Cheap Lotus Exige
Discussion
Hello everyone,
I would like to share with all of you my negative experience with a dealer. A few days ago, I noticed they were selling a cheap Lotus Exige and contacted them because I have been looking at buying one for a long time. Let me start by saying that I am located in the South of Spain, I am Spanish, and I purchase several sports cars every year in the UK, I get them through the Spanish ITV, and on Spanish plates, and sell them, either to British expats or Spanish people interested in cars which are hard to find over here. I have bought several MK Indys, a ZCars Mini, several LHD Porsches, Westfields, Lotus Elise, ... and the list goes on. Usually, I contact the seller first, by email, to get more information about the car, and ask for as many photos as possible. Once I have enough information, and decide that I am interested in the car, I contact the seller by phone, to arrange a visit, purchase a plane ticket and fly over to inspect the car. This process only takes a couple of days, but I have to do it this way to make sure I know what I am buying before spending money in a plane ticket. Once the car has been purchased, I arrange the transport in a closed truck, with a British company that has become good friends with me.
I have been doing this for about ten years, but in that time I have never come across anyone as unfriendly and rude as the guys from this particular dealer. I sent them several emails, trying to get as much info on the Exige as I could, but not only did they not answer back with the information, they even answered me back in an email: "there are pics of the car in this ad what else do you want pics of ??". After reading this I sent them an email saying how I had never come across someone more unprofessional, with less interest in selling a car, and they replied back ... insulting me!
What's funny about the whole story is that I have the money to purchase the car and I was willing to do so, but seeing how these people behave, I have decided not to. After this incident, I searched the Web for information about them, and not surprisingly, most of the feedback I found about them is terrible.
So, if anyone out there has the intention of buying the Exige from them, I advice them to look elsewhere or be prepared to deal with people who don't understand the meaning of education, customer satisfaction, etc.
Kind regards to everyone,
Moderator edit: no naming and shaming allowed.
I would like to share with all of you my negative experience with a dealer. A few days ago, I noticed they were selling a cheap Lotus Exige and contacted them because I have been looking at buying one for a long time. Let me start by saying that I am located in the South of Spain, I am Spanish, and I purchase several sports cars every year in the UK, I get them through the Spanish ITV, and on Spanish plates, and sell them, either to British expats or Spanish people interested in cars which are hard to find over here. I have bought several MK Indys, a ZCars Mini, several LHD Porsches, Westfields, Lotus Elise, ... and the list goes on. Usually, I contact the seller first, by email, to get more information about the car, and ask for as many photos as possible. Once I have enough information, and decide that I am interested in the car, I contact the seller by phone, to arrange a visit, purchase a plane ticket and fly over to inspect the car. This process only takes a couple of days, but I have to do it this way to make sure I know what I am buying before spending money in a plane ticket. Once the car has been purchased, I arrange the transport in a closed truck, with a British company that has become good friends with me.
I have been doing this for about ten years, but in that time I have never come across anyone as unfriendly and rude as the guys from this particular dealer. I sent them several emails, trying to get as much info on the Exige as I could, but not only did they not answer back with the information, they even answered me back in an email: "there are pics of the car in this ad what else do you want pics of ??". After reading this I sent them an email saying how I had never come across someone more unprofessional, with less interest in selling a car, and they replied back ... insulting me!
What's funny about the whole story is that I have the money to purchase the car and I was willing to do so, but seeing how these people behave, I have decided not to. After this incident, I searched the Web for information about them, and not surprisingly, most of the feedback I found about them is terrible.
So, if anyone out there has the intention of buying the Exige from them, I advice them to look elsewhere or be prepared to deal with people who don't understand the meaning of education, customer satisfaction, etc.
Kind regards to everyone,
Moderator edit: no naming and shaming allowed.
Edited by jeremyc on Monday 27th January 17:28
Contacted them about what on paper was my 'perfect car' a while back. They were appalling. Ended up going to absolutely fantastic Lotus Silverstone (speak to Aimee) and they were beyond helpful. The car wasn't quite the perfect spec but the standard of prep and customer service easily made up for that!
In the Lotus world its not worth buying from a bad dealer. You may save in the short term but you will certainly pay in the long term!
In the Lotus world its not worth buying from a bad dealer. You may save in the short term but you will certainly pay in the long term!
I was reading that just hoping you didn't waste money on a flight. Thankfully your pragmatic approach saved you the time and money! I've had experiences like that too - you're not alone. I once phoned a Porsche specialist about a Boxster I wanted to buy, booked an appointment and when I turned up they just ignored me! I arrived in the car I was trading in (3 year old 330ci), had the balance of cash in my current account and came from work so was smartly dressed - bunch of idiots. You get people like that sadly.
Incidentally, to end on a good note I can highly recommend my local Lotus dealer, Bell and Colvill. I'm on my second Lotus over about 10 years and they've always been superb, as they were to a good friend of mine when he owned his Elise before me.
Incidentally, to end on a good note I can highly recommend my local Lotus dealer, Bell and Colvill. I'm on my second Lotus over about 10 years and they've always been superb, as they were to a good friend of mine when he owned his Elise before me.
It wasn't the centre - it was another notorious seller who also sells sports cars of another British marque as well. He recently advertised a crash damaged Elise (only minor cosmetic damage, of course, honest). The photos of the outside of the car were fine - they showed the car in question (and appeared to be the photos from the advert at the auction place he bought the car from). However the photos of the interior of the car were actually from a different tidier car (with the photos lifted from a different trader's advert). What a character.
Yes, Skaffen is absolutely right, it is indeed THAT dealership that I am talking about. They seem to focus their attention in one particular British brand and for some reason are now also selling beaten up Elises. If anyone out there is tempted, I suggest they look elsewhere! By the way, thank you very much to those who have recommended other dealerships, I appreciate the information. I am still looking for an Exige ...
Ahhh, you mean the seller that has TVR in there name and also similar to that british dancing duo Torvil and D...
I found them VERY rude when they used to have a couple of trading names when i wanted to buy some car parts and hope no-one else finds themselves desperate to buy from them
I found them VERY rude when they used to have a couple of trading names when i wanted to buy some car parts and hope no-one else finds themselves desperate to buy from them
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