Exige V6 S Front Splitter

[Tex]

Unfortunately just caught my front splitter on the centre stop for my driveway gates.

Quite an innocuous accident at 2mph, and not a pleasant experience but  the upshot is Splitter can be repaired ( £200 ), or replaced  ( £305 ) although  the splitter reinforcement plate ( £51 ) as per picture looks totalled, still not the end of the world until my local dealer pointed out it probably will also mean replacing the panel front undershield ( £407 ) and of course all + vat and labour.

All in all well over £1,000. 

Would like to know if anyone else experienced it and a possible more cost effective solution

Cheers Tex

[RedViper]

I hit a pheasant and needed a replacement splitter. Cost me less than £300 from JCT (mention forum for 10% discount.... not sure if it was this forum or one of others). I didn't need the metal bit so transferred that. I can't see why you would need anything else. 

Once the metal bit is off I'm sure you can persuade it back into shapw with a hammer too

Edited May 25, 2017 by RedViper

[alias23]

5 hours ago, Tex said:

Unfortunately just caught my front splitter on the centre stop for my driveway gates.

Quite an innocuous accident at 2mph, and not a pleasant experience but  the upshot is Splitter can be repaired ( £200 ), or replaced  ( £305 ) although  the splitter reinforcement plate ( £51 ) as per picture looks totalled, still not the end of the world until my local dealer pointed out it probably will also mean replacing the panel front undershield ( £407 ) and of course all + vat and labour.

All in all well over £1,000. 

Would like to know if anyone else experienced it and a possible more cost effective solution

Cheers Tex

I think the dealer is being a tad overkill on the parts list!!! 

The splitter reinforcement plate can be removed from the main plastic splitter, just drill out the rivets, I would have thought it could be straightened out with a hammer, then re-attached to the new plastic splitter. The reinforcement plate is well hidden so the straightening doesn't have to be perfect! 

If you really want to replace it with a new reinforcement plate i've got one spare for £20

I think they're having a joke at suggesting the front under shield needs replacing. Going by the picture it looks untouched and again any slight bent metal can be easily straightened and its hidden so would be unnoticeable. This part in particular drives me crazy with Lotus, how they can justify £480 for a piece of flat metal with four holes is beyond me and surely grounds for legal theft. I truly hope they look to address the parts list prices for the V6 as its a major turn off for me with the Lotus brand. 

The actual process of replacing this part is very simple. If you have a jack, racket set, and ramps you can easily do the work yourself. It really is not difficult and could save you a bit of money on the labour costs from the dealer.

 

[RedViper]

Agree with Imran.Definitely a DIY job

I took the opportunity to give the underside of the front clam a good polish and wax while splitter was off too as its quite hard to get the buffer in there normally

Edited May 26, 2017 by RedViper

[Arun_D]

@Tex, my original splitter (I'm now running a CupR item) is at currently at Hangar111 if you want a used example for less than the cost of repairing yours.

[Tex]

At last just removed the splitter and the reinforcement plate , both totalled really but the front undershield looks fine .

It wasn't a simple job though as the 2 bolts either sides of number plate had been damaged so had to drill them out.

Got a track day coming up so will see how it handles without.

Thanks for the input 

[French Frie]

Eltech is now offering a carbon splitter with reinforcement plate, in their 2017 catalog : 

[TBD]

Unfortunately @Tex issue shows the downside of that carbon splitter. It cracks so easily and is so expensive to replace.

One of the reasons Lotus uses plywood on the cup.

[TonyKL]

I'm happy with the black aluminium on my V6S, I'd just like side skirts and the rear end plates to match (from the 380)

[zaero]

Colin,

Keep us posted on your solution and if you decide to DYI.