What Lotus USA say about oil grade
Ridgemanron said:
A while back I mentioned that Manhattan Motor Cars
was using Mobil 1's - 0W-40 when doing Elise oil changes
and the Lotus Rep (Mike Fisher) said that Lotus had no
problem with it. Personally, I've been using the Castrol
5W-40 'fully synthetic' and it hold up really well. Wouldn't
have any worries if they ran out of it near me and I had
to settle for Mobil-1. If their 5-40 was available, that would
be my preference, but in the event it wasn't, I'd use the
OW -40 by Mobil-1.
Below is the result of my communications with Lotus Cars USA
I am Michael Hayes
The e-mail to Mr. James I found in this forum
Andy plant is no longer at Lotus
Dear Mr. Hayes,
In response to your e-mail as per Andy Plant and our Owners manual Lotus Cars USA only recommends that a fully synthetic 5W/40 oil is used for oil change intervals. As Andy stated to Mr. James the one oil change using the mobile one 10W/30 synthetic oil (and in your case the 0W/40 synthetic oil) surely did not cause any damage resulting in durability or any warranty issues, but technically they should have only used 5W/40 synthetic oil as per the recommended lubricants as noted in the owners handbook. Our FSE has been in contact with Palm Beach Motors and the change has been made to use this lubricant in our vehicles. Shammar the service manager at Palm Beach Motors Cars is offering to have you bring your vehicle back in and they will change out the oil to the synthetic 5W/40. You just need to call and schedule an appointment. I do apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. If you have any other questions feel free to contact me via e-mail or my direct dial phone number 770-476-6554.
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From: michaelh
Subject: Re: Recommended Oil
Hello Sandra,
Your e-mail seems to contadict what you had told me yesterday regarding the acceptability of using 0w-40 that your service representitive had said was acceptable. You are now saying that Lotus Cars in the UK are saying that only 5w-40 is acceptabe, therefore where does that leave me when PalmBeach Motor Cars used 0w-40 on my Elise. I am very concerned about durability and warranty issues in the future. Below I have pasted the e-mail from Andy plant.
Your response would be much appreciated.
Regards,
Michael Hayes
Good afternoon Mr. James
Thank you for your email, as per our telephone conversation today, Lotus
Cars USA only recommends that a fully synthetic 5W/40 oil is used after
the running in period oil has been drained at the aftersales service.
I'm sure that no damage will occur due to the use of Mobile 1 10W-30 as
used by [your dealer], but technically they should have only used 5W/40 as
per the recommended lubricants page as noted in the owners handbook.
[Your dealer] is rectifying this situation with their oil
representative as we speak and has said that they will happily carry out a
free oil change when they have the correct grade oil
I would recommend calling them in a week or so if they have not contacted
you by then.
Regards,
Andy Plant
Warranty Manager
----- Original Message -----
From: Sandra Mothershed
Dear Mr. Hayes,
Thank you for your patience in waiting for a response regarding the recommended oil for your Lotus car. We have received official word that the
Havoline Synthetic 5W/40 is what is recommended for oil change interval for Lotus cars.
The FSE will recommend that Palm Beach Motors use the fully synthetic 5W-40 on any of our cars.
This is the only viscosity that we have tested in the engine, so that is why it is the only one that is approved.
Testing other oils is quite expensive and labor intensive as the engines must be run for long times and then inspected, I believe they test over
100,000 mile equivalent. This is why only one oil is usually tested and approved.
Sorry for the confusion on yesterday. Thank you for contacting us regarding this matter.
Best Regards,
Sandra Mothershed
Customer Service Coordinator
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From: Sandra Mothershed
Subject: RE: Recommended Oil
Good Morning Mr. Hayes,
I was unable to receive the attachment you sent from Elise Talk, however I am awaiting an official response from the UK regarding this matter and I will be contacting you later on today.
Best Regards
Sandra Mothershed