Dimmitt vs Lotus of Jacksonville for Service

[MikeG911]

Well, it is almost time for my 1K service. I read what reviews were here about both dealers, but most are pretty dated. Anyone have any new feedback on these two?

Dimmitt wants $400 for the oil change, and Jacksonville wants $250, but I will use whoever is best for the first service - after that, I'll do it myself.

Thanks

[Icedog_16]

I can't speak for Lotus of Jax, but my last dealing (actually a few of them) with Dimmitt was less than positive and I'll leave it at that.

[JRzCarz]

No problems in past with Jax (World Import) - may have to go back there now with Josh "retiring" from Fourniers!!!!
I sometimes can catch a service day there on the return trip from Roebling Road track in Savannah, Ga.

John R

[OrlandoGT]

I've taken my Elise to Lotus of Jacksonville twice over the past 5 months.

Pat, the service manager, is helpful and knows these cars well.

I recommend taking the trip up north. Its usually 1.5-2 hours from my house on University Blvd. Keep in mind that I've had to take a rental home and pick up the car the next day on both visits. The 1K service shouldn't take that long though.

-Rich

[Speedr117]

I've had the complete opposite experience. Brian and Scott are great over at Dimmit Service. I would DEFINATELY recomend them...

[jammer3]

Originally Posted by Speedr117

I've had the complete opposite experience. Brian and Scott are great over at Dimmit Service. I would DEFINATELY recomend them...

+1 on this Scott's been really cool to deal with. Arik (the tech) has been awesome and lets me hang out in the bay and pester him while he works. He's very enthusiastic about these cars.
I've heard some of the bad about dimmitt but I've had nothing but good things happen there.

[Gregbj8]

I have had a good experience with Brian and Scott as well at Dimmitt. They will perform all of my future dealer service.

[Icedog_16]

How many of you guys recommending Dimmitt were there when Jason was the tech and, IIRC, Chris was the manager? The one female service advisor's name slips me (Jessica?) right now. The service was great then. So if you didn't have your car back then, you don't have the same basis for comparison.

I don't have anything against Brian or Scott, but I can state that the service was better under Chris than it is now and the state in which I've had my car returned to me was at times abhorrent - I only want it back at least as clean as I brought it in, which I don't think is unreasonable and which rarely came to fruition. There are other things, but again, I'm not going to go there. These are things I never had to deal with at Reeves BMW or Audi; and I would expect a Lotus dealership to meet or exceed BMW or Audi standards.

[MikeG911]

Thanks for all the info guys. I guess I will head north since they are about half the price as well.

[tcnohead]

Originally Posted by Icedog_16

....These are things I never had to deal with at Reeves BMW or Audi; and I would expect a Lotus dealership to meet or exceed BMW or Audi standards.

+1 on Reeves. Simply awesome to work with.

[oceanrory]

Disagree with icedog totally. I was a customer when Chris was the service manager, Jason was a tech and Jessica was an assistant. The service area is far superior today and Brian and Scott are incredible at their jobs. Art happens to be a wonderfully capable and thorough tech. Would not consider taking my Elise anywhere else, and I have dealt with several other service departments on another Lotus I owned when I lived in the northeast.

[N-522322]

I have used Jacksonville, they have done major warranty work for me, and have gotten everything covered by Lotus. I feel that Pat has more then likely had to go to bat for me to get some of this done. That in a service department is worth its weight in gold. I did use Dimmitt once but I did not feel 20% over MSRP on a part I requested a quote on was worth it, even with the chance to interact with Jessica.

[jammer3]

Originally Posted by Icedog_16

How many of you guys recommending Dimmitt were there when Jason was the tech and, IIRC, Chris was the manager? The one female service advisor's name slips me (Jessica?) right now. The service was great then. So if you didn't have your car back then, you don't have the same basis for comparison.

I don't have anything against Brian or Scott, but I can state that the service was better under Chris than it is now and the state in which I've had my car returned to me was at times abhorrent - I only want it back at least as clean as I brought it in, which I don't think is unreasonable and which rarely came to fruition. There are other things, but again, I'm not going to go there. These are things I never had to deal with at Reeves BMW or Audi; and I would expect a Lotus dealership to meet or exceed BMW or Audi standards.

yep i was there also with Chris and Jason. Both of them were great and it seemed the dealership as a whole were much more enthusiastic about Lotus and cars in general. There was always a ferrari, lambo or aston martin in the sales lot (rare these days). I've said it here before, Jason was great and fun to talk to while he was working. I considered following him over to the other coast just because I already had confidence in him, even though I'm only about 15 min. from Dimmitt. But, I have no complaints about Scott, I still haven't made up my mind about Brian and Arik the tec has been awesome along with earning my confidence.
Although all things considered, if it was a long drive either way, I would give Jacksonville a chance and save $150.

[jimthalheimer]

I have only had positive experiences at Dimmitt. I have been taking my Elise to them since I bought it in 05. Scott has been great, I really don't know Brian that well.

Quite a difference in cost though?

[MikeG911]

Just to close this out, I took mine into JAX today and they did a great job. Even brought in a thread form here regarding the 'u-tube' rubbing issue and they took care of putting a rubber hose on ir and resecuring it.