New Member/Dealer In Connecticut

[staninct]

Hello all, I'd like to take a couple quick minutes to introduce myself on the forums and thank you all for the info I've read so far and the input I hope to receive in the future. My name is Stan Nitkowski, and I work for a dealer group in Branford, Connecticut that holds a Subaru franchise and has just acquired the Lotus brand as well. Since I was a child, I've always had a great interest in motorsport, and European cars in particular. I've driven a number of sports cars and exotics over the years, and have spent time driving at Firebird in Phoenix, BeaverRun in Pittsburgh, Moroso Motorsports Park in West Palm, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Lime Rock, and Gateway International in Saint Louis. The dealer I work for (Premier Subaru/Premier Motorcars) is a family owned dealer who has gained a great reputation in New England with both our clients, the community, and Subaru. The owner of the dealership (who is also a huge motorsport enthusiast) researched a number of different brands before deciding on Lotus. Having Subaru for the past nine years, we've really learned the ins and outs of a niche market car brand and its clientele, so a make like Lotus seems only fitting. We are extremely excited to be able to offer such a special line as Lotus, and we are all looking forward to becoming a well established dealer and member of the Lotus community in the years to come. I will also be posting our inventory over in the Dealer/For Sale section in the next day or two, so please feel free to call me or email just to chat and say hi. We will be getting our Lotus site set up in the near future, so bear with me as we get things rolling. The signs aren't even up on the building yet, and we just got our cars in this morning off the truck! This will definitely be a learning experience for me, so try and keep the flaming to a minimum!!! (My motto is "the only stupid question is the one you don't ask) In all seriousness, though, thanks for taking the time to read this and I look forward to getting to know many of you on here and hopefully in person as well!

[stinkyonion]

SWEET. A new Lotus dealership. And friendly too.

[mcoupe]

Can someone remind the rule for first time dealer posting please?? Wasn't it something like "All new dealers posting on LT for the first time will give a 80% discount on all parts and modification installation!!" Yeah...I think it is it!

Welcome aboard! And glad to have one more Lotus dealer in the family!

[staninct]

I enjoy some friendly stonecrushing, let the games begin on the noob! We are literally brand new, I will try to get some shots up of the building, cars, etc tomorrow for everyone. Not sure what we have for parts inventory to give away just yet, everything is still crated up in the parts dept.

[staninct]

Here is the building, note the bands of BRG and Gold at the top. The sign should be up in the next week or so. We just finished renovations to prepare for Lotus, both inside and out. This will be a single point building dedicated to Lotus and our preowned inventory of all brands. Feel free to comment!

Here are a few shots of the showroom (note all the vehicles will be stored INSIDE!)


And, of course, our first batch of vehicles. I think we have a great model mix to begin with (Exige 240, 260 Sport, Elise 190, Two Elise 220SC, and a Jim Clark Edition 25C) The 190 in Canyon Red is not pictured, just arrived today.

[fun4two]

wow awesome another Lotus dealer in CT. I have been looking for something closer to me than Mass. Good luck with your new line up, I'm sure you'll see me in the next few months for some work to my elise and checking out the new lotus's

[staninct]

Great to see someone local, I'm really surprised at how many Lotus owners are in the area! We'll be having a "get to know your new dealer" type event in the near future, I will keep everyone posted in the dealer section for the specifics. Feel free to call or swing by and ask for me any day but Thursdays!

[Snowphun]

Originally Posted by staninct

Great to see someone local, I'm really surprised at how many Lotus owners are in the area! We'll be having a "get to know your new dealer" type event in the near future, I will keep everyone posted in the dealer section for the specifics. Feel free to call or swing by and ask for me any day but Thursdays!

Looking forward to an event at your dealership in the future, glad to have another in the area.

Paul

[scottyb]

Nice to have a new Dealer in the state, but damn.. Branford that is like half way to the casinos.

Please tell us when your service is 100% trained, up, and running.

[dma550]

Cool for me! Branford is 20 minutes away.

Are you a mod friendly dealer? I'm not still in warranty, but it's nice to know a dealer's take on modifications. Also, tell me about service. How many techs are Lotus trained?

Welcome!

[staninct]

We are meeting with Lotus on Monday to iron out specifics on service, fixed ops, training, etc. I will have a better idea for you of when our service will be up and running after that. We already have the manuals and tools, but obviously need to devote a tech or two to Lotus and some fairly intensive training. I will continue to post as more info becomes available on a semi daily basis.

Oh - and we finally got the sign on the building!

[Kaliuzhkin]

Do you have a website?

[buzzy]

Originally Posted by staninct

We are meeting with Lotus on Monday to iron out specifics on service, fixed ops, training, etc. I will have a better idea for you of when our service will be up and running after that. We already have the manuals and tools, but obviously need to devote a tech or two to Lotus and some fairly intensive training. I will continue to post as more info becomes available on a semi daily basis.

Oh - and we finally got the sign on the building!

Good luck with that. And I mean that sincerely.

Service can make or break you - just do a search for the names of other CT dealers on here...

[staninct]

Originally Posted by Kaliuzhkin

Do you have a website?

Hoping the website will be up this week.

[staninct]

Inventory updated in Dealer section! Website templates look awesome, that should be coming along very soon!

[ivan1]

Originally Posted by scottyb

Nice to have a new Dealer in the state, but damn.. Branford that is like half way to the casinos.

Please tell us when your service is 100% trained, up, and running.

+1

any plans to have loaner cars for service customers?

[dma550]

The loaner thing really stinks @ other dealers in these days of lower margins. My BMW has been trapped for warranty service now for 7 days, and is likely to take another week. Their policy? Loaners only if you bought the car there. Bah.

[ivan1]

Originally Posted by dma550

The loaner thing really stinks @ other dealers in these days of lower margins.

agreed..but giving the sparsity of the Lotus service network, and the distance some of us would have to travel home, it would be a real plus to offer a loaner or at least a reduced rate rental.....

[bman6074]

Even though this is about an hour from me compared to the Watertown dealer (25min). I just may make the trip. Watertown dealer is not very good at finding problems or checking things I have ask about. It seems I have to double check there work each time I have service done. Car is still under warranty too.
Keep us posted to when your service dept opens and if you will offer a loaner. Will be tough to have someone follow me all the way there and back again.
Thanks

[staninct]

Seeing as Lotus doesn't subsidize a loaner program, and the fact that most dealers have multiple sports/exotic franchises, I'm not surprised to hear this. However, after discussion with my dealer prinicipal, we will be working out some sort of loaner/rental program so you aren't stranded after driving such a distance to our store. I will post more details as they become available. But as it stands now, we will have a loaner program for service customers.