Dream Machines

[zasker]

Does anyone know if Dream Machine have stopped dealing with Lotus. Doesn't seem to be much reference on thier web site to Lotus anymore?

[Stephanie Plum]

Yep they stopped being a Lotus dealer quite some time ago. I reckon that Kahn Elise abomination was the straw that broke the camels back.

[JulesV]

They has loads of Lotuses the other day when I walked past to collect my curry.

[zasker]

Just wondering cause I'd ordered a car from there middle of last year and then 3 days before they were due to deliver they e-mailed me to say they couldn't go through with the deal. However they had the car I'd ordered at the dealership and it was on thier web site up until a few weeks ago. Fortunatley got my deposit back and got a better deal somewhere else.

[JulesV]

If they have lost the Lotus franchise it is a big place to keep going by selling a few second hand TVRs and the odd San Storm.

[Stephanie Plum]

They are no longer a Lotus franchised dealer. They may have some s/h cars they are trying to get rid of, but that's about it.

[marshalla]

Their PH ad. still proclaims them to be "Official Lotus dealer for Kent and Sussex" - ironically it just appeared in the middle of this thread.

Edited by marshalla on Monday 2nd February 12:05

[The Bandit]

I believe they 'officially' stopped being a Lotus Dealer after Christmas.
They have a couple of cars left(including that fking Khan POS).

Very sorry state of affairs

[eowen]

Every time I have looked at their cars, their pricing seems to live up to their name..

[Li Moo Bai]

There's a new lotus dealership up here in Maidstone now. Guess they must have the franchise now instead of dream machines. It's not as nice a place to visit as DM was though. They share the premises with fiat/volvo/alfa.

[Stephanie Plum]

Li Moo Bai said:

There's a new lotus dealership up here in Maidstone now. Guess they must have the franchise now instead of dream machines. It's not as nice a place to visit as DM was though. They share the premises with fiat/volvo/alfa.

That'll be Lipscombs. They've only been there for about three years now.

[Li Moo Bai]

Stephanie Plum said:

Li Moo Bai said:

There's a new lotus dealership up here in Maidstone now. Guess they must have the franchise now instead of dream machines. It's not as nice a place to visit as DM was though. They share the premises with fiat/volvo/alfa.

That'll be Lipscombs. They've only been there for about three years now.

Well I'm afraid not being a lotus owner I don't posess an encyclopaedic geographical knowledge of all the dealers in the south east

Have you dealt with Lipscombe then?

[Dodgey_Rog]

Li Moo Bai said:

There's a new lotus dealership up here in Maidstone now. Guess they must have the franchise now instead of dream machines. It's not as nice a place to visit as DM was though. They share the premises with fiat/volvo/alfa.

I knew they were Lotus, Fiat and Volvo, where did they house Alfa on that site then?

[Stephanie Plum]

Li Moo Bai said:

Stephanie Plum said:

Li Moo Bai said:

There's a new lotus dealership up here in Maidstone now. Guess they must have the franchise now instead of dream machines. It's not as nice a place to visit as DM was though. They share the premises with fiat/volvo/alfa.

That'll be Lipscombs. They've only been there for about three years now.

Well I'm afraid not being a lotus owner I don't posess an encyclopaedic geographical knowledge of all the dealers in the south east

Have you dealt with Lipscombe then?

Don't make assumptions about them being new then and taking over from another dealer. And why would it matter whether I've dealt with them or not? A lot of Lotus dealers share premises with other marques - very difficlut to survive otherwise.

[Li Moo Bai]

Stephanie Plum said:

Li Moo Bai said:

Stephanie Plum said:

Li Moo Bai said:

There's a new lotus dealership up here in Maidstone now. Guess they must have the franchise now instead of dream machines. It's not as nice a place to visit as DM was though. They share the premises with fiat/volvo/alfa.

That'll be Lipscombs. They've only been there for about three years now.

Well I'm afraid not being a lotus owner I don't posess an encyclopaedic geographical knowledge of all the dealers in the south east

Have you dealt with Lipscombe then?

Don't make assumptions about them being new then and taking over from another dealer. And why would it matter whether I've dealt with them or not? A lot of Lotus dealers share premises with other marques - very difficlut to survive otherwise.

Hey there's no need for the attitude!

The lipscombe place looked like a brand new outfit to me, and coupled with the unfortunate news about Dream Machines I simply assumed that the franchise had been transferred, as indeed another poster suggested earlier.

And I only asked if you'd dealt with lipscombe because I might be interested longer term in getting into an elise as my weekend car, and was looking for real-world feedback on them from a bona-fide lotus owner. A pretty reasonable question and the sort that gets asked pretty frequently over in the porsche forum..

[Big Al.]

Steady Tigers!

Lets not start getting sensitive.

[Li Moo Bai]

Big Al. said:

Steady Tigers!

Lets not start getting sensitive.

Sorry but I was hoping for a friendlier welcome to the lotus forum than this

[Big Al.]

Li Moo Bai said:

Big Al. said:

Steady Tigers!

Lets not start getting sensitive.

Sorry but I was hoping for a friendlier welcome to the lotus forum than this

Sorry you didn't get one.

I people wonder why the forum is loosing popularity, shame really.

[The Bandit]

Li Moo Bai said:

Big Al. said:

Steady Tigers!

Lets not start getting sensitive.

Sorry but I was hoping for a friendlier welcome to the lotus forum than this

Mate,speak to Paul Parkinson at Lipscombes,he's a really nice fella and is highly regarded on SELOC(www.seloc.org).
I think a couple of posters on here have bought from him recently and were very happy.

See you're after an Elise,need any pointers?
Feel free to ask any questions,i'll try and help

Edited by The Bandit on Wednesday 18th February 18:32

[Li Moo Bai]

The Bandit said:

Li Moo Bai said:

Big Al. said:

Steady Tigers!

Lets not start getting sensitive.

Sorry but I was hoping for a friendlier welcome to the lotus forum than this

Mate,speak to Paul Parkinson at Lipscombes,he's a really nice fella and is highly regarded on SELOC(www.seloc.org).
I think a couple of posters on here have bought from him recently and were very happy.

See you're after an Elise,need any pointers?
Feel free to ask any questions,i'll try and help

Edited by The Bandit on Wednesday 18th February 18:32

Cheers mate. I have a whole bunch of questions about the elise but don't want to offend anyone by not using the seach engine :-|

Is there a decent buyers guide out there in 'tinternet land?

I think my eventual budget will probably not stretch to a series2 elise but I don't see that as a problem. In fact I'm quite a fan of the K16 unit, warts and all.


Adam