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end of October according to the John English memo last month.That would mean 'second wave' orders should be
coming in from 'end of November thru
end of December', the amount of which
depending on your specific dealer's expected allocation for '04'.
Wave - batch, grouping, all the same thing. The first one went in Jan for 10 cars the second in March for 10 or 20 cars for most dealers. I'm #1, for the second group. Have a Sept build date, would expect delivery mid to late Oct.
i ask because there were posts about 30 orders taken per dealer. i don't how how many are anticipated per dealer by the dates given. and also because i am in the 2nd 30 and anticipate placing an order some time this calendar year. so i ask because nonspecifics are well, nonspecific.
Some dealers are playing fast & loose with the term "take order".
It seems some dealers have been asked by Lotus for no more than the first ten "orders" because they are not getting many cars. Sucks for them, sucks for us, and good luck finding out which.
However, the dealers can tell customers that they've placed orders for as many as they'd like. Doesn't mean anything.
So every dealer says they've placed at least 30 orders, maybe more. Of course, those might go in the circular file right now and fall on deaf ears if Lotus only wants 10 orders from them.
This whole "allocation" thing is proving to be quite complicated and hugely variable. I don't even know how I would have done more research on this before ordering. So to us it's totally arbitrary and capricious.
GL,
That certainly seems to be the case. Some dealers are taking your order, but they don't (or can't) pass it on to the chef! Cars that you expect in December may be really coming in February!
This whole "allocation" thing is proving to be quite complicated and hugely variable. I don't even know how I would have done more research on this before ordering. So to us it's totally arbitrary and capricious.
I just visited BMC in SF. I asked about their allocation and was told, " we don't disclose that to our customers " and " no dealers should tell their customers what their allocation is and I'd be surprised if any are..." and " the allocations change from quarter to quarter..."
Well the allocations do change from quarter to quarter, but why your dealer is leaving you in the dark is BS. Dave Duncan from Park Place in another thread just disclosed their first quarter allocation schedule.
Overseas Dallas for example.
1 customer car
2 unallocated cars
no demo
no info on when the demo will show up
no idea where those unallocated cars came from
no idea how many cars they'll get or at what rate
It's not a trust thing, is that either they don't talk to LCU, or LCU is keeping them in the dark, or someone at the dealer does talk to them but is not letting the sales people know what is going on, or they are using all their energy to sell Jaguars...
I just don't know, the only thing left to do is to guess what is going on since we get no information.
I just talked to my usual salesman at FVMC and he confirmed that my car is definitely built and should be on a boat very soon... so I'll stop complaining for now
Hey Mike,
You should take extra care as to not stop complaining entirely, because ownership should not preclude one from offering constructive criticism. Imagine the cost of obtaining such feedback if the process was initiated by Lotus themselves.
Since English did say that dealers could receive as little as 10 cars per year and
as many as 140, it should be safe to assume that the amount of cars received at dealers by 'end October' will vary widely. The same goes for the following two months taking dealers to 'end of 04'.
Hey Mike,
You should take extra care as to not stop complaining entirely, because ownership should not preclude one from offering constructive criticism. Imagine the cost of obtaining such feedback if the process was initiated by Lotus themselves.
Spoke with JN in Honolulu the other day, Lotus has informed them, and all other dealers in the US not to call any longer requesting build dates etc. Evidently they are about as competent at aswering the phone as they are at building the cars.
i agree w/ everyone the flow of info stinks. If it wasn't for the forums i would be going nuts. Dont get me wrong I like my dealer. I just think he is not getting great info from lotus.
Well I put my deposit down last xmas
The last I heard was delivery jan or feb for my car.
I am hoping for april
Each dealer knows what Lotus intended on supplying them by September, which was then changed Mr. CEO 'English' to
'end of October'. For argument sake, let's assume that amount could vary from 3 cars to 30 cars, depending on the size of the dealership. The next grouping of cars expected by 'end of December' is also a
figure that dealers know, with a possibility that it might be slightly modified. Ex: Valenti expects 9 cars by 'end of October' and another 10 cars by
'end of December'. That constitutes 'two 'waves' of orders for the 'Year 04'. Additional cars expected beginning in '05'
is information that should be available during December.
But the key word there is "intended". My dealer knows his allocation and that they are running about a month late. But not being told about delivery and VIN until the car is put on a truck is ridiculous. More so when the cars being delivered bear no resemblance to the dealers waitlist!
I'm #64 at FVMC and they estimate a Feb/March delivery.
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