Specialist recommendations

[Umberto]

Hi All,
I am a newbee on here from the Hertfordshire area looking for some advice. I have a Lotus Elan S4 SE which has recently been recommissioned. It had been laid up in a residential garage in London since the mid 1980's. It has recently come back to me after recommissioning work with a specialist which I won't name, but needless to say there are some issues that need to be addressed. Can anyone recommend a reliable specialist that I can approach to take on the work.

[512BB]

Good morning Umberto and welcome to the board. How did you discover your wonderful find? Please post some pictures. What I don't understand is, you have had some work carried out by a Lotus specialist that you are not happy with. Why do you not go back to them and ask them to put right what is wrong? After all, that is what you have paid for, or have I not got that correct?

Secondly, you ask for recommendations of where to take your Lotus for repair but you do not mention the name of the company where you feel you have had poor service. Surely others on the board would be interested to learn from your experience, so that they too can make an informed choice. If you just state the facts of what has happened, you are on safe ground and maybe someone can advise you further. Have a think Umberto.

Best,

Leslie

[nmauduit]

...
Why do you not go back to them and ask them to put right what is wrong? After all, that is what you have paid for, or have I not got that correct?
...

well, when a "specialist" has demonstrated to be unreliable or otherwise not trustworthy, I too would not risk my pride and joy to further mistreatments and would walk away...

[512BB]

'when a "specialist" has demonstrated to be unreliable or otherwise not trustworthy'

Umberto does not say the specialist has been unreliable or not trustworthy. He just says that there are some issues that need addressing. So why not let the specialist address those issues?

Leslie

[Umberto]

Hi Leslie,
Thanks for your reply. I totally understand what you are saying and normally I would take the vehicle back to get the issues addressed by the person I had paid. The work consisted of recommissioning the engine and gearbox, brakes, suspension, electrical system and generally what was required to return it to a drivable roadworthy vehicle after its long slumber.

After several years (4+), and considerable amount of money the vehicle was back in my hands. As I started to drive the car, and on closer inspection, I began to find issues in so many areas. Without going into detail, the vehicle should never have been returned to me in such a state. Because of that I have very little faith that if I returned the vehicle the issues would be rectified. Also, I don’t have years to wait.

Instead. at this stage I would rather get the work done elsewhere and seek some recompense from said specialist. Finally, if I name and shame anyone I stand to loose any chance of recompense.

Kind regards,
Umberto

[trw99]

Umberto, welcome and sorry to read your tale of woe.

For engine and mechanical work Craig Beck Racing (www.craigbeckracing.co.uk) near Bury St Edmunds is very good. Don't worry about the racing bit, he does road going Lotus cars as well.

For general classic car diligent and professional work, there is Ed at EAB Classics (www.eabclassiccars.co.uk) who is Rolls Royce and Bentley trained. He has a good team, is very helpful and very skillful. Located near me just outside Thaxted.

Tim

[512BB]

Thank you for coming back and making your situation a little clearer Umberto, but I can assure you that naming and shaming will not lessen your chance of recompence one iota, however I understand that you may not want to disclose those details at this stage.

Please also understand that after making various enquiries, I know who carried out the work on your car and all the details. I hate to see people getting ripped off as you have been and would like to offer my help, if you need it. I have much experience of taking court action against people who have broken contracts with me. Sadly, many of those actions have been Lotus related.

I have sent you a private message so that you can contact me should you want to take my offer any further.

Leslie

[NickWilmshurst]

Morning Everyone,

I met Umberto at a car show recently and was APPALLED at the length of time and the price charged by this un-named "Lotus specialist". In due course, Umberto, I would name and shame.

I think Leslie's offer of help is outstanding and I would certainly take him up on it if I were you.

We're meeting on Wednesday to sort out the front ride height (looking forward to that) - if I can possibly help with any of your other issues, I sure will.

See you Wednesday (weather willing). If its raining, I'll give you a call and we'll go for plan B.

Nick

[MACCA.GLM]

Hi Umberto

It's a shame you carnt do any repairs yourself but this is exactly what unscrupulous repairers prey on and it makes sense to name and shame them for others like you to steer clear of. If I were you I would take the advice of an earlier offer to get recompense for all the bad work done

Regards

G

[ill_will]

Hi Umberto,

Sorry to hear about your experience.

I would second the recommendation for Craig Beck, he has done some engine work for me and it was done well and a fair price.

Also James at Grace Engine Developments near Newbury, ditto for engine work.

Unfortunately there are a lot of charletans out there. Everyone makes mistakes but this sounds way beyond that - hopefully you get some recompense. From a purely selfish point of view given that I'm located near to you I hope you name the culprit in due course so we know to be wary. From a technical perspective it would also be interesting to know what went wrong.

Finally, there are some great people on this forum and it is really positive to see offers of help.

Good luck resolving the issues, and hopefully you'll be safely back on the road soon.

Will

[Umberto]

Hi All,
Thanks so much for the recommendations and offers for advice and help. It is really reassuring. Cannot say much
more at this time other than hope to provide an update in due course. Thanks again for all the support.