I can't get ANYTHING done/manufactured....!!

[Mark Morrissey older than I look Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Morrissey]

If you want to add hand-crafted, made in America vintage decal recreations to your product line please look me up.

[P-Nut 2.2L Find all posts View Profile Close P-Nut]

...and don't limit the inability to get things done to manufacturing. Holy cow. Has anyone had trouble with Fedex Ground? They are awful. I shipped a TV to Phoenix. "it will be there in 2-5 days." That was a month ago. They lost it, and admit it. Still shows as pending.

The best part? They sent $100 to me US Mail. It got here in two days. They BILLED ME $110 for shipping...err losing the package, and I had to chase them to credit the charge.

Service levels are down across the board. Hard to be patient.

Scott

[Frank Beck Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Frank Beck]

Seems it's not just American workers who are lazy and incompetent.

Trust me: For those of us with specialized, retail small businesses this wasted time and nonsense gets passed on to the customer.

[P-Nut 2.2L Find all posts View Profile Close P-Nut]

A wise man once said "It's a Crazy World. They should sell tickets."

[jaudette3 Really? Find all posts View Profile Close jaudette3]

I agree with the thread of this thread. But I'm going to go against the grain just to take a moment to reflect on something positive. The outstanding shop that I've used for my powder coating for over 20 years has gotten so big that they now specialize in large jobs (a lot of them to be had in Bend). They were still taking on my relatively small projects out of kindness after our long relationship but their turnaround time had grown to 4-6 weeks, too long for me. I've been looking around for another shop and today I found a great one. The owner worked at my old powder coaters for over five years and went out and started his own a while back. He's now doing a booming business building high-end sand buggies (I think that's what those cool beasts are called) and does a lot of bead blasting and powder coating. Very sharp, thorough and courteous guy with reasonable rates and a 2-week turnaround.

Nice to know that there are still a few hard working aspiring folks out there.

This is what I saw in his shop. Off road racers?

[P-Nut 2.2L Find all posts View Profile Close P-Nut]

Good luck, and I hope it goes well. It will give us all hope.

Scott

[Chris Pomares 2.4L Find all posts View Profile Close Chris Pomares]

I've sold about 25 sets of my recliners maybe five to seven years back. I've had some inquiries from folks to make more. I looked into it. The costs have gone up 4X's. Just the chroming cost me $700 a set back then. I wonder what it would cost now. No thanks.
After reading this thread I got so depressed I was wondering if I should just fall on a sword. Well maybe after one more drive in the mountains this fall.

[soterik HTH....! Find all posts View Profile Close soterik]

I've sold about 25 sets of my recliners maybe five to seven years back. I've had some inquiries from folks to make more. I looked into it. The costs have gone up 4X's. Just the chroming cost me $700 a set back then. I wonder what it would cost now. No thanks.
After reading this thread I got so depressed I was wondering if I should just fall on a sword. Well maybe after one more drive in the mountains this fall.

Welcome to "my world". Everything I have right now with just a couple of small exceptions is pre-covid (but paid and quoted pre-covid). Prices are truly staggering, NO exceptions.

The headlight project is nearing completion, but it still has to be shipped.... and that's a 40 foot container from Europe of headlights, headlight trim ring sets, glass, screws etc. (go big or go home). The costs I'm being quote for shipping are frightening... my only saving grace is that the manufacturer honored the pre-covid costing of the lights, and we have other orders with them as well, but those items are at "new" pricing.

Will the customer accept the new world of pricing for that "better" product or will they want (and only pay for) the VW quality of part and costing? Essentially I'm guessing "no" and that's why I won't do horn grills again.

[Frank Beck Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Frank Beck]

Will the customer accept the new world of pricing for that "better" product or will they want (and only pay for) the VW quality of part and costing? Essentially I'm guessing "no" and that's why I won't do horn grills again.

Eric, I really hope "no" is the wrong answer.
I'm a cheap bass turd but will pay (without even trying to negotiate!) someone's price on jewelry-quality reproduction parts. Have you considered bringing in Porsche-passionate investors?

I'm positive I'm not the only one who would participate.

[jaudette3 Really? Find all posts View Profile Close jaudette3]

In my experience, the F-Series owners are fine with well done restorations or well done reproductions. Not much tolerance for cheap anything. However, I see a bit of change with the G-Series owners. It's more of a mix. Some are focused on quality but a much larger percentage (IMO) are focused on price. I'm sure that will change as the value of the G-Series cars inevitably rises.

Anal Index
(1) 356 owners
(2) SWB owners
(3) LWB owners
(4) G-Series owners

Again, in my opinion. What do you think?

[P-Nut 2.2L Find all posts View Profile Close P-Nut]

So, I have a question. Someone in UK is interested in purchasing one 5.5" Fuch, but when I went to DHL I received shipping quotes between $250 - $500. Does that sound correct?

I've read so often that nobody in our community likes selling / shipping internationally. I guess this is why? A wheel that weighs 11 lbs... seems steep.

Scott

[soterik]

Without having negotiated rates as a regular shipper, I'm guess that's probably the range you could expect. FedEx retail rate on the wheel to ship to the UK would be about $375 given a box that was 17"x17"x8" and 14lb.

[P-Nut 2.2L Find all posts View Profile Close P-Nut]

Thanks Eric. Hardly seems worth it to buyer for a wheel.

wcott