A&Q about Lotus
Q:
Wow! Sorry to hear. I am just about in need of some tires, so this gives me some food for thought. Again, sorry!
A:
CRAP!
I’d let them know that you’ll be happy to give them the keys to the car they just totaled as soon as you take delivery of your new Elise. I’m sure it could be fixed and might appear to be fine even a few years down the road. But nothing on that car will ever line up properly again. It looks like the whole exterior of the car was tweaked rotationally at least a millimeter or so. What’s that going to do for the points the body was mounted to?
So, despite having instructions to use the points under the diffuser, it looks like they had the car on the lift with the 4 visible mounts and it appeared fine to them. Then they took the front tire off and the car slid off due to weight shift. They did this entirely wrong (of course) but they may have been ok if they would have just taken the rear tires off first.
The first time I took my Elise to a 3 rd party shop I did the work with them. The next time I took the diffuser off before I brought the car in.
I’m considering taking just the wheels and new rubber in next time I go just so I can avoid any possibility of this type of horrible car tragedy.
I'd be a lot more pissed than you seem to be ...
A:
Don't forget the glued joints on the frame may have been compromised and the strength and safety of the vehicle may not be known until an accident. As I said earlier, fight for a new one!
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ouch! so, where are the correct jack points???
A:
That really sucks, my condolences.
Thank you for posting this as it is a mistake any of us could have made. Now we know.
A:
Damn man. So sorry to hear.
This clinches it. I'm leaving my car on jacks at home, and taking in the wheels seperately. I did this with the Porsches, because the stress of watching them was too much... and they hate me probably as a result. lol
A:
Originally Posted by asng
ouch! so, where are the correct jack points???
It is my humble opinion that there are NO correct jack points for putting the car on a 4 pt lift!
xtn
A:
wow, i am sorry to see this happen! but congrats on the new lotus you'll be getting, i wouldn't accept any less!
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It looks like Goodyear just bought themselves a Lotus. I'd lobby heavily for a brand new car. That thing got stressed to the max. I'm so sorry for your stress!
Tom
A:
Caption: "Qball gets his new Forcedfed 700 installed and pops a wheely on the Dyno!"
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I can only imagine what kind of noise it made falling..
A:
Originally Posted by qball
Caption: "Qball gets his new Forcedfed 700 installed and pops a wheely on the Dyno!"
If you bring in the wheels and have the rubber installed sans car, is there any balancing, etc. that needs to be done once the wheels are placed back on?
A:
Originally Posted by SAElise
If you bring in the wheels and have the rubber installed sans car, is there any balancing, etc. that needs to be done once the wheels are placed back on?
Yes, they can be balanced there without the car. Balanced is balanced.
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A:
OMMFG! I am not sure if I would have cried or punched someone. Thank God you were not there! I am just stunned looking at that.
Question for you all...I have a friend who has his own 12,000 sf shop and he lets me use it. I had wondered the exact same thing about the balance of the car. I read the book carefully and decided to use the 2 far front jacking points and the 2 rear, that you cannot see...centered the jacks around the 2 larger bolts that hold on the back part of the diffuser. I used these points when changing tires and putting on my exhaust. I change the oil while backed up on ramps...so taking off the diffuser cover (or whatever) is a non-issue. Take a look at the pics below. Does this look right to you or am I too, seconds away from catastrophy?
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I'd be pushing for a total. Besides hanging it from the front suspension , the hole in the passenger floor is now a hole in the chassis. That part doesn't unbolt and is not replaceable.
Also, it looks like the wrecker straps that were wrapped around the front a-arms did the damage to the winglets on the front of the clam, and there is surely damage to the rest of the front clam from the straps pushing everything back to the cabin.
I sure do hope their insurance is really good. Especially after you explained it to them, and left the manual showing the proper lift points.
Me, I would have stayed with the car, and made sure that they lifted one side at a time, and change out those two tires before lifting the other side. Unfortunately we tend to learn life's lessons the hard way.
A:
Wow - I am physically ill just looking at those pictures. So sorry - even if a new car comes out of this it's a terrible experience. 10 bottles of Lomotil to the guy who did it - STAT.
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Maybe the reason it happened to you and not me...the sport wheels are heavier than the touring wheels? They came nowhere even close to putting the rear ones in the correct spot!
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About 2 years ago a similar thing happened to a guys Corvette at a dealership (oil change) in Daly City CA. The outcome was some lawyers talking to lawyers, lots of nasty letters between the owner and the owner of the dealership and after months of negotiation and getting close to litigation the dealer offered compensation that equaled the cost of replacing the vehicle and the owner located a new car that he was happy with.
If there's a hole in the floor, then the chassis is toast. The floor panel is bonded in and can not be replaced.
Kiyoshi