scottish lotus specialists ?

[sendmyusername]

cheers for all the info, i've managed to get hold of ali, and booked in
getting someone elses answering service is just weird
i appreciate the differences in the ali and mmc, but for me there is no substitute for being able to speak to/watch/ get invlolved as the guy works on your car, had my car in for some work and tyres from murray motors and while i can't fault the work they did, or the professional piece of paper i got back, i wanted to speak to a mechanic about a specific problem and when i asked to do so at the desk i was looked at as though i'd just asked to sleep with receptionists mother.
also i wanted when i wanted air filter and engine map upgraded, and a few other little things it worked out cheaper going to christopher neils in manchester including petrol (basically worked out as a free holiday visiting friends) and their service puts murray in the shade. i don't blame murray for their prices, as they have the corner of the market, but i'm quite happy to travel to get a better deal.
as for getting the car perfect, i know that's the ideal, but there are probably only about 5% of owners that realistically use even close to the full potential of this car ( I'm, not including myself in the 5% before i start getting abusive messages) personally i've always told ali to ignore the rattles (that's the charm of the car) and make sure the handling is top notch
once again, thanks for all your help, you've helped me save about £200

[Shug]

Do you speak to the receptionist at MMC, or to Craig (the service manager)? One of the key things I found about MMC that made me happy was just what you were saying about being able to talk specifically about what was going on, and go into the minutest detail. I've also been in the workshop, watching them sorting stuff as I turned up last minute with a niggle. The desk staff work for Volvo, etc too - so they are not your point of contact.

Absolutely your call, who you prefer to deal with, but what you're saying doesn't apply to dealing with MMC if you do it through Craig, as per the thread in the offers section of this site - http://www.scottishelises.com/phpbb/vie ... 13&t=18730. Deal with the right guy and it's a customer service experience I've never had from anyone - I have pages of emails back and forth making sure everything was dealt with as I wanted and raising every little thing. Check out the "Thanks to Murrays" thread too, to avoid any confusion.

Like I say, completely your call on who you use, but it's very worth making sure you've spoken to the right person first.

[Dominic]

Have you tried 07710 783028?

This is the correct number for Ali. He's still in business & still gets all my work.

Is your elise alive again?

[steve_weegie]

cheers for all the info, i've managed to get hold of ali, and booked in

[twisted2fit]

I've been dealing with Craig over the last 3 years and I just can't get my head around how good the service dept at mmc is:-) very personalised and reasonably priced:-)

[steve_weegie]

Is your elise alive again?

Alive, in the same way Frankenstein's monster was perhaps

It's away getting a VVC fitted, but funnily enough I prefer the Audi in this weather so its not top of the priority list

[sendmyusername]

i wasn't meaning any slight to murrays, but you only need to have one bad experience and you look elsewhere.
i've dealt with them three times since 2006, and found on every occasion that it wasn't an overly joyous experience.
admittedly last time it was the volvo desk, but found them quite unhelpful, and if there was a lotus guy about, surely they should have directed me to him ?
i don't want to get in a slagging match, i was just after alis number, ta. (which i now have)
once again, thanks for your help.

[Andy G]

Apparent from the strength of feeling on here what a great job Craig & his service team are doing.

Now if we could just get them to install a dancing girl & pole in the waiting room

[tut]

There has been no slagging at all, you asked for Ali's number which you were given, and you will notice that nobody gave an opinion on Ali's work either positive or negative, nor compared him to MMC, however we did give our opinion of Murrays and Craig in particular, me included, to point out the level of service that we have had from him since he became Service Manager.

I would expect that your own experiences were before Craig took over, and there are plenty of posts on here be-moaning the level of service often received before that, but that has now changed and it is now a pleasure to take your car in, many of us look on him now as a good friend, and he will bend over backwards to sort out problems with very short notice, or indeed none at all.

He probably spent more time putting N1 TUT right than any other Lotus that he has worked on, I received a six page invoice that I was rather dreading, instead it was a very pleasant surprise.

tut

[Justin]

Completely agree with Tut and Shug. Spending money at Murrays is actually quite enjoyable

(compared to BMW in Aberdeen who I absolutely detest)

[lou_m]

Email Craig at Murrays.
Tell him your woes.
He will look at your car and discuss options with you.

that's the key for me.

I've spent a chunk of money on the car with craig but i've not HAD to spend that money, craig has always come up with options for cheaper parts, putting stuff off for a while - he's good at letting you know what you NEED to do and what you SHOULD think about doing at some point. I've never known a main dealer who will use second-hand or customer supplied parts as readily....and that alone can represent a massive saving. Likewise you won't get skinned for investigation of a problem.

The other less tangible bit is how the car feel - i used ali for a few years and he did a great job of keeping the car on the road.....however since i've been using craig the car feels amazing, less rattles, less bangs and just feels a bit more "polished". With cars such as our that last 5% makes a huge difference to how you feel driving the car.

HAHA, you said polised and "your car" in the same sentence.

Nothing but good service from Craig and Murrys.

[Dominic]

Is your elise alive again?

Alive, in the same way Frankenstein's monster was perhaps

It's away getting a VVC fitted, but funnily enough I prefer the Audi in this weather so its not top of the priority list

Still powered by 'K' then!

Must catch up soon!

[Rag_It]

I wouldn't go anywhere else but MMC, yes the 120 mile round trip is a mild inconvenience but tied in with some work trip or other, and Craig going out of his way to accommodate and dedicate a dusty shelf for my bits, it is now a complete 100% no brainier. Lotus guys down south would be gutted if they knew the service we get from a main dealer!

Gutted I won't be using it for a while now!

[campbell]

He probably spent more time putting N1 TUT right than any other Lotus that he has worked on, I received a six page invoice that I was rather dreading

Rumours that Lotus flew in a raft of apprentices to witness the dissection are entirely unproven. All the same it has been alleged that it was the Murray techs' equivalent of a full scale Marines training exercise including live ammo

I now take my S1 in there when I can, confident in the knowledge that whatever they find on UJI it will NEVER be as bad as anything encountered on N1...

And that 6 page invoice should have been 12 but Craig lost the will to live while typing it up

[Lazydonkey]

HAHA, you said polised and "your car" in the same sentence.

I said it felt polished....not that it was polished



In other news DDtB is trying to steal the crown of "sh*t S1 that MMC have ever worked on". Apparently Brandon's face was a picture when DDtB turned up....at least Tut's car arrived under it's own steam without engine parts in the passenger seat