Compensation ?

[halfpenny]

I had my car serviced today to be told that the altenator has worn bearings and needs replacing at a cost of £260 (part only).

 

It is not covered under warranty as it is an electrical item...hmmmm....so I have left a message with Lotus Customer Services suggesting that on a 2 year old car with less than 13k miles on the clock, the altenator should not fail and am looking for a 50/50 share of the cost.

 

Does anyone have experience of taking this route ?

Am I likely for success or doomed to a lighter wallet ?

 

Cheers,

Steven

[Jonathan E]

Steven,

The cost does seem a little on the high side,is this at a Lotus dealer??

Regarding your message for Lotus customer services,I tend to agree with what your saying but I'd be surprised if you hear anything from them,best of luck though,if this isn't covered by the warranty I'd be tempted to take it to Ragtop or some other non Lotus workshop,I'm sure it would costy alot less than the price you've been quoted.

FWIW, We had to change an alternator on my Mums Rover last month(1.8 k series) the alternator cost £80 although it could be a different type on the Liz,

Might be worth asking on the bcbbs technical section I'm sure someone will be helpful.

Regards

Jon

[Scott_Mac]

Having just checked yur location, i think i know why the price was so high.....

 

Might be worth asking Nick Whale for a quote, however based on the low mileage of the car (not always good for alternators) and the fact they only offer a warranty of 1 year, i wouldn't expect much back from them....

[Kris H]

TBH I think that 2 years old with around 13k miles on the clock isn't all that low by lotus standards so it's a bit shoddy that it's gone really. There are S1s kicking about with that level of mileage.

[Scott_Mac]

Valid point... i was just trying to be the Lotus side of the argument... I'm in complete agreement, it shouldn't fail that soon, unless it is lots and lots of cold starts and short journeys, with the lights and stereo on etc... then i guess its possible, but i'd still be miffed!

[Kris H]

Bit of a thread hijack but looking at Glass' used car prices because I'm trading the other one in and it reckons that the average mileage for an elise is about 3.5 k per year, which seemed low to me.

[Jonathan E]

Kris,

Its always the same,when you buy the car the dealer will tell you that 8-10k is nothing for an Elise but in the same breath they'll tell you that your trade in has a high milage for the year because its done 4-5k a year,

Dealers GRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrr

Regards

Jon

[Kris H]

Just as well that I have no inteniton of trading in at the moment! And no, don't be mentioning the 111r.

[halfpenny]

Cheers Guys - Yes it was a Lotus dealer (and yes Scott...you guessed right !) total bill for A service, new pads, fixing driveshaft leak (under warranty) and the altenator was £817 !!!!

 

Hopefully by the time it needs it's next service, it'll be out of warranty and I can go to an independent.

 

Oh....and to add to the trade in value question - I drove the 111R Saturday - superb car !! and so asked about a trade-in on mine. £17k......

[Scott_Mac]

Ouch, on both counts....

 

That is one expensive service... I had a C done for less than that, and other bits!

 

Piss take trade in value too... i guess they don't want to take too many K engined cars in as the 111R seems to be doing rather well in the press so they probably anticipate selling those more....

[Maxf]

Id ask around several dealers regarding trade ins - I phoned around regarding trading mine in for an Exige and got offered between 17-19k. CD Brammel who I bought the car from in Nov/Dec for 21k offered me 17k - won't be going back there in a hurry/ever.

[Simon G]

I had my alternator replaced under warrenty after about 6 months from new. They suffer from over heating due to their location in the engine bay. Mine didn't fail, but was on it's way. Buy one yourself from Rover and get any spanner man to fit it, pretty straight forward, DON'T PAY DEALER LABOUR RATES! If you are out of warrenty I don't think you'll get any joy with Lotus, but it's worth a go.

 

You can buy uprated alternators, but they are expensive.

 

Your A service cost is unbelievable, they mugged you in broad daylight.

 

Always try and sell your car privately, you will get a few £K more than a trade in, when the weather picks up it shouldn't be too difficult if you are realistic.

[Scott_Mac]

You can get alternator heat shields for the S1... dunno if they would fit or if they do an S2 version... i wondered what the funny thing was in my car and it turned out to be that... i've had no problems with my car