Interior Exterior
Q:
Here it is.
The only paint damage on the car is in exactly the spot where the piece that Lotus supposedly includes with the car goes.
And my car doesn't have that piece installed nor was it in the car when it was given to me.
My dealer had delivered 11 cars before mine.
So who's responsible for fixing this? The dealer for not correctly preping my car for delivery?
Thats what I am going to pursue. They have been square shooters so far, clearly the damaged area wouldn't have been messed up if they had installed the clear pieces Lotus ships with the cars. Wonder what happened to mine?
A:
Man, I sure was expecting a LOT more based on your description and level of alarm. You made it sound like the fenders were about to be worn through.
That's within the realm of touch-up and Langka, then the clear-bra.
--Josh
A:
Joecool,
What the heck dude? You cheesed out and didn't get the Starshield so now YOU should have to pay for any "damages". Why do we Americans think that the manufacturer should keep the car looking like new? It is what it is..
I don't think that Lotus includes any standard Starshield patches in those areas. Am I wrong?
Does anyone know where you can get the trick looking black rubber pads on the 1/4 panels that I have seen on the Lotus Sport Exiges??
HRM/COM!
A:
Man, I sure was expecting a LOT more based on your description and level of alarm. You made it sound like the fenders were about to be worn through.
That's within the realm of touch-up and Langka, then the clear-bra.
--Josh
It looks a lot worse in person.
A:
Joecool,
What the heck dude? You cheesed out and didn't get the Starshield so now YOU should have to pay for any "damages". Why do we Americans think that the manufacturer should keep the car looking like new? It is what it is..
I don't think that Lotus includes any standard Starshield patches in those areas. Am I wrong?
Well, your incorrect. Lotus includes two pieces of clear plastic protectant for all cars specifically for this part of the car regardless if star shield is ordered of not. The dealers are suppose to install them.
Not only was mine not installed, it wasn't even in the car when I got it.
A:
When I first received my Elise I only had 1 side of the protection installed. I didn't notice it until my first washing and even then already had a few nicks on the unprotected side. After calling my dealership and asking why only 1 side was protected they told me that Lotus isn't going to install these little protections anymore and I was lucky to have the 1! Soooo, I'm not sure if you are supposed to even have ANY protection on your car. It depends on the build according to my dealer. You may be SOL...or...if you were supposed to have the protection I would think you have a case. Good Luck!
A:
When I first received my Elise I only had 1 side of the protection installed. I didn't notice it until my first washing and even then already had a few nicks on the unprotected side. After calling my dealership and asking why only 1 side was protected they told me that Lotus isn't going to install these little protections anymore and I was lucky to have the 1! Soooo, I'm not sure if you are supposed to even have ANY protection on your car. It depends on the build according to my dealer. You may be SOL...or...if you were supposed to have the protection I would think you have a case. Good Luck!
That sounds like the dealer was finding an excuse not to pay for the damage to your car. Seems absurd that Lotus would intentionally only give you one piece.
Ancient Wedgie and my car are only a few VIN numbers away from each other. He got his pieces, I should have gotten mine.
A:
FWIW, given the range of damage (all the way to the edge, for instance), not sure the small shield pieces would have protected against 100% of those...
ed
A:
FWIW, given the range of damage (all the way to the edge, for instance), not sure the small shield pieces would have protected against 100% of those...
ed
I'm going to the Rhino dealer in the morning. If his price is reasonable, I'm just going to do that. Then it will be fixed for good.
A:
I asked my dealer today about those shield pieces, and she said that Lotus stopped installing those at the factory, and that they would not reimburse the dealer for installation costs.
They said Lotus stopped installing because so many people wanted the Starshield, and that starshield should not be installed over them, and they should be removed before SS is installed. She further said that removing them has a high liklelihood of paint damage.
She said they don't install them, are not required to as dealer prep, that it is optional and the customer can pay to have them installed, but again they counsel customers contemplating SS to not have them installed.
I don't think you have much recourse unless you can prove that installing those items is part of the pre delivery checklist for the dealer.
A:
all this ruckus for that???.......just wait another 6 months, the front of your car will look like the rocker panels too.
A:
I don't think you have much recourse unless you can prove that installing those items is part of the pre delivery checklist for the dealer.
I've seen the PDI checklist, and it's not on there.
A:
Dunno Joe,
It just sounds to me like your looking for any angle to get the dealer/lotus to pay for the damage, you opted not to get starshield due to concerns with yellowing, so you had some knowledge of the whole starshield issue. Now you'be narrowed down your complaints to just the area that would have been covered by the smaller film pieces.
You were on here how many months before you got your car? And lurked how many months before that, I just find it tough to swallow you had NO IDEA of any issues with not getting the starshield, hell I probably posted a hundred messages related to that issue just myself.
Get it fixed, put on the starshield and motor on dude.
BTW> That areas far larger than the first size decals that were used with the cars until later in production.
Please stop trying to blame someone else for you lack of judgement in not opting for the film in the first place.
Chris
A:
Dunno Joe,
It just sounds to me like your looking for any angle to get the dealer/lotus to pay for the damage, you opted not to get starshield due to concerns with yellowing, so you had some knowledge of the whole starshield issue. Now you'be narrowed down your complaints to just the area that would have been covered by the smaller film pieces.
You were on here how many months before you got your car? And lurked how many months before that, I just find it tough to swallow you had NO IDEA of any issues with not getting the starshield, hell I probably posted a hundred messages related to that issue just myself.
Get it fixed, put on the starshield and motor on dude.
Chris
How do you figure? Lotus doesn't tell me that my car will be damaged if I don't buy the star shield and even goes as far as supplying the protective pieces that are impacted the most.
Then my dealer doesn't install them.
Its not that I'm "looking for an angle" its just that there are many angles to this issue. I still maintain that Lotus should make the star shield a mandatory piece.
Regardless, I'm probably going to do the Rhino liner.
A:
Please stop trying to blame someone else for you lack of judgement in not opting for the film in the first place.
Chris
That is the fundamental issue here.
Dealer - You want the star shiled?
Me - No, I'm worried it may yellow over time. Plus how do you wax it?
Dealer - OK
Now clearly Lotus KNOWS there is an issue. There is a responsibility of the manufacturer to make sure the customer is aware that the car will be damaged if the option is not taken.
Clearly Lotus should make it a mandatory item. There is no justifiable reason to leave a part off the car that must be there to avoid damage. NONE. Lotus's choices were 1) Install it and force the customer to take it or 2) Make it optional and then the customer may opt out but will eventually have to get it because the car will be completely f'ed up in a short period of time.
Your going to argue that Lotus made the right decision?
There is not a single example on any car made today that if you don't take an option, the car self destructs. NONE. Yet some here try to defend that.
I wish my customers were so blindly dedicated. I can't imagine the hell I would go through if my products self destructed.
A:
If you go with the Rhino Liner, be sure to let us know how it looks. I assume that you're going to go with the body-colored version? If done right, it should look pretty good.
--Josh
A:
Joe.
You must not have been on the board, the hue and cry of the people when they heard some dealers were going to install the starshield automatically. People were screaming bloody murder, they weren't going to pay for it blah blah blah.....
This is the type of mentality that results in stepladders with 50 stickers on them warning of all the dangers of using a ladder. I assume you joined etalk some months before you got your car, was the purpose of that purely social or were you looking for information? Some of the guys on this list know more about this car than anyone walking. You must be one of the last people in the world that thinks the average car salesman knows more about the car then the buyer. In most cases, the dealer is the last person you go to to find out details about the car, especially a car with the Elise quirks/character.
Those pics don't look like self destruction to me. Hell, I knew 20 miles into driving my car and listening to the gravel pinging off the sides, I'd made the right decision on getting star shield.
Chris
A:
Those pics don't look like self destruction to me. Hell, I knew 20 miles into driving my car and listening to the gravel pinging off the sides, I'd made the right decision on getting star shield.
Chris
And one would think there was a problem after noticing a couple of chips on either side...
A:
I agree with you Chris. This guy is the classic no win customer. If Lotus required him to take starshield, he'd complain. Now that his car has some stone chips because of his decision not to take it, it's a problem with Lotus...
Roy
A:
I agree with you Chris. This guy is the classic no win customer. If Lotus required him to take starshield, he'd complain. Now that his car has some stone chips because of his decision not to take it, it's a problem with Lotus...
Roy
Thats bull****.
Had they explained to me why it was necessary I would have been happy to have it on the car.
I've never owned a car that threw up rocks that damaged the sides. The only time I have ever seen damage is when the rocks came from other cars. Thats what I thought the star shield was for - protection from other cars. I figured as a safe driver that doesn't tailgate, the star shield wasn't necessary. Had I been properly informed, this wouldn't even be an issue.
The fact remains that Lotus will sell you a car today that we know will self distruct over a short period of time. Thats irresponsible, period. The star shield should not be optional. For those who choose not to get it, the dealers have an obligation to advise them of the resulting damage.
To suggest that Lotus' customers are responsible for searching the internet to find a problem before they buy the car - one that Lotus is fully aware of - is absurd. You might have some weight to that argument if just one single magazine that reviewed the car made mention of the problem, but none ever has. It was just a few people in an obsecure couple of threads on a single forum. You CAN'T expect everyone who buys an Elise to stumble on that info before they make their decision.
Lotus knows the facts. Until they share it with the customer, they are not disclosing ALL the information the customer needs to make an INFORMED decision.