Dreaded Clutch Problem (Sport350)

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rawsco
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Re: Dreaded Clutch Problem (Sport350)

Post by rawsco » Fri Oct 05, 2018 9:22 pm

I can’t afford to destroy clutches... Miniblonde’s relentless barrage of mysterious furniture and candle and soon to be art deliveries is much much much worse...
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Re: Dreaded Clutch Problem (Sport350)

Post by renmure » Fri Oct 05, 2018 9:27 pm

That wasn't the update I was expecting.
Can see why you're raging about that.
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Re: Dreaded Clutch Problem (Sport350)

Post by campbell » Fri Oct 05, 2018 9:31 pm

rawsco wrote:I can’t afford to destroy clutches... Miniblonde’s relentless barrage of mysterious furniture and candle and soon to be art deliveries is much much much worse...
Ah wait. Did you let her drive it Image
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rawsco
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Re: Dreaded Clutch Problem (Sport350)

Post by rawsco » Fri Oct 05, 2018 9:34 pm

campbell wrote:
Fri Oct 05, 2018 9:31 pm
rawsco wrote:I can’t afford to destroy clutches... Miniblonde’s relentless barrage of mysterious furniture and candle and soon to be art deliveries is much much much worse...
Ah wait. Did you let her drive it Image
Dont worry, Laura is the same size as an 11 year old and can’t see over the dash nor reach the pedals with the seat right forward...
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Re: Dreaded Clutch Problem (Sport350)

Post by campbell » Fri Oct 05, 2018 9:44 pm

Careful. James is 11. He can reach now.

She may have a booster seat stashed in the cargo net...
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Re: Dreaded Clutch Problem (Sport350)

Post by j2 lot » Sun Oct 07, 2018 8:18 am

I have just read through this thread and it’s clear to me that the issue is with the dealer and I wouldn’t hesitate to reject the car as not fit for purpose. For any fault to appear after such a low mileage under your ownership would point to the issue being present when you took possession, The dealer should be fighting Lotus over the wear/ fault argument but with so few miles done by you your not going to be the problem, just the ‘pass the parcel’ looser left holding the keys when the music stopped.
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Re: Dreaded Clutch Problem (Sport350)

Post by IanD » Sun Oct 07, 2018 9:14 am

Horrible news.
A no brainer its not your fault based on scenario which could hardly be simpler.

Much much more to run which is a shame for the pain and grief to come before it is finally sorted.

Sounds like get direct escalation to Lotus, start researching, taking on board people’s comments BUT get proper legal advice on your options from the people who really know your rights and how to use them appropriately.
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Re: Dreaded Clutch Problem (Sport350)

Post by neil » Sun Oct 07, 2018 9:59 am

Sorry to hear this. After 11k miles I struggle to see how the clutch going could be wear and tear. I must have over 33k on mine now on the original clutch and it's seen quite a few tracks.

One option for you would be to put the car to CMC as I'm sure Craig would do a clutch for a lot less than £3k. You could then use the legal route to reclaim your costs from the dealer. Ultimately it's for them to argue the toss with Lotus over who pays. Also once the bust clutch is out of the car it'll be a lot more obvious what's wrong with it - I assume they'll have done their diagnosis so far without stripping it down.
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rawsco
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Re: Dreaded Clutch Problem (Sport350)

Post by rawsco » Sun Oct 07, 2018 10:37 am

Thanks for the sympathetic comments folks.

I have since spoken to the legal team at Irwin Mitchel who manage the legal cover with my home policy and after a short consultation have given me the correct course of action to follow which culminates in a letter before action at which point they will take over if no resolution.

I have however been advised to give the dealer, then lotus both another opportunity to rectify the fault as this is A. My preferred course of action and B. Would stand in my favour if it got to court.

Anyways I’m still of the opinion that sense will ultimately prevail and we won’t need to go down this route.

Regarding the comments about diagnosis I don’t believe they have taken the car apart as yet which begs the question: how can they determine its wear as I was specifically told over the phone that they can’t determine wear vs defect without opening the car up. This was when they asked me to underwrite the cost of doing this in the event the issue turns out to be wear.
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Re: Dreaded Clutch Problem (Sport350)

Post by mxvx » Sun Oct 07, 2018 3:13 pm

Best of luck Ross. I know how this feels...

If the issue turns out to be wear then why on earth would you pay for it having just bought the car?

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Re: Dreaded Clutch Problem (Sport350)

Post by rawsco » Wed Oct 10, 2018 7:40 am

Update, no resolution yet sadly, however following my last communication the issue is being taken to the dealers MD today. Lotus have also been involved in the background and have been helpful and supportive. They are sticking with the wear argument tho, however will happily reassess once the clutch is out. They (Lotus) seem to be supporting the position that the clutch was worn prior to my ownership taking into account my low mileage and presumably the performance dump from the ECU. They have explained that the clutch should have have been replaced prior to sale and will / have communicated this to the dealer. This should serve to increase the pressure on the dealer to address the issue. I still have not yet involved the finance company, this will likely be the next stage and should again put more pressure on the dealer.
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Re: Dreaded Clutch Problem (Sport350)

Post by Scotty C » Wed Oct 10, 2018 9:08 am

They (Lotus) seem to be supporting the position that the clutch was worn prior to my ownership taking into account my low mileage and presumably the performance dump from the ECU
I was going to say that they should be able to check the history on the ECU to see what the last owner had done.

Fingers crossed for you.
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Re: Dreaded Clutch Problem (Sport350)

Post by campbell » Wed Oct 10, 2018 11:58 pm

Good job it wisnae Scotty
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ed
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Re: Dreaded Clutch Problem (Sport350)

Post by ed » Thu Oct 11, 2018 4:06 pm

Does the ECU dump give dates etc, I thought it just recorded top speeds and high rev launches. Anyways fingers crossed for the right result.
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Re: Dreaded Clutch Problem (Sport350)

Post by rawsco » Thu Oct 11, 2018 4:10 pm

Ive spoken to the dealer rep again today and Ive been promised a decision on the outcome from the dealer tomorrow, which is good as I was going to start the process to escalate over the weekend. All still very reasonable and respectful on both sides and no toys have departed company from prams or buggies or car seats etc. Fingers crossed sense prevails and my car gets fixed next week and everyone can carry on as they were without further problems.
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