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It seems Orchard may not be a Lotus Dealer anymore, so beware
Orchard Lotus
3rd August 2002
Ken and Neil Myers (Father & Son) have teamed up with Derek Norville (who has an amazing collection of 12 Lotus Cars) to take over Orchard Hyundai in Northampton and have captured a Lotus franchise to become an official Lotus dealer. Ken and Neil were Lotus dealer in the same area during the 70's and have been Lotus specialist since deciding to concentrate on classic Lotus restorations.
'This new dealership will offer all Lotus customers a unique blend of passion, knowledge and enthusiasm for the marque'
I visited their official opening on Saturday 3rd August 2002 to check out their facilities and see what they have to offer Esprit owners. Orchard is actually a Hyundai Dealer and will continue to be so alongside the new Lotus dealership. The idea is for the Hyundai work to pay for the running of the business while the Lotus Franchise develops without financial demands hindering their growth.
All their mechanics have been on the Lotus course and will be supervised by Neil Myers who will be taking on most of the work himself. After talking to both Ken and Neil, it's clear they are both Lotus 'Nuts' and seem to be very customer orientated. Hopefully they will be true to their word and be more helpful and knowledgeable that nearly all the main dealers at present.
They offer servicing on all models old and new, expert technical advice on all pre '76 cars including Elan, Europa Climax Elite etc., Excellent availability for those 'hard to find' Lotus spares and are a Club Lotus Heritage approved restoration centre. Having taken over the Hyundai dealership, they now have very modern premise's with equipment to match. As you can see, their service department looks in good clean order to work on all Loti.
Part's will be available from the factory and with two deliveries a day, providing Lotus have the parts (which is usually the problem) then their should be no hanging around waiting for your spares. Advice over the phone on your Esprit problems will be given, and hopefully cheap diy fixes can be attempted before your Esprit needs a visit to the expert. This is the sort of help that is invaluable to an Esprit owner, hopefully fixing an problems that can be done in a couple of minute with some good advice.
The hourly rate will be £65-an-hour, which seems to be around that of most dealers. Servicing and MOT's can be carried out as well as any repair work. My advice is to give them a go and see if they live up to their promises. If they do we'll have a top dealer we can trust with our Esprits. If they don't then we've at least given a Lotus Dealer the chance, and will fewer and fewer around that's the least we can do.
Orchard Dealership
The Causeway
Great Billing
NorthamptonTel: 01604 403040
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