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Newport European Update?

3K views 41 replies 17 participants last post by  dechien 
#1 ·
For Those Concerned:

I made my every other month phonecall down to Newport European yesterday and was told the following:

1. Dana is no longer employed at the establishment. (I wonder f this is a normal turnover within the industry. For those of you who recall Christine.)
2. I spoke to Doug.
3. Doug advised me that thus far they have delivered 4 customer cars, and anticipate 4-5 cars a month.
4. My faxed in specs on March 4th has been received by Lotus, but there is no order number, build number, nor vin number of any kind.

Does anyone have any further information? I am just amazed that Lotus has had my specs since March, yet failed to do anything about it for the past six months.

Also, does 4-5 cars seem like a large allocation of cars? I had completely expected Newport European to receive a much larger allocation than most other dealerships. Fox Motors has 9??

Any input will be highly appreciated.

- dechien
 
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#2 ·
Curious... what did they tell you, your wait list number was?

P.S. I think turnover in the sales department at dealerships is pretty common.
 
#3 ·
Wait List Number?

Hi, Randy:
My wait list number last October was #32. This past March, when I was asked to fax in my specs, agree to pay over MSRP, and allow my deposit to become non-refundable, I was advised in writing that I am #29. I actually didn't check to see if I had moved up (down) on the list.
Given that you are the Guru, Yoda Master of our board, would you happen to have any data? Esepecially as to how Lotus allocates these order/build/vin numbers?
Having read the amount of time it takes for Lotus to build the vehicle, test it, and finally ship it to me in the West Coast, I'm highly disturbed when I think of the "If Lotus started building my car today..." scenario.
- dechien
P.S. As a logical assumption, they wouldn't start asking for new individuals on the list to spec out their cars unless they have filled the existing list, would they? Or are they independent schools of thought?
 
#5 ·
Re: Wait List Number?

dechien said:
Hi, Randy:
My wait list number last October was #32. This past March, when I was asked to fax in my specs, agree to pay over MSRP, and allow my deposit to become non-refundable, I was advised in writing that I am #29. I actually didn't check to see if I had moved up (down) on the list.
Given that you are the Guru, Yoda Master of our board, would you happen to have any data? Esepecially as to how Lotus allocates these order/build/vin numbers?
Having read the amount of time it takes for Lotus to build the vehicle, test it, and finally ship it to me in the West Coast, I'm highly disturbed when I think of the "If Lotus started building my car today..." scenario.
- dechien
P.S. As a logical assumption, they wouldn't start asking for new individuals on the list to spec out their cars unless they have filled the existing list, would they? Or are they independent schools of thought?
I have posted about some of this stuff...specially allocations. There is a real possibility that at 29, you are not in the system at Lotus yet, even though the dealer took the order.
 
#6 ·
dechien said:

3. Doug advised me that thus far they have delivered 4 customer cars, and anticipate 4-5 cars a month.
4. My faxed in specs on March 4th has been received by Lotus, but there is no order number, build number, nor vin number of any kind.
I don't think it's a coincidence that this is the same story I get from Desert Euro. I'm in the same "no order number, build number, VIN number, delivery date.." bin, and I'm in the teens.

Then it occurs to me.. I could fax my specs to Lotus too and say "they've received it"! I could also fax them my wish-list for the '07 car, my stock pics for Q4 '04, and the plans to a toy helicopter. Doesn't mean they have any use for them..

Right now I'm inclined to believe that DE/NE simply haven't been asked for more orders because they're just not getting many cars. I was actually surprised and reassured to hear that DE actually received (two?) more cars this week after the initial Demo+2. Hopefully the deliveries continue.

At the current rate, they would have had to start building my car by now, though, which doesn't add up.

Keep us posted if you learn anything.

In fact -- a good question might be.. has anyone ever received an order number from DE or NE? Maybe they just don't give them out and make up stories instead. That's my optimistic thought for today -- they're getting harder to come by.
 
#7 ·
Re: Re: Newport European Update?

Ground Loop said:
I was actually surprised and reassured to hear that DE actually received (two?) more cars this week after the initial Demo+2. Hopefully the deliveries continue.
Wow, that really is good news. I'm not really sure what is up with the ordering situation but as long as the cars keep coming things can't be too bad. It fits with what Shay2nak was told, about three cars a month.
 
#8 ·
Re: Re: Re: Newport European Update?

andykeck said:
Wow, that really is good news. I'm not really sure what is up with the ordering situation but as long as the cars keep coming things can't be too bad. It fits with what Shay2nak was told, about three cars a month.
whew, thank you Jesus!!! :clap: :bow:
hopefully they'll get more!

what's up with NE losing salespeople? Somethin' strange in da neighborhood. Who ya gonna call? Sorry no one to help us here!
 
#13 ·
I'm curious.. has anyone at DE or NE been told their Lotus order number, ever? How about VIN?

I'm just curious to know if they ever reveal it, or keep it secret right up until delivery.

I'm still trying to figure out if it's "we don't know because it wasn't ordered" or "don't want to tell you the order number"

If I could find out that someone, anyone, received their order number before delivery, at least I would know what to expect later.

Still trying to piece together the timeline here..
 
#14 ·
Ground Loop said:
I'm curious.. has anyone at DE or NE been told their Lotus order number, ever? How about VIN?

I'm just curious to know if they ever reveal it, or keep it secret right up until delivery.

I'm still trying to figure out if it's "we don't know because it wasn't ordered" or "don't want to tell you the order number"

If I could find out that someone, anyone, received their order number before delivery, at least I would know what to expect later.

Still trying to piece together the timeline here..

I have tried to get the VIN # from DE a couple times but have been unsuccessful. I was able get my order # from LCU.
 
#16 ·
II-soon said:
I have tried to get the VIN # from DE a couple times but have been unsuccessful. I was able get my order # from LCU.
That's very interesting! Thanks for posting. It would imply that DE may be in the "we won't tell you" camp, which I prefer greatly to the "we didn't order" camp. :)

How did you get your Order # from LCU? Did you call the main office and the looked it up for you by name back before they clammed up with "call your dealer"? Just curious.

Thanks again.
 
#18 ·
Ground Loop said:
That's very interesting! Thanks for posting. It would imply that DE may be in the "we won't tell you" camp, which I prefer greatly to the "we didn't order" camp. :)

How did you get your Order # from LCU? Did you call the main office and the looked it up for you by name back before they clammed up with "call your dealer"? Just curious.

Thanks again.
There was a thread started by someone (forgot who) which had
the number to Gary Hagen. He is LCU westcoast Rep. I told him
DE hasn't giving ANY info in regards to my order. He then proceeded to look into his database and provided me with my order # plus telling my car was being built. After all this he said " Your dealer should have this info because I gave it to them, all the dealers."

Yup basically it means DE is a we-wont-tell kind of dealer.
 
#19 ·
Just signed on to let you in on my experience with NE. I was woking with Dana too for the past month and was informed today that he was "let go" for an unammed reason. I was calling him to schedule a test drive that I had arranged last Saturday after looking at the car. I then talked with Doug and he infromed me that they were not giving test drives because they were trying to keep the mileage low so they can sell the demo at a premium!! He hinted at $15k over MSRP. I then asked about leaving a deposit to try and secure a test drive and he said they are no longer taking deposits either. He was real interested in having me look at his "better" sports car (his quote) - a used Boxter-s for 40k. Needless to say I'm rather upset about my treatment at NE. If anyone knows of another dealership in the SoCal area that is less interested in their balance sheet and more interested in customer service, please let me know. I realy hope this is not typical behavior for a Lotus dealereship.
 
#20 ·
That's too funny. Let me run wild with speculation for a while. Lotus probably isn't "excited" by this dealer and the dealer will only get a couple cars a month. So they aren't going to tell customers this, because at 2 cars a month, they will only fill the first 24 cars in the next year. And if that's the case, why bother taking more deposits if they are at 50+ now. Furthermore, the demo is a for all practical purposes useless, so they probably will sell it. And based on the fact that they have next year or two worth of cars sold, they might as well switch (upsell, etc.) new customers to cars like the Boxster.

Next hypo please...

At this pace I'll get myt number 100ish car from Fox Valley way before the number 24 car is delivered to DE/NE. Not too mention I can get the full detail of my order anytime I want. And right now I can drive by the showroom to see 10 different colors. Okay enough gloating about a great dealership, but after taking so much B.S. about my selection of FVMC, I have the right to say "I told you so." It's important to select the right dealer upfront.
 
#21 ·
Newport European had another 2 cars delivered today ( I was there) and they have had at least 3 possibly 5 in the last month (before the two today) so that is 5 per month at the least...you may want to check your facts:no:
 
#22 ·
Reddirt14 said:
Okay enough gloating about a great dealership, but after taking so much B.S. about my selection of FVMC, I have the right to say "I told you so." It's important to select the right dealer upfront.
And I was supposed to do this how exactly??

Here in SoCal, I have my choice of... Symbolic, Desert Euro, or... mmm.. Newport Euro? Maybe Galpin, someday.

Did I miss any?

And I was supposed to find out who was getting Allocation by Ouija board?

Please.. the only factors I controlled were How Early and How Many Lists.. there was nothing else I could predict or do.
 
#23 ·
Ground Loop said:
And I was supposed to do this how exactly??

Here in SoCal, I have my choice of... Symbolic, Desert Euro, or... mmm.. Newport Euro? Maybe Galpin, someday.

Did I miss any?

And I was supposed to find out who was getting Allocation by Ouija board?

Please.. the only factors I controlled were How Early and How Many Lists.. there was nothing else I could predict or do.
rotfl rotfl rotfl
 
#24 ·
Wow.... Dana was let go? That's a bit unsettling but hardly surprising. I guess there are probably any number of factors that could be named (but I' m not privy to) but I suppose sales performance might be one matrix to be measured against, and dissatisfaction with work environment might be another. Unfortunately we'll never know.

Dana was the one who told me that I'm around #38 and that I might not expect my car until August or September 2005. I couldn't get a definitive number from NE, but "around 38" was the best I could get. (Not on paper, of course.)

Bob
 
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