19/5/98
It was a beautiful sunny day here in Manchester so I hopped in my Elise at lunchtime with the intention of scaring a friend half to death with some superior roadholding. I turned the key in the ignition and... nothing. Dashboard lights on, fuel injection whine but no starter motor cranking. Abandoning the trip round the block, I played with the immobiliser for a few minutes and then called the dealer. He said call the AA, who came and tried to hot wire the car - to no avail other Elise owners will be pleased to know. Both AA guys loved the car though and said it was a shame they couldn't do a road test just to make sure it was OK. So my Elise is currently on a flat bed on it's way back to the dealer. On the positive side I do have a hire car for two days whilst Lotus try and fix the immobiliser. On the down side it's a Vauxhall Vectra. And the sun is out.
More when Lotus fix it.
Pete Tomson
21/5/98
The story picks up the action on Tuesday with my Elise disappearing from the work car park on the back of an AA flat bed truck and I'm driven to the airport to collect a Renault Megane Scenic (a van with windows but only 4 miles on the clock).
The AA kept the Elise overnight and delivered it to Kinsey Jones first thing Wednesday morning. When it started first time. Kinsey didn't look at it on Wednesday (since I had a hire car) but tried diagnosing the fault today. They couldn't find anything wrong but have replaced a multi function relay as the most likely cause of the fault. They didn't tell me this at first just that they couldn't find anything wrong and also said they couldn't deliver the car back until next week so could I collect it ?
I got a bit stroppy at this point and demanded a fixed car back at my house and ended up talking to Lotus Customer Service who shunted me to Lotus Sales and Marketing. I was promised a call back in five minutes. Which is when Paul Bing called me.
He first had a quiet word with Kinsey who were now happy to deliver the car to my house. He then explained the relay change as the most likely cause. I was now happy but I thought I'd tried my luck and tackle him about shocks. "Oh, you're a nettie are you" he asked when I mentioned Jack's new shocks.
Anyway I am now on the waiting list for new shocks so you know who to call if you've got a problem (+44 01963 608000). He also said that they were hoping the stocks of Lanxide brake discs would last until a new manufacturer (he wouldn't confirm Brembo) gets production sorted out. He did confirm that service stock would be kept available and panic buying of brake discs was not required.
All's well that ends well!
Pete Tomson