine highlight of the old car. But I suppose with a manual box slowing things down it probably would have been slower 0-60 than the TT and that wouldn't have gone down well.

If Lotus were to build another Esprit-type car, it would be a very interested philosophical conversation to have to whether they offer a manual. Yes, we all say we'd definitely but one, but if you look at the number of £100k+ cars where people actually do get a manual, it's tiny. In fact for the cars where there is a choice, it's near zero. I believe Ferrari sold one California with a manual or something ridiculous like that

[auRouge]

Over £100k cars, Id have a manual V12 Vantage S... That's proper cool! I've been lucky enough to drive a Manual V12 down the route Napoleon sandwiched between a 650S and 675LT (the owner of the LT couldn't believe the torque of the Aston  pulling away after each Apex). I was pushing hard granted and the Mclarens hadn't broke sweat but I'm sure of one thing, I was having more fun with a clutch and gear stick!

It's all well and good chasing lap times and having comfort in traffic but we want fun, Lotus should continue celebrating manual boxes, just make them better and better... Do that exposed box in the Exige in the Evora too, love it????

[JayEmm]

Actually, one of the nicest things about the Macca engine is that it needs a few revs to work - when you don't want everything, it's very easy to drive in the lower rev ranges, without feeling like a damp squid. Quite impressive for a turbo lump.

I believe @BP81 is currently enjoying the torque of a V12 Aston!

[Ccd]

I personally could care less that a manual is slower around a track or for 0-60 times.  I'm looking for driver involvement and enjoyment - that is where a manual is without peer.  Today, there are so many cars that are ridiculously fast for public roads.  A few tenths lost with a manual really doesn't matter. However the smile on my face when driving a manual does matter.

JayEmm, I've thought of getting an Audi R8 V10 or V10 plus, last gen with a manual.  Unfortunately, the interior is really dated, there is no room for my clubs, and really not enough room for a weekend getaway with the wife.  The Evora might even be cheaper than a used R8 and FAR more practical.