Handling/ steering wheel position

[tanman]

Hello guys, would just appreciate a little advice on this issue:
My Elise went in for a service back in October/ November, everything was fine, however when the guy at the dealership drove it before letting me have it back said it wasn’t handling correctly (he agreed it was ok before the service) so it went back into the workshop and had the tracking realigned (which was out). When I drove it home it didn’t feel right but as I am not an expert I thought it was just me. Over the last two months I’ve had the backend step out once and another time the whole car drift sideways in corners that I did not take fast (yes one time it was wet) I also noticed that the steering wheel was not completely level when the car was on a straight road (right hand side of steering wheel was slightly lower than the left side).
I took the car back yesterday to the dealership, they spent 2 hours on it and didn’t charge me for it which was very good of them. They told me it could possibly be the steering rack will need replacing as there is a small amount of play in it but was not major issue. When I drove it home the handling did feel better, however, the position of the steering wheel is worse, with the right hand side further down than it was before. I know it may seem a bit anal, but I like the car to be right.
What do I do? I don’t like to moan and take it back again as the dealership have been very good to me since I have owned the car but on the other hand it was ok before the service. Do I take the car somewhere else or what?????
Any advice would be great.
Cheers
Tanman

[steff]

I'd take it somewhere else and get them have a look at the full geometry to see if anything is bent...

The reason the steering wheel isn't straight is the steering wasnt centred before the did the front tracking.

[steff]

tanman said:

however when the guy at the dealership drove it before letting me have it back said it wasn’t handling correctly (he agreed it was ok before the service) so it went back into the workshop and had the tracking realigned (which was out).

The question I'd be asking is what did they hit if they hadn't done any adjustments during the service?

[GTRene]

steff said:

tanman said: however when the guy at the dealership drove it before letting me have it back said it wasn’t handling correctly (he agreed it was ok before the service) so it went back into the workshop and had the tracking realigned (which was out). The question I'd be asking is what did they hit if they hadn't done any adjustments during the service?

Yep, I was thinking the same! there are a lot people who if they get the chance they take a fast car for a spin(garage's or cleaners or carpaintershops) always! check your mile counter and write it down and tell that to them...
GTRene

[RobM77]

I agree with all of the above, plus I'd like to add:

I recently test drove an Elise that had the steering off to one side, and that particular car didn't have the steering feel, and to some extent quite the handling sharpness of the perfect demo car I drove prior to it. Hardly scientific (tyre pressures, dampers, tyres, wheels etc could have been wrong for instance), but worth taking note off. Cars like Elises are very sensitive to changes like this!

i.e. make sure you get this sorted correctly so that you can enjoy your Elise to its maximum whilst you own it.

[S Works]

Who did it, and what did they alter. The geo on the Elise is very important as it really defines how the car will behave.

If in doubt take it to somewhere like Plans Motorsport or Sinclaires who are known to do a good job on this kind of work.

[piooly]

I'd say the dealer did something. My old car went in for service and came back with a major gearbox problem. dealer said they did nothing. A specialist looked at it and said that by the look of things, the car had been dropped from a jack lets say and landed on something directly on its gearbox. They found that the gearbox had been removed and new rubbers had been added, they were ever dated !! dealer still claims its not them. I had the car for years before and this work had never been carried out! last time I used that dealership..

[RobM77]

These were main Lotus dealers? It is a shame that the PH moderators would frown upon naming and shaming them! I'd certainly like to know!

I once called into a specialist of a particular manufacturer (not Lotus) and got chatting to an ordinary mechanic whilst the salesman answered a phone call (yes - very rude of him, I know) and an ordinary mechanic was busy bragging about a really fast and special car they'd had in and how he'd had a really quick ride in it etc.. I don't think he meant that it was a car in for a service, moreso a car bought by them for re-sale, but I certainly started wondering what happens between trade in / trade purchase and re-sale on a lot of forecourt cars, especially special or quick ones!

[tanman]

RobM77 said:

make sure you get this sorted correctly so that you can enjoy your Elise to its maximum whilst you own it.

Thanks for the comments guys, i have taken your advice and hopefully will be taking it up to Westover (heard good reports on PH about them) and let them sort it. it will be about a 2 hour drive but if gets sorted then i really dont mind.
Thanks RobM77, even before you wrote that comment i felt like i didn't want to drive it as it wasn't the car it should be. your comment made me think f**k it, get it sorted regardless.
Thanks
Tanman

[RobM77]

No problem. The Elise is an amazing car, and it would be a shame to spend one day longer than necessary with an Elise that isn't as good as it should be. That's the way I felt about my Caterham - if something wasn't right, then I fixed it ASAP, as my car was a dream, and I wanted nothing less everytime I drove it!

Good luck at Westovers, and do report back with how it is afterwards!

[lasermatt]

Just out of curiosity was this a main dealer? I see from your profile you are in Devon so this may be the dealer I have used in the past - May make me think twice about going there again - Particularly when Westovers are about the same distance from me and I've heard good reports from the BOLOC's boys.