[mact3333]

while I'm sure "where do I take my car for serveice of no Lotus dealer near me?" question has been given a thorough beat down, what if the problem is engine related...wonder if it would be ok to take to Toyota dealer since they are used to working on this engine?...any thoughts...nearest authorized Lotus dealer is 200 miles away so I will eventually have to deal with this.

and anyone wanting to promote the mundane "do a search" request...:no: :no: :no: :no: :no: :no: :no: :no:

 

[Patricko]

No

 

[mact3333]

ok, ive done search and i cannot find any answers...so what do people do if they have probs with their car and there isnt a Lotus dealer anywhere near you...go to shop that works on British cars???

 

[Esprit]

You'll be doing the same thing I'll be doing... The warranty is meaningless. I owned a 2000 Espirt with 5 months of warranty left but since I live 200+ miles from a dealership, I bit the bullet and worked on it myself. NO REPAIR SHOP WITHIN 200 MILES WOULD TOUCH A LOTUS!! Be careful..

You'll need to have it towed out to the dealership if you want to use the warranty... $$$$$

 

[zcar222]

My toyota dealer told me that they might be able to work on the engine if it has trouble, however no warranty would be involved. So if they could fix it, I would have to pay them full price.

If your not sure whats wrong with your car, the toyota dealer may be able to tell you whats wrong with it so you can fix it yourself. Better brush up on those mechanics skills.

-Whit

 

[andykeck]

My toyota dealer told me that they might be able to work on the engine if it has trouble, however no warranty would be involved. So if they could fix it, I would have to pay them full price.

If your not sure whats wrong with your car, the toyota dealer may be able to tell you whats wrong with it so you can fix it yourself. Better brush up on those mechanics skills.

-Whit

Unfortunately for the Toyota dealer, their diagnostic tools aren't likely to be able to read squat from the Lotus ECU. Anyway, I figure the last thing to break on the Elise will be the engine.

I think if you live a long way from the nearest Lotus dealer, you'd better use this time to get in good with the local flatbed towing guys.

 

[Lumn8r]

Unfortunately for the Toyota dealer, their diagnostic tools aren't likely to be able to read squat from the Lotus ECU. Anyway, I figure the last thing to break on the Elise will be the engine.

I think if you live a long way from the nearest Lotus dealer, you'd better use this time to get in good with the local flatbed towing guys.

Or buy a flatbed and tow vehicle.

 

[mact3333]

i am not very mechanically inclined...i can see i'm totally %$$##$!!!!...wow, i should have thought about this before i ordered...oh well..

 

[smoseley]

Unfortunately for the Toyota dealer, their diagnostic tools aren't likely to be able to read squat from the Lotus ECU.

Lotus put a whole new ECU on there, or "reprogrammed" the existing one? I don't see how it would be to their benefit to waste their time making a whole new ECU. :huh: But then again, you never know!!!

 

[smoseley]

i am not very mechanically inclined...i can see i'm totally %$$##$!!!!

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Mechanically, the car should be extremely dependable. Just change your oil every 3k miles and you should be fine.

 

[mact3333]

Unfortunately for the Toyota dealer, their diagnostic tools aren't likely to be able to read squat from the Lotus ECU. Anyway, I figure the last thing to break on the Elise will be the engine.

I think if you live a long way from the nearest Lotus dealer, you'd better use this time to get in good with the local flatbed towing guys.

Andy, i see you are from Seattle. Does Park Place have repair shop along with sales dept(ie-do they service what they sell like Tonkin does here in Portland?).

 

[mact3333]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Mechanically, the car should be extremely dependable. Just change your oil every 3k miles and you should be fine.

well, dependability issues isnt the only reason you need dealer. My previous car never broke down but I was at dealer at least 6-7 times in 2 yrs for various reasons.

 

[Donovan]

Park Place does have a service shop in the back...

 

[dez]

With no dealership in sight, I've already identified 3 local independents willing to work on the car. The Toyota dealerships here, however, have stated they would not even change the oil!

 

[andykeck]

Lotus put a whole new ECU on there, or "reprogrammed" the existing one? I don't see how it would be to their benefit to waste their time making a whole new ECU. :huh: But then again, you never know!!!

Check this link out.

When the purchase orders were cut, Toyota left it to Lotus to negotiate with Denso for the ECU and pay for its calibration, certification and any support. However, with a tight budget and less than 18 months to develop the ECU for the Elise, Denso and Toyota managers doubted the project could meet its goals. In order to save the program, Becker–with help from Lotus Cars USA CEO Arnie Johnson–purchased a U.S.-spec. Celica GT without the approval of their management and air freighted it to Lotus’s U.K. headquarters, where the Denso ECU was replaced by a Lotus-designed T4 unit built by EFI Technologies.

There's also a post by Arno around here somewhere (I swear I just had it) where there he discusses some of the potential of this ECU as far as datalogging and such goes as it has a CANBUS connector which, well, does some cool stuff I know really nothing about.

 

[andykeck]

The Toyota dealerships here, however, have stated they would not even change the oil!

No surprise there. I imagine that they see it as one giant liability. I wouldn't trust a the average Toyota dealer mechanic to figure out how to remove the undertray anyhow.

 

[andykeck]

Andy, i see you are from Seattle. Does Park Place have repair shop along with sales dept(ie-do they service what they sell like Tonkin does here in Portland?).

Yes they do. I plan to provide those guys with many gifts of beer as I want to be firmly on their good side.

 

[smoseley]

Holy crap, they actually put a different ECU on it!!!!! What a load of corporate BS !!

 

[amcmahon]

mact3333, I would do some serious inquiries with your Lotus reps. Sometimes companies will allow you to have warranty work done at other locations. You might have to foot the bill initially but they can extract the money from Lotus and compensate you. This probably won't be the case but it's something to talk to your rep about. Extended warranties often work like this. It's a tough situation and I feel for you. Some of the downfalls to owning an exotic. Luckily I live near a couple of locations. Good luck. I'd hate to see anyone be stranded with a Lotus.

 

[andykeck]

I dunno. From what I've read it sounds like a better ECU, so I suppose I'm fine with it.