[Sownman]

I just received a call from Joe at Galpin. He is refunding deposits
but keeping his list intact, "just in case". It does not appear
that Galpin will become a dealer. Joe suggested calling South Bay
BMW. I thanked him for his efforts and told him I was already aware of South Bay.

Galpin was an able and willing participant in trying to make this work out. Galpin could have been selling cars the 3rd week of September when Gary Hagen had promised them. How sad Lotus has so little interest in customers in Los Angeles. Now we wait again. Wait for South Bay to finish construstion. Wait for another wait list to start. Wait to see if THAT deal with LCUSA finalizes. Wait to see if South Bay charges MSRP. Then, wait for cars to dribble in.

Thanks Lotus

 

[MattG]

Did Joe say why the deal with LCU fell through?

 

[Sownman]

Did Joe say why the deal with LCU fell through?

IIRC his words were "we can't come to agreement at this time"
Yes, the deal fell though.

Steve

 

[dez]

I just received a call from Joe at Galpin. He is refunding deposits...Thanks Lotus

Got the same call. Damn, guess I'm now officially out after >1yr at Symbolic and then Galpin.

Good luck to everyone and happy motoring.

 

[patavakian]

Sorry man. :-(

 

[jml1952]

Re: Re: The Galpin deal

Got the same call. Damn, guess I'm now officially out after >1yr at Symbolic and then Galpin.

Good luck to everyone and happy motoring.

There are cars to be had. Just check around. Or wait a year and used cars will be available for even less.

 

[shay2nak]

holy sh*t. All I can say is that I'm glad I didn't jump to conclusions and pull my deposit from DE to place a new one with Galpin.

 

[rtking]

That sucks. I don't know why Lotus wouldn't carry through with Galpin. They're a high profile dealership with a lot of clout. Thanks to Joe Van De Veere for being honest with everyone. I can't say enough good things about Joe.

Bob

 

[Ground Loop]

Wow, that really sucks. Sucks for CUSTOMERS, you know, the little people Lotus USA pisses on in their torrid affairs with dealerships.

 

[Modern Wedgie]

You know what, I am so sick of hearing the blame game. Damn Lotus this and damn lotus that. In the end, it was Galpin's fault for taking deposits BEFORE they were a legitimate dealership. So if anyone is to blame in this situation, it's Galpin.

 

[Ancient Wedgie]

If you check out the reactions that both MW and I had from the charmer at the Aston-Martin corral at the LA auto show, you know we held a healthy bit of skepticism about the outcome of this "deal."

The guy seemed to be working hard to convince himself we were buying his rosy scenario, and he was bragging a bit too much about Galpin being the BIGGEST.

Now it looks like the smallest didn't cotton to whatever "bargain" the BIGGEST was offering 'em.

Come on people. Who's the likely villain in this picture? Overbearing Galpin, or Lotus who is aspiring to break into the biggest market in the country?

Whatever Galpin was offering would have probably hurt you hopeful L.A. <s>marks</s> customers.

 

[Sownman]

You know what, I am so sick of hearing the blame game. Damn Lotus this and damn lotus that. In the end, it was Galpin's fault for taking deposits BEFORE they were a legitimate dealership. So if anyone is to blame in this situation, it's Galpin.

Really now, Is it Galpins fault there is no dealer in LA at all ? Just how long has the fact that Symbolic Bev Hills was going under been public knowledge ? Last Christmas ? How much longer do you think Lotus knew before it was public knowledge ? Lotus hasn't done crap to serve people in this town. Yes it's true that Galpin could have not taken deposits, but they believed the deal was going to happen. I believed it was going to happen. I spoke to Gary Hagen who told me "The deal is 90% set" it sounded like he believed it was going to happen. It should have happened, then South Bay could have become a dealer as well. I think we're in the ballpark of 11 million people here now. Ya think two dealers would be too much ? We still don't have one dealer. We're waiting for construction then waiting to wait. You're driving a car around. Chris has been driving a car around for nearly 4 months. I'm truely happy for both of you, but it would be nice if we could just get a dealer and a demo we could look at and drive. You're off base MW.

Steve

 

[mact3333]

If you check out the reactions that both MW and I had from the charmer at the Aston-Martin corral at the LA auto show, you know we held a healthy bit of skepticism about the outcome of this "deal."

The guy seemed to be working hard to convince himself we were buying his rosy scenario, and he was bragging a bit too much about Galpin being the BIGGEST.

Now it looks like the smallest didn't cotton to whatever "bargain" the BIGGEST was offering 'em.

Come on people. Who's the likely villain in this picture? Overbearing Galpin, or Lotus who is aspiring to break into the biggest market in the country?

Whatever Galpin was offering would have probably hurt you hopeful L.A. <s>marks</s> customers.

Now really, how was Galpin going to hurt us??...By giving us cars at MSRP in the biggest car mkt but with no dealership???...Galpin lost the deal because LCUSA didnt like the location of the proposed site, they wanted Galpin...If either Volvo/Jag didnt balk at Lotus coming into the nicer showroon, Galpin would indeed be a dealer...Joe at galpin has always been upfront and honest but more importantly, he has always taken the TIME to keep us informed...Southbay will probably get the dealership because the owner is friends with John English...geez, that makes alot of sense, lets bring in Lotus to steal away M3 buyers...now we have to go through this all over again with Southbay BMW...will say this, it does appear the few that defend LCUSA on perrenial basis are the ones that either have inside connections or got early cars...if I had my car, I probably would have a diffferent view on this and the thruth is prob. somewhere in the middle...

 

[patavakian]

Rest assured South Bay will be offering the Elise at MSRP as well...

PA

 

[mact3333]

This mentality of the people who have their cars not having a right to voice thoughts opinions is getting carried to an absurd extreme. It would seem it's OK for someone to whine and moan all day long, once they have their cars they lose the right to say anything, boggles the mind.

I find this almost as absurd as the "conspiracy theorists" who think that this was all a cleverly hatched plot by Lotus to screw ALL deposit holders, give me a break.

Chris
AND yes it's easy for me to say I DO have my car and YES I will continue to post my opinion, would you care for some cheese with your whine sir?????

How humorous Chris...didnt recall anyone was saying you didnt have a right to an opinion???...conspiracy???...huh???...what are you talking about?...all we wanted was for Galpin to be a dealer like LCUSA said they were going to be...geez, seems you were the one whining when your friend got fired before you got your car, but after you meet John English and get your car, all is good again???...geez, wonder how you became the first person to get an Elise in the US???...Chris, yes, we w/out cars are whining abit but dont take us too seriously cause its only a car and we do realize that...we are just voicing our opinion/biases and venting, thats all...this is still ok isnt it???....

OK, am I banned now???.... .

 

[etypeiii]

No post I've seen so far indicates why this deal fell through. So why does everyone assume Lotus is at fault? Knowing the way big dealerships work, and their relative ethics, I'd opine that it is more likely Galpin wanted something Lotus didn't want to give.

Use Occam's Razor here. What's the simplest theory that fits the facts we have?

A. Lotus really wants more dealers.
B. Lotus has no presence in what is likely the largest local market for it in the USA.
C. Galpin took deposits before any agreement was ever signed.
D. The agreement never happened.

Unless I hear additional facts (Hale wants to give the dealership to a relative in LA, owner of Galpin had an affair with his wife, Lotus wants Galpin to take 50 Esprits on inventory, etc.) I don't see why Lotus is getting the blame. Other than the fact people are unhappy with Lotus already and just want to pile on.

As someone who doesn't have any "attachment" to Galpin, I'd say if it were Lotus' fault, maybe they did want them to take a bunch of Esprits. But if anything below board has happened, it seems to me Galpin's the one that has been misleading customers by taking deposits. Are people getting interest on those deposits? Did Lotus promise that Galpin would be a dealer?

I'm just saying, "why assume Galpin is the good guy here?" Are people just believing what they want to believe?




DLY

 

[MattG]

Lotus hasn't done crap to serve people in this town.

What, like it's your *right* to have a Lotus dealer nearby? California already has it so much better than other parts of this country when it comes to Lotus dealers.

Do you think LCU is blind to the market potential in LA and isn't do everything they possibly can to have a strong presence in that market?

We don't know *why* the deal fell through - if it was Lotus, or if it was Galpin.

 

[grudkin]

I doubt anyone is really suggesting some kind of Lotus 'conspiracy' against L.A. or Galpin....

It's just disappointing that a large urban market is not well-served at the moment -- certainly it's disppointing for those of us in L.A. who are waiting for cars (for months/years), while watching dealers flip Elises on E-bay/sell cars to high bidders.

It's hard for me to see this situation as anything other than a shortcoming on Lotus' part -- poor planning/execution in a huge market. If Lotus were on the 'Apprentice,' they'd be hearing the phase, 'You're Fired!' It's a major F-up in distribution to the customers, and it means money is being lost to Lotus/Proton

I remain hopeful that redemption will be forthcoming, but my patience is not limitless. I am trying to give Lotus my money, here -- why is it so hard?

 

[shay2nak]

Rest assured South Bay will be offering the Elise at MSRP as well...

PA

why the hell is Lotus going after BMW (a competitor) business? Lotus should use Range Rover of Encino on Ventura Blvd near Haskell Ave. They used to sell Jags and I think at one time in the past Astons. There are lots of rich people there even though it may not look like it.


Did Galpin ever get anything from Lotus as far as literature or even a demo car?

 

[Sownman]

We do know the deal is dead and we do know pretty much why.

Galpin had signed paperwork and started taking deposits. They planned to add Lotus to the "Prestige" showroom with Jag, Volvo, Astin Martin. The part we dont know for certain is this...
Either Jag or Volvo refused to allow Lotus to share space with them in that showroom. Joe Vandervere wouldn't say which car company it was however from his description I get the distinct sense it was Volvo. Galpin tried to negotiate this with no success. It seems the contracts that dealers must sign give car companies a lot of say in which other brands the dealers can carry.

Galpin promised Lotus to build them their own showroom in the future (1 or 2 years) Galpin wanted to sell Lotus at another location away from the Prestige showroom until the Lotus showroom was complete. My guess is that they wanted to do it
at the Santa Clarita location, but that is just a guess. This was unacceptable to English, or perhaps he just discovered his pal at South Bay BMW could and would sell cars.

Galpin did not back out on this, Lotus did. Lotus should have had Galpin, or South Bay or Symbolic, or some damn deal in place for an LA dealer by last May when the cars were supposed to come out. Lotus is not responsible for Volvo (or Jag) putting the kabosh
on the Galpin Prestige showroom, however they are VERY responsible for the fact that deals for dealers were still being looked at and tinkered with in September rather than finalized last spring.

Steve