[TR] An expensive lesson

[terryrs at comcast.net]

I know.  I know.  I've been bitten a couple of times by aftermarket parts that don't quite meet original quality.  We've talked here, for instance, about rotors for the dizzy that don't meet standards.  That said, I am grateful beyond measure for the chance to have at them in order to get my car back on the road (seemingly each year) after one issue or another.  

I subscribe to "Bring a Trailer."  Can't imagine even attempting to bring back to life some of the offers there given there are zero parts available for some of those obscure, but cooooool, cars that show up there.  Imagine having to have specially manufactured parts for common issues like pistons, brake cylinders, and all that.  Gadfrey!  People who go that route have way more money than most of us, I suppose.

Terry  Smith, '59 TR3A  TS 58667
I've been daily driving my car from 2004 to 2015.  The car was made in 1959 and put in a garage as a rust relic in 1975.  Means I've driven this car nearly half its operational life thanks to TRF and Moss.  The payback for the trubble is the stares from civilians.  


----- Original Message -----
From: Don Hiscock <don.hiscock at gmail.com>
To: John Macartney <john.macartney at ukpips.org.uk>
Cc: triumphs at autox.team.net
Sent: Sat, 07 Nov 2015 17:29:10 -0000 (UTC)
Subject: Re: [TR] An expensive lesson

It stings, John, because the OEM stuff is (was) better than the dreck we
have for most things today, coupled with the thought that up until
relatively recent times there was a chance to keep the OEM bits around but
for penny-pinching.

I'd like to think as we've all reached a different stage in life and our
cars have reached a different point in value, that were that same
support-the-good-stuff option available to is now we'd do it.

Perhaps not. Maybe that's just not in the genes of a typical Triumph owner,
then or now, to spend a cent more than necessary.

On Saturday, November 7, 2015, John Macartney <john.macartney at ukpips.org.uk>
wrote:

> Sorry, Don. Didn't mean to 'hurt' anyone but I only wrote that piece to
> illustrate that 'price fright' should never be the deciding factor. It's
> doing your best to keep your prices as close to market acceptance limits
> and 'going that extra mile' if you can on customer service. I do remember
> two small independents based in California (one in SF, the other in LA) who
> clearly had some very loyal and dependable customers and they kept on
> coming back to us with repeat business. It was never large and even if we
> lost it, this would never have impacted on our bottom line. But they stuck
> with us and we tried to give them the best deal possible because it was
> always such a pleasure dealing with them. Probably the difference between
> those two outfits and all the rest was they 'understood' the volatility of
> foreign exchange movements and clearly did their level best to address it.
> I was greatly saddened some years later to learn the owners of both
> businesses had died and the businesses were liquidated. they had become
> such very good friends. Do any of the older listers in CA by chance
> remember Dave Milner or Hank Dukowski? That's who they were.
>
> Jonmac
>
>
>
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