Vicynax

iTrader: (3)

Conversation with Nissan of XXX:
Bullitproof: I want a new '06 touring Z for 30k
Sales Manager: Sure thing, here's the contract, sign and this new 06 touring Z is yours right now for 30k
Bullitproof: That is impossible, they go for around 34k.
Sales Manager: It sure is possible. Sign and drive home already.
Bullitproof: But the cost of the car is at $32k
Sales Manager: I'm pretty sure we are not crazy enough to sell you a car at loss or almost no profit.

I'm pretty sure they are not going to go through the process of replying this whole thread and half way through the install states: "you know what.. we mis-quoted you! It should be $27k." And I just don't understand the need to break down the prices. I'm sure you heard of package deals. Do you go up to cashier and ask, "Why does combo 2 cost $5.59? If burger is $3, drink is $2, fries is $2, how did you break it down?" A package deal is a package deal. All those listed are for $20k, so why doubt it?

Bullitproof

iTrader: (3)

If you read the thread, the prices are supposed to be what a normal consumer would pay. imagine if they did build the car using wholesale prices and cutting labor rates. what does that mean for the first customer that wants this exact setup? he gets a 7 grand markup. i though we were trying to make this a real world as possible.

rookie

iTrader: (10)

You don't have to mark every single item up to make a sensible profit off of a project. Repeat business and happy customers make for a decent business plan.

Bullitproof

iTrader: (3)

I doubt it, because i feel like to prove it can be done, the car will be built with wholesale prices and missing labor charges. like i said before, the price of the turbo is 7800, the install is at least 15 to 20 hours( if you can do it faster, good for you guys). brakes are 5000. thats three fourths of your budget. just trying to keep this as real world as possible.

rookie

iTrader: (10)

Why does forged performance list the JWT at 7k not 7800? http://www.forgedinternals.com/store...cat=254&page=1
SGP lists it at 6800 http://sgpracing-store.stores.yahoo....bbtukitfo.html

Forged lists the AP 4 wheel kit at 4500 http://www.forgedinternals.com/store...cat=266&page=1
Stoptech has a 4 wheel 4 piston kit for 4500 http://intensepower.com/st143bigbrki1.html Rotora list on a 6 piston front and a 4 piston rear is 4700. If you can't get atleast 20% list on the rotoras you're not trying hard enough.

What it boils down to is if you can't get misc discounts for doing it all in one shop you're getting bent over. If the suspension is coming off for new coil overs, why not change out the brakes at the same time? Does that change the amount of time and labor for that particular mod? It should. You itemized everything as if you were doing them and being billed for them individually.

mraturbo

iTrader: (1)

PRICING
Point well taken. ALTHOUGH - If you want to think for a second I will sell these parts to USED or whomever for $20k and then up the price on the next guy another 30%, then you are a great man. Better man than me at least in Creative Thinking. Are you in sales - Want a Job?

CHANGES
A 30% variance in price for the same thing. Why not decrease the price 30% from $20k and ONLY sell it for $14k, sure, VRT must make so much $$$ off of each project THEY CAN AFFORD THIS.

FACTORS
Maybe a 30% difference on One item, yet on all of this list. The Internet makes it almost impossible to do so. Look, I would love to sell the JWT for $7800 plus install, would be very profitable, yet highly unlikely. We don't make $$$ off of individual items, we make $$$ off of packages, volume and mastering the process. Burger King Combo, Biggie Size for another
$.50 - if you just buy the Big Fries it would be $1.50 more. Make sense? Think JWT will give me a better deal if I buy one kit, or buy 100? Do you think his supplier gives him the same price for one kit or 100? Think!

PROFIT
Please Trust me - There just isn't that much profit variance in this business unless you are the manufacturer of the product, then the profit is much higher of course. AS ROOKIE said, you make $$$ doing this by SAVINGS and Efficiencies. AND REPEAT HAPPY CUSTOMERS who will recommend you. I am not obligated to breakdown my profit and who ever said I have to sell this same package to you for the same exact price?

We sell custom builds and cater to your individual wants and needs. Sometimes I may upgrade you to a brake and not make a dime, yet because you already spent $30k, it doesn't really matter. If you have a Happy Customer, we take care of them according to their needs, not the needs of the Message-board Consensus! My need to make sense to you isn't priority. It is my customer and I ALREADY KNOW I NEED TO MAKE HIM HAPPY.

REDOS
Hell, some deals we lose our *** on. What happens if we do your job, and say you are Out Of State, and something goes wrong. Well, are we going to tell you to take a Hike - MAYBE, or are we going to send a mechanic or a trailer to fix the problem. Maybe we have to fly someone to evaluate, then rent a Uhaul truck and trailer to bring the car back. Time, expenses, and YES, a loss in profit.

Sometimes you have to do these things to DO THE RIGHT THING. Sometimes it doesn't make sense. And even sometimes you can do all of these things and the customer is still unhappy. You can only try.

TIME
The install time it may take YOU or the average Joe may only take us 70% of the time. Or 50% of the time. I know for a fact I pay my mechanics at the TOP of the pay scale. Why - because they are good? Yes, yet I trust their work and they can do the job faster than most AND DO THE JOB CORRECT THE FIRST TIME. Redos cost man!

FASTER
Wow, what a concept, if they install more kits then others, maybe they can install them a little faster then others. Economies of Scale, division of labor, HENRY FORD...He didn't invent the car, he invented the assembly line and a way to make auto-building for the masses and profitable. 100 years later, something is working out...Well maybe not this year yet that is another story.

GREAT DEAL
However, I am saying that this $20k project is a great deal. Prices do change, and if USED or whomever doesn't want this deal, someone will.

BRAND
VRT - We make $$$ in the long run off of our strong brand. It takes Happy Customers to build a strong brand.

HAPPY
Our goal is to make the customer happy. They aren't happy if they think they got OVERCHARGED. Not good business. I hope to have a build worthy of a Ferrari Modena 360 for a reasonable budget. Would I be over-charging if I increased the price to $25k??? Maybe, yet most customers want to be treated fairly and most want to recommend you if you do a great job. People don't do this if they think they got screwed.

Get It?

THINK
Think about it just for a few minutes.

I notice you are from Delaware like USED, are you in the market for this deal if he doesn't want it?

M

knight_white99

iTrader: (5)

Just to reiterate the level of customer service of VRT:

I had some tuning issues with my turbo install, though the car was still driveable at slower speeds. I drove the car back to VRT from Phoenix (a long drive, I assure you). We both thought the problem could be taken care of in a day and I could drive back that evening (since I had to work the next day).

Well, to make a long story short, my issue required more work, and I had to leave the car there for a few days. Michael PAID MY PLANE TICKET HOME that evening. How many other dealers/tuning shops/etc. would do that for you????

These guys are the best in the business for customer service. I know how many "free" hours VRT put in to get my car right, and I won't forget it. Who do you think is the first one I will go to when I need more work?

If they do work and something is wrong (which is rare), they will bend over backward to make it right.

USED

iTrader: (12)

Wow. This thread has been running completely wild without any help from me.

I do not have the time to constantly check in on this board. I have already discussed w/ mraturbo that I will have the car available in 2 weeks. I am coordinating the details. Getting a Z, $20G, a modena and all the other nuances is not an easy task.

I'll chime in later with overall update. As of now, it appears to be skewing from the original theme. I am becoming increasingly disappointed with the direction. Only a few seem to "get" what I am after. Thanks.


This is really bugging me and I have to state it now:

As far as gauges go....YES, they are mandatory! The origin of this thread states "daily driver". A daily driver, assumes it is a reliable car. To keep that status, monitoring equiptment is necessary. I don't know about the people that believe gauges are not necessary. . . , they seem to have gauges in their respective cars. Hmm...why? I thought you said they are not necessary? Please stop with the politicians' rhetoric regarding the gauges.

Also, as far as the fuel goes:

96 oct/ 100 oct . . . . ? WHAT are you guys thinking? Again, your streching the specs in terms of reality. Daily drivers don't normally use 100 octane fuel. In that case, you could justify "I have a 75shot of NOS in my daily, I should be able to use it" during the race. No, it is not a practical application. Regular oxygenated premium "daily driver" pump fuel only.

This thread is being molested. I hope the outcome doesn't.

pecora55

I think this sums it all up... Can't get any easier than that... Maybe that's why VRTs business is successful?!?

pecora55

Please, just throw some guages in the package to keep everyone from getting upset VRT (people upset are the ones that think it cant be done)... I think people are now starting to finally realize that VRT can and will put this car together for 20k and are having a hard time sleeping at night...

Bullitproof

iTrader: (3)

I get what your'e saying and i commend you for staying with your business model, but i think for the purposes of this exercise an itemized list would be in order. in a previous post you said a stock clutch and no guages would be needed. can you honestly tell me you would go in to a high load-high rpm sustained(we arent talking quarter mile)race with a stock clutch and your'e putting down almost 150whp/trq more than stock? And what happens if you lose oil or fuel pressure? i agree different customers get different rates. I get that, but since your business model precludes you from publishing said prices and labor, i had to do my own homework. And no, i have no need for a 400rwhp 350z, i already own a 440rwhp g35. And no, i don't want a job in sales cuz George Dubya pays me very well, thank you.

TENGAI

iTrader: (5)

In all honesty, I think that Michael and VRT is putting a reasonable package together considering the budget. Do I think it'll out perform the Modena? Potentially... Anyone's who's a Top Gear fan will remember the Euro spec 400bhp Evo that beat up on a Lamo in one episode. With 400whp being the mark with an upgraded brake, suspension, cooling, and drivetrain solution as well, I think it's entirely reasonable. If VRT is willing to deliver at this price, then anyone who can get in on the package should scrape the $20k together as soon as humanly possible. Gauges aside, it's a hell of a deal...

I'm actually curious to see if anyone else (shop) can match or beat the quote. It seems as though everyone has their doubts, but nobody from a shop has offered another solution at the same price. Maybe that's because they can't???

This is definately an interesting thread and the outcome in any case is well worth the debate.

Navygolf13

iTrader: (5)

I am still at a loss there is nothing that a gauge is going to do to make the car more reliable, all it does is give you a warning when something starts to go wrong. That means the car already has a problem, right? If there is some way that the gauges make the car more reliable then please do tell.
Not trying to cause any commotion, just maybe I do not know what the gauges are for really.

Navygolf13

iTrader: (5)

I think it is unrealistic to ask them to "throw" somthing else in. The question was for a Z to be built with 20k and make it a daily driver, that is what they are doing. There are turbo cars out there that do not have any gauges. Also, what everyone is asking for is a fuel pressure gauge and an oil pressure gauge, I have talked with a few different shops through my research and these two gauges were not even at the top of the list of what they recommended. Maybe something has changed, but they gave the parts list and no one said from the beginning that this HAD to be included and this didn't, it was put to VRT to put it together and that is what they are trying to do.

Bullitproof

iTrader: (3)

Maybe you need guages to let you know you are running in an unsafe condition. this car shall be a daily driver. i myself would like to know of a mechanical problem or bad tune or bad tank of gas at the time it happens. you can go from a correctable problem to spitting chunks out your block in seconds, you know?

Navygolf13

iTrader: (5)

What up man?

I second this motion about their customer service. There is NOTHING that Michael and VRT will not do to make a customer happy. They constantly go out of their way to make sure that everything is taken care of properly. What does that mean for the company? The get the absolute best advertising possible....Word of mouth!! I would tell anyone to go there to get anything done on their Z that they needed!!!!

Bullitproof

iTrader: (3)

I don't know what shops you've talked to but i would never take a NA car, boost it, and not put andy type of monotoring devices on it.i would definately not take my car to a place that told me that. Did your other shops tell you that a stock clutch would hold up to 20 high speed laps on a road course also? Just curious. It's always hard to hammer out details like this in a public forum because of all the various opinions. For the sake of my fingers(i'm a really bad typer), i'm gonna sit back and let this one ride out.

Navygolf13

iTrader: (5)

I do know, however again the gauges do NOT make the car more reliable they are a tool for letting you know when something is going wrong. And believe me I know what it is like to blow a motor and I do not want to do that again.

pecora55

Navy,

I totally agree with you 100% but I am hearing way too much whining going on and its pretty lame! There is probably a little room there to throw in the guages to please the doubters.. I have so much confidence in VRT and what they can do that I'm so close to getting rid of my truck and taking the cash from that and giving it to VRT and telling them to work their magic on my Z... But its hard to let go of my truck

MIAPLAYA

iTrader: (3)

+1...The gauge will not prevent the car from encountering a problem. However it will tell you there is a problem and in some cases there is GOING to be a problem. If your shop does not recommend fuel pressure gauges for a track then I'm sorry but that shop is not looking at all the angles. Oil pressure is equally important as fuel pressure. a drop in either of these leads to a grenaded motor at what could be mid-apex on a high speed turn. If you've ever lost a car (handling wise) on a high speed turn then you know its not something you should look forward to. Especially since you plan to be right in front of a MOdena trying to rip your @ss off. You lose it and hit that car and you could both wind up pushing daises. But hey what do I know, I've only watched a friend break his back in 4 places when HIS motor blew up mid-apex.

As for the clutch, I ran my clutch into the ground for 42,000 miles before it quit on me. ALthough I believe when building the ultimate track car you NEED a clutch its not ALWAYS a necessity. The stock one held for me during a few track events.