[jds62f]

Does anyone know why there is a 2 to 3 month wait on rear clams? My Elise has been at specialty car craft for a month and Henry the one keeping me informed says that when he contacted lotus there is a long wait for both the rear and front clams nationwide. Just curious on if anyone knew why.

Perhaps you haven't been keeping up on Lotus news? I guess I don't know the answer for sure but my assumption is that lack of sales, disruptions in direction, disruption in leadership and other things have caused problems all over the company, including but not limited to supply chain issues.

 

[bobford]

Do you know it will only be another 2 or 3 months? I would consider that good news. I've been waiting 2 months now and would not be surprised if it were several more. I have heard it is supply chain issues.

 

[sturgeongeneral]

I thought the clam backorder issues were resolved. I hate to hear it's a backorder issue yet again. Try contacting Rob at Dietchwerks. Maybe he has an extra?

 

[TauriJames]

That's what Henry was telling me. He has called a lot of different places including a gentleman named Rick from lotus. Whom I'm guessing is a man in charge. At least that's what I'm assuming. and that the wait time is 2 to 3 months, but could be longer, wasn't a definite answer but said a minimum of 2 months. I'll ask him to call that shop and see if he has any around. That would be great if there some he had.

 

[nordschleife666]

Check out deroure.com, they have a bunch of Elise S3 front and rear clam in stock

 

[Gunpilot]

My Neighbor waited 6 months for an 07 Exige. Hate to be the bearer of bad poop.

 

[Defenestrator]

They probably produce clams in batches only when they have enough backorder to make it worth it. Backorders get "resolved", but shortly afterwards there's a backorder again.

 

[Nessal]

Crazy. Makes me want to drive my exige even less.

 

[TauriJames]

I guess Henry of SCC said he is just going repair the clam and let me take it home until the new one arrives and then swap out clams and do the custom work on it. He still has no solid time frame on the arrival of the clam. It's a shame that it's not a quick and easy job. Just gotta start hiring a body guard to watch my car while I'm in the store from now on.

 

[Cicero]

Doesn't sector make a spec rear clam?...

 

[4380r]

Wow! I can get any body piece for my 40 year old Europa, including a whole body, in less than a month!

 

[TauriJames]

Yeah I guess he looked at sector but it didn't matter where he went to place an order. Because the companies that have the clams where also waiting for some to get in. But I contacted him yesterday and he says it's on order now. Just gotta wait on the delivery time.


Less than a month is what I was hoping for. You would think it would be the other way around, where the newer ones are 1 month and the older models are longer because of places that make parts for them are scarce. I just want to drive it.

 

[GatorMS_Parts]

We've had an 05/06 front clam on order since January. Still no eta as of this week.
07.5MY are obsolete/no ETA
10MY front clams are backordered as well. 10MY rear clam might be available.

 

[Slow_Polk]

That's terrible that the wait is so long. I would have thought an aftermarket company would have come in to the market since Lotus has been having this problem for a few years now.

It does look like someone in the UK is making a few decent looking replacements for the exige.
Elise Parts - Bodywork & Styling - Aerodynamics - S2 Exige Rear Clamshell
Elise Parts - Bodywork & Styling - Aerodynamics - S2 Exige Front Clamshell

 

[GatorMS_Parts]

That's terrible that the wait is so long. I would have thought an aftermarket company would have come in to the market since Lotus has been having this problem for a few years now.

It does look like someone in the UK is making a few decent looking replacements for the exige.
Elise Parts - Bodywork & Styling - Aerodynamics - S2 Exige Rear Clamshell
Elise Parts - Bodywork & Styling - Aerodynamics - S2 Exige Front Clamshell

Good info, but scared to know what shipping would be on one of those... :facepalm

 

[KeepItClear]

Im in the same boat. My 05 elise has been in the shop since january. Lotus sent an email saying even if they start production on the front clams today it would be another 2-3 months before I see it. Nobody is making those carbon fiber front clams anymore? Id buy one of those in a heartbeat.

 

[Lowtush]

Anybody that wants Elise clams OEM or Carbon fiber contact Robert and British Racing Group ASAP.

 

[me73]

Normally a manufacturer will sell the tooling and the rights to the tooling drawings to a 3rd party manufacturer for what we call "sustaining" support. This is how 4380r can still get his Europa parts. Maybe Lotus is in the process of selling or moving the tooling. That can take a long time. But I find it hard to believe they are still making S2 clams themselves anymore.

 

[wallabyguy]

We have had clams on order for Lotus Garage for months. The UK has given us en ETA which does not match with Lotus Cars USA. At this point, I think anyone's guess is as good as another. As a parts reseller the situation has been catastrophic especially with the mixed messages.

We have a 2008-10 front clam for an Elise available. We are working on some alternatives as well as this situation is so bad that one client's car was just totaled by his insurance company because he could get a clam for such a long time. The impact of this issue is very severe for all the owners.

DO NOT BUY A EURO CLAM. They are not the same as the US ones. There are difference which could very well mean you've wasted your money in the long run on top of paying silly transport costs.

Lotus Cars USA is working very hard to resolve this. I have faith in Dave, Rick and the rest of the team that they will get this solved for us as fast as possible.