Re: Rob Grady Reply

["content22207" <brobertson@xxxx>]

Perhaps this is just my own perception, since I am a fairly new owner
myself, but it seems as though a lot of DeLoreans have been changing
hands in the past year or two. If so:
1) In the time preceding these cars may have been sitting idle,
consuming few parts
2) The new owners -- if they intend to make/keep their cars roadable
-- will be buying a lot of parts in the future

Isn't this what Toby Peterson encountered with his TAB's? (Recent
demand has skyrocketed, depleting what used to be an inventoried item
BEFORE production even begins). There also is enough new demand to
spawn companies like John Hervey's and Martin Gutkowski's.

And don't forget that the economy still remains less healthy than
Uncle George wants us to believe (flame alert). I know my own
purchasing priorities have been downgraded to match a stagnant paycheck.

Your reputation as a premier repair center and parts source is intact.
Owners will certainly turn to you for indispensible items now. If/when
the economy improves, they will come to you for less critical items.
Should that demand be pent up enough you may find yourself with the
opposite problem -- too much business.

Note to any new owners: every item I have purchased from Grady has
been top quality, received timely.

Bill Robertson
#5939

>--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Dave Swingle" <swingle@xxxx> wrote:
> Rob has some difficulty getting this to the list and asked me to post 
> the reply... Dave S
> 
> -----------------------
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "PJ Grady Info" <info@xxxx>
> To: "Dave Swingle" <swingle@xxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2004 6:58 PM
> Subject: RE: Talks to God
> 
> 
> I understand your dilemma. To the best of my knowledge the bearing is 
> what is known as a "special". This is commonly done in the auto 
> business by factories to keep people from putting generic components 
> in their assemblies. There are many reasons for this.
> 1)The first obviously is greed. They want your future business on the 
> components they manufacture.
> 2) Conversely this also helps the company to stay in business which 
> is usually a good thing.
> 3) This is especially common with steering and suspension components 
> because the company has your safety and their reputation as a top 
> priority.
> 4) The quality of bearings and such varies greatly and this helps the 
> company to control the safe repair and use of the product.
> 5) Equally important this helps control who rebuilds the components 
> as the controlled distribution of repair parts also prequalifies who 
> will rebuild these safety critical items.
> Years ago I disassembled a new steering rack and had all of the 
> bearings, bushings, preloader springs and shims manufactured from 
> scratch. By far the most expensive parts were the bearings so I had 
> to make 200 bearing assemblies for it to be cost effective. The high 
> grade of steel we used had to be machined, heat treated to c60 
> (that's hard!) and then ground to final dimensions. Heat treating to 
> this hardness requires precalculation of the shrinkage rate or your 
> new parts are now scrap! I spent many thousands of dollars to have 
> all these parts manufactured. If you have a worn bearing then I 
> assure you your rack will need other parts such as boots, a pinion 
> seal and internal bushings. One of the reasons (besides the money I
> invested) I haven't sold these parts individually is to protect 
> people from poor and incomplete repairs on the most important safety 
> item in their car.
> I have sold racks to people who had bought them from at least two of 
> the other major vendors because these assemblies were of poor 
> quality. If you can't get a quality part from these guys what chance 
> do you or even your mechanic have of doing a quality repair. PJ 
> Grady's is the only vendor who rebuilds their racks in house using 
> all new bearings, seals, bushings, preload shims and springs. Someone 
> correct me if I'm wrong. Because our racks are forty five dollars 
> higher than Houston's we have watched our sales of this part plummet 
> in the last year or so. We went through our first 100
> racks (200 Bearings) in about 3 years which I felt was sustainable on 
> an investment verses return basis. If sales don't pick up I will 
> either 
> A) Discontinue manufacturing these parts as I use up existing stock 
> or 
> B) Offer them as a rebuild kit complete with rebuild instructions. 
> The problem with
> B) goes back to reason number 5. We lose all control of who rebuilds 
> the rack and also the quality of the reusable core parts i.e. the 
> rack body, pinion and rack bar. We reject about half the cores we 
> receive because of pitting of the gears, housing damage etc. Our 
> racks are rebuilt by my shop foreman who has many years of 
> experience. You can put your life in his hands I guarantee it! Is 
> that worth the extra forty five dollars? My ad for this part says it 
> all "when your car won't steer, just remember, the good racks are 
> here. Since many of you don't apparently think so I have decided to
> decrease the price to match Houston's. If that doesn't help I just 
> won't bother making them any more. I know the poor economy plays a 
> part in this.
> I've seen my sales on stainless radiator screens and life time 
> guarantee tail light circuit boards drop as well (which no one else 
> makes). Would anybody care if I stopped producing these parts? Please 
> give me some feedback on this.I need to make some decisions.
> 
> Why did "Talks to God" ignore George Caprita's post about his 
> experience with a rebuilt rack. I guess he only talks to God. 
> Unfortunately George didn't tell him who he purchased his rebuilt 
> rack from nor all the problems
> he found inside it. Isn't anybody brave on this list? That's ok I 
> won't tell either. I have more to lose than an owner does after all I 
> have a DeLorean business. Several other people on this list have had 
> similar problems with other vendors (are you listening Christian 
> etc? - and what about your experiences Knut?) but no one speaks 
> up...or it doesn't get past the moderators. I'll have more to say on 
> this and other subjects at a later date.
> 
> Happy New Year
> 
> Rob Grady
> ______________________________
> 
> www.info(AT)pjgrady.com

[very long quote trimmed by moderator]