I will try to be patient, but I am in a service business that depends on repeat business. If this was a problem in my business I would chase this down and resolve it as it will catch up with one in a loss of customers that are hard to get back. I think Feral calling out the response for what it is was spot on. I also take offense that my car with 54 miles on it when I picked it up with rattling speakers did not need a comparison test with another car. I'd be embarrased.

 

It's true that not all customers will be satisfied, and problems will always exist. However, it's how the company goes about the issue that matters, and JLR is doing a poor job of not just fixing the issue, but even recognizing the issue.

 

Generally, my interior is totally squeak and rattle free and feels solid. High quality. On extremely cold days I will hear panels squeaking or rubbing very mildly, but that goes away quickly as soon as the interior warms up. I believe that should be expected. Personally I exhibit the same symptoms.

 

I have experienced this issue year-round. Even when the weather is consistent, I will still hear a difference from day to day.

 

Sincere congrats Steve.

Unfortunately IMOP JLR don't care. I've now left the brand despite moving into a second MY16 F-Type coupe.

I really can't understand people on this board saying the vast majority of customers have not experienced the issue. This is not a big selling car like a sedan, and even with the 100+ people on here who've said their experience is poor, we have a very meaningful statistic.

Some rectifications have been made in later cars and a TSB was finally issued after JLR took note of this board, direct customer complaints and dealer warranty claims against this subject. But it took nearly two years!

My question to you is this; what do you think of a brand that takes two years to sit up and take notice of a customer complaint? I was on the phone to them every day on the subject for 3 months between April and June.

My Evora 400 arrives in June. Lotus is an enthusiasts brand that understand what that means and the responsibilities that come with it.

 

I would also add that people that buy f types are likely of a demographic that has some level of intelligence (at least from my experience on this board). We are not talking about complaints about lawn mowers or toasters.

 

Does Lotus still just throw an off the shelf Alpine head unit in the Evora and call it a day? I suppose that would make it hard to blame them for any audio issues and is certainly much easier to augment/replace with (different) aftermarket gear.

 

i would bet that the average Lotus purchaser doesn't give a flip about an audio system. Of course, there will always be those that do.

 

An opinion of course.

 

That's why I called it a "bet," which are always opinions.

As a former Lotus owner, I knew a lot of owners, and I hung out on the Lotus Elise forum for 4-5 years. Anyone who even mentioned the audio system (or lack thereof) was laughed off the forum. Thus, my opinion is an informed one.

EDIT: Upon further reflection, the only Lotus now sold in the US (Evora) is an entirely different car, which I was never interested in. I suspect it appeals to a different demographic. However, unlike JLR, Lotus has always been obsessed about every ounce of weight with the goal of producing the lightest vehicle possible.

 

Foosh, this is as bad as the discussion on 8 vs. s or standard vs. automatic. No win situation. Some people love their cars, some love their motors sound solely, some love the cars sound motor wise and musically, and then again others love something else. Diversity in desire!!! I happen to be one who loves his cars and his music, and want both with the money that I spend and over the years have spent on automobiles.

Anybody who laughs one off of a forum is in my view a sad representation of a mature adult. Frankly it pisses me off that people can lack such empathy, warmth and compassion to laugh at somebody who has a dissatisfaction with their passion that they paid great money, and having dismissiveness presented to them as a solution.

I too have owned many cars, of which "lotus" is not one. However each and every car didn't have this issue by any stretch of the imagination.

Signed.....
"Go ahead and laugh" LOL!

 

I've given up on trying to get my stereo rattles, buzzes and generally poor sound quality fixed by the dealer. JLR Customer Care experience was very poor and the rep did nothing to assist in having the dealer look into the issue except telling me "the dealer said they will not fix it" after they talked to the dealer. I tried some stereo settings that other users posted that helped reduce vibration, but this doesn't help the sound quality as a whole since now I have very little bass in order to reduce vibration.

 

Joe, I think you misunderstood, but I was also unclear. In the Elise/Exige, Lotus never even pretended to claim it had a real audio system. They used the cheapest available Alpine head-unit one could buy at a place like Best Buy, and two cheap 4" speakers mounted on the dash. I don't even think they were 2-ways.

The car's only purpose was being an ultra-lightweight 2000 lb. car, that handled like nothing else, including the best from Porsche. The "laughing" was not about people expressing dissatisfaction, but about people who inquired about "upgrading" the audio system because no one (to my knowledge) had considered it or even cared to think about it. It was more a reaction like, "why did you buy an Elise?"

 

I completely agree. I bought the car for performance, design, luxury, and to have a great sounding audio system. Unfortunately, I didn't test the system before I purchased the vehicle. But like I mentioned before, an audio system is a deal breaker when it comes to purchasing a car. Next time, I'll have to be more careful.

 

I completely agree as well, but that quote was a response to a discussion about the Lotus, not the F-Type. It was just an example of how owner's expectations can differ dramatically depending upon the car. The expectations of the average F-Type buyer are completely different, and it's too bad so many have issues with the sound system.

 

You make a good point, Foosh.

 

Perhaps this is best for a seperate thread....by my count only 2 of us have suggested settings that seemed to improve the listening, showing settings they found to be "better" at least to their ear.
It miy be helpful if others joined in to show what worked for them.
I realize the vibrations, flapping wires etc with some systems wouldn't likely be improved by this, but those of us who would like to enjoy the sound system more would benefit.
As to the thread topic, Jag and Meridian seem to have dropped the ball big time and sadly not much sign of any change.

 

My wife would take issue with that - at least in my case. She doesn't get cars, but on the other hand she does like that we have nice ones and that when she steps on the right pedal of her C63 it reacts with gusto.

At any rate, I've largely stayed out of this thread because my hearing has been degraded by years of chain saws and motorcycles. None the less, I tried the settings that others have used and found noticeable improvement. I found that only using very little fade to the rear made a big difference.

I've had the car 5 months and had the TSB done a couple of months ago which got rid of the rattling. But today for the first time I tried a CD. What a difference! The system came alive like it never has with streams or SiriusXM. Even with my crappy ears it was night and day. I'm not sure if the problem is the components used in decoding or if SiriusXM just codes the crap out of their music channels. In other cars, CDs and Sirius sounded the same.

 

I believe many will truly appreciate it if the members who offered helpful advise to improve the sound can be found as a sticky thread . this thread is so long, it would be more helpful if they offered advise is on its own instead of mixed in this seriously long thread. Do you guys agree?

 

I am re-posting mikelanzetta's post as this actually improved the sound in my car.