Not understanding the delivery process, looking for help.

[Ian]

Hello all,

I am unfortunately in a bit of a groundhogs day here. I would love to hear others input as to their experience from purchase to delivery of their car.

- I ordered my car September of 2022. Nothing fancy, just straight off the order sheet.

- I went off and started a different project that wrapped up July of 2023.

- In June of 2023 I heard from Fran that the car would be ready mid to end of September.

- The beginning of September I called to see if we were still on track for delivery and Vickie put me on hold to check and came back with a yes, end of month, and that I should order tires. She also gave me contact info for preferred transporters. (this was also when I started my build thread)

- I engaged with the transporter and began prepping the bay that the SL-C will be living in.

- September 29th comes and I receive a request for Progress Payment, but not full payment, which puzzled me as I was expecting to pay the full remaining amount and receive a pickup date that I could relay to the transport company who I have all T'd up.

- Talk to Vickie and it appears that the new date will be end of October, no problem, I pay my Progress Payment and change my schedule around a bit for an end of October delivery.

- Mid October comes and I reach out again for an update and I am told, end of November, beginning of December.

- It is the same story in December, "it will be end of January". Well, here we are at the end of January and I cant get anyone on the phone, I cant get an email, I am in the dark.

I have been patient and given them space to work, but if you tell me I will be needing to arrange for delivery in weeks, that means I need to do a lot of things to prep for it. When I don't hear from you as the delivery time approaches, I am going to call you.

I honestly just don't get what's going on. Last I spoke with Vickie I asked if there was something holding the car up and she said no, but would check and get back to me. That was the last communication I had with anyone at RCR.

Would love to better understand the situation, any help would be greatly appreciated. This post marks 1 year 4 months from deposit.

Fran, any light you can shed on the situation would be wonderful.

Thank you all,
Ian

 

[Randy Folsom]

Hello all,

I am unfortunately in a bit of a groundhogs day here. I would love to hear others input as to their experience from purchase to delivery of their car.

- I ordered my car September of 2022. Nothing fancy, just straight off the order sheet.

- I went off and started a different project that wrapped up July of 2023.

- In June of 2023 I heard from Fran that the car would be ready mid to end of September.

- The beginning of September I called to see if we were still on track for delivery and Vickie put me on hold to check and came back with a yes, end of month, and that I should order tires. She also gave me contact info for preferred transporters. (this was also when I started my build thread)

- I engaged with the transporter and began prepping the bay that the SL-C will be living in.

- September 29th comes and I receive a request for Progress Payment, but not full payment, which puzzled me as I was expecting to pay the full remaining amount and receive a pickup date that I could relay to the transport company who I have all T'd up.

- Talk to Vickie and it appears that the new date will be end of October, no problem, I pay my Progress Payment and change my schedule around a bit for an end of October delivery.

- Mid October comes and I reach out again for an update and I am told, end of November, beginning of December.

- It is the same story in December, "it will be end of January". Well, here we are at the end of January and I cant get anyone on the phone, I cant get an email, I am in the dark.

I have been patient and given them space to work, but if you tell me I will be needing to arrange for delivery in weeks, that means I need to do a lot of things to prep for it. When I don't hear from you as the delivery time approaches, I am going to call you.

I honestly just don't get what's going on. Last I spoke with Vickie I asked if there was something holding the car up and she said no, but would check and get back to me. That was the last communication I had with anyone at RCR.

Would love to better understand the situation, any help would be greatly appreciated. This post marks 1 year 4 months from deposit.

Fran, any light you can shed on the situation would be wonderful.

Thank you all,
Ian

Following

 

[Ben P]

Following.I ordered mine RCR Markll April 4th 2023 and was told around 7 months so I thought to myself 14 months with everything going on.With that being said I havent ordered anything extra for project until I hear from them on second payment.I find in my mechanical business there is a huge problem with getting parts and communication in general.In short ,nobody puts the customer first anymore or cares.So fran is probably in the same boat with his supplies,who knows.Its was bad before covid,now its just a shit show.

 

[Ben P]

But I am waiting for the call that says come and get it!!

 

[Ian]

Hey all,
Was able to have a few emails with Fran over the last few days. Unfortunate it seems that Fran has a supplier who has been jerking them around for months and that has been the reason for the continued delays.

ON THE PLUS SIDE
The RCR team have a BUNCH of cars ready to go as soon as the supplier issue is alleviated.
Fran is hard at work replacing the supplier and I am confident the road block will be removed soon.

We should (my self included) all remember that we ordered a small batch boutique supercar, RCR does not have the benefit of a large manufacturer's (Ferrari, Lambor-audi-ghini , Ford) reach and power, so suppliers can be a huge headache, and when they jerk around RCR, they jerk us around as well in proxy.

As for me, my question has been answered, I understand the process much better now,
Thank you Fran!

 

[Ian]

But I am waiting for the call that says come and get it!!

Ben your assessment of the situation is spot on.
What an amazing call that will be!

 

[Randy Folsom]

Hey all,
Was able to have a few emails with Fran over the last few days. Unfortunate it seems that Fran has a supplier who has been jerking them around for months and that has been the reason for the continued delays.

ON THE PLUS SIDE
The RCR team have a BUNCH of cars ready to go as soon as the supplier issue is alleviated.
Fran is hard at work replacing the supplier and I am confident the road block will be removed soon.

We should (my self included) all remember that we ordered a small batch boutique supercar, RCR does not have the benefit of a large manufacturer's (Ferrari, Lambor-audi-ghini , Ford) reach and power, so suppliers can be a huge headache, and when they jerk around RCR, they jerk us around as well in proxy.

As for me, my question has been answered, I understand the process much better now,
Thank you Fran!

Thx much for the update. At least RCR is not like some of the other kit car companies who ship what ever they have and let the buyer figure out which parts are missing and that they have two left side pipes

 

[Jeff W]

Which parts aren't being delivered by the supplier? Cars are still going out with items on backorder. I'm missing several things, but the car did show up. A couple items already have arrived, but still missing some "big ticket" things like steering and transaxle completion kit parts.

 

[Randy Folsom]

Which parts aren't being delivered by the supplier? Cars are still going out with items on backorder. I'm missing several things, but the car did show up. A couple items already have arrived, but still missing some "big ticket" things like steering and transaxle completion kit parts.

When did you place your order? I ordered mine in May.

 

[Ian]

Jeff, Fran was not specific and I did not pry. At least you have a car to work on!

 

[Jeff W]

When did you place your order? I ordered mine in May.

Randy I ordered mine in March of '22, received in December of '23.

 

[Jeff W]

Jeff, Fran was not specific and I did not pry. At least you have a car to work on!

I understand your not wishing to pry. I'm missing parts and wanting to know if they're in the queue holding up the works, too.

 

[Randy Folsom]

Randy I ordered mine in March of '22, received in December of '23.

Seems like I will have plenty of time to finish building the FFR Roadster (Cobra) I picked up to fill the time

 

[Sean Starkey]

Ian

I had a similar issue with them. I ordered mine in Sept 2020 with a quoted delivery of January or February of 2021. I understand this was at the highlight of the Covid supply chain disruptions so having the delivery date push was something I expected. I paid in full at the time of order and got a little worried when I kept calling and emailing asking for an update with no response. After several months with no updates, I finally heard from Bill that the car was waiting on a couple items and then would be ready to ship almost a year to the day from placing the order. A month later I got the call it was ready to ship.

All that being said, RCR provided a very fine product. My only gripe is their communication is lacking a bit when you ask for updated delivery times. Hang in there, I guarantee it’s worth the wait.

Sean

 

[Ian]

Thank you for your insight Sean. I am confident my car will be on its way soon!

 

[Coleman Bee]

Anyone have a concern that when Fran and Co. go out searching for "a replacement supplier for parts x, y, or z," that in his rush to demands and get the chain moving again, he makes an honest mistake and chooses a manufacturer that puts out an inferior product? One that might fail at 150 mph? It would be a totally honest mistake, one he wouldnt ever catch until one of us reports back that a part failed under normal operating conditions. i.e., something we would not reasonably expect to have to deal with on a car we just built, or barely push to its design limits.

I'm paraphrasing Captain Ron here but if something important is going to fail, its going to fail when we're pushing the car, not when we're inching it in and out of parking lot spaces at Cars and Coffee.

What say thee?

 

[Jeff W]

Anyone have a concern that when Fran and Co. go out searching for "a replacement supplier for parts x, y, or z," that in his rush to demands and get the chain moving again, he makes an honest mistake and chooses a manufacturer that puts out an inferior product? One that might fail at 150 mph? It would be a totally honest mistake, one he wouldnt ever catch until one of us reports back that a part failed under normal operating conditions. i.e., something we would not reasonably expect to have to deal with on a car we just built, or barely push to its design limits.

I'm paraphrasing Captain Ron here but if something important is going to fail, its going to fail when we're pushing the car, not when we're inching it in and out of parking lot spaces at Cars and Coffee.

What say thee?

No. This is a hypothetical that doesn't even really need to be entertained. What parts would those be, anyway? The bulk of the car chassis is handmade by RCR in-house. The wheels, brakes, and the rest are tried-and-true parts either off production cars or from well-established suppliers.
If you're racing there's always a risk, that's part of the game.

We also aren't privy to exactly what parts are holding up the production process. We don't know if it's slow fiberglass body production or if they can't get the suspension CNC work done, one would think it isn't minor parts holding things up.

 

[Neil]

Anyone have a concern that when Fran and Co. go out searching for "a replacement supplier for parts x, y, or z," that in his rush to demands and get the chain moving again, he makes an honest mistake and chooses a manufacturer that puts out an inferior product? One that might fail at 150 mph? It would be a totally honest mistake, one he wouldnt ever catch until one of us reports back that a part failed under normal operating conditions. i.e., something we would not reasonably expect to have to deal with on a car we just built, or barely push to its design limits.

I'm paraphrasing Captain Ron here but if something important is going to fail, its going to fail when we're pushing the car, not when we're inching it in and out of parking lot spaces at Cars and Coffee.

What say thee?

That concern is certainly not limited to a single company. It is always a concern when any vendor is looking for an alternate parts supplier. The integrity of the vendor is your best protection against receiving poor quality components.
In general, high quality parts are not cheap- this is your first clue. The final responsibility is yours- your choice of component parts and your assembly skills. Some failures at 150 mph have minor consequences, others are fatal. There is always some risk involved.

 

[Walter]

Anyone have a concern that when Fran and Co. go out searching for "a replacement supplier for parts x, y, or z," that in his rush to demands and get the chain moving again, he makes an honest mistake and chooses a manufacturer that puts out an inferior product? One that might fail at 150 mph? It would be a totally honest mistake, one he wouldnt ever catch until one of us reports back that a part failed under normal operating conditions. i.e., something we would not reasonably expect to have to deal with on a car we just built, or barely push to its design limits.

I'm paraphrasing Captain Ron here but if something important is going to fail, its going to fail when we're pushing the car, not when we're inching it in and out of parking lot spaces at Cars and Coffee.

What say thee?

I'd say this, and quite in general: when I take my car out on the race track, ultimately, it is my responsibility to ensure it is properly prepared and up to this task. On a home-built street car (e.g., as in my case built and initially ``IVA-ed" under the supervision of its previous owner) I subject the car to a thorough inspection, test drives of increasing intensity, and subsequent improvement, where necessary (details on my build log). Only then do I take the car to IVA myself, where the car is tested by the authorities once more. Else one should turn to a car (mass-) produced by a reputable car manufacturer.

 

[Ian]

Anyone have a concern that when Fran and Co. go out searching for "a replacement supplier for parts x, y, or z," that in his rush to demands and get the chain moving again, he makes an honest mistake and chooses a manufacturer that puts out an inferior product? One that might fail at 150 mph? It would be a totally honest mistake, one he wouldnt ever catch until one of us reports back that a part failed under normal operating conditions. i.e., something we would not reasonably expect to have to deal with on a car we just built, or barely push to its design limits.

I'm paraphrasing Captain Ron here but if something important is going to fail, its going to fail when we're pushing the car, not when we're inching it in and out of parking lot spaces at Cars and Coffee.

What say thee?

First off, Captain Ron is in my top 5 favorite movies of all time, Kurt Russel is my spirit animal!

To answer your question I’ll tell you a story.
While I was driving Pro Formula Mazda we had an issue with the rod ends for the a-arms both front and back corners. It was the start of the season and we had swapped out all the rod ends over the off season, along with everything else that had a sub one year life span. We did not know it at the time but there was a manufacturing flaw with the parts and it made them weaker than they were spect. Unfortunately we did not heed the warning signs of the issue (they were loosening up during practice more then they should) and during a hot lap (putting together a timed lap to judge how we are doing) the back right lower rod end attaching the a-arm to the upright let go. This was at Road Atlanta, my home track, on the exit of turn five just after “the Esses” (we called it Death Valley lol), turn five is a very fast left turn with high loading and to get your best time you run the curb on exit. Because this is where the short course re enters the main course, the safe barrier is not very friendly. Suffice to say, the car was very badly damaged when the back end went and I hit that barrier at about a 45* angle backwards.

My point is this, there are no guarantees in this life. I trust the designer and build of a race car to do their job, but it’s on me and my team to listen to the car and make our judgment calls based on all the evidence. If we would have stopped and thought about why the rod ends were loosening up, we may have caught the problem before the accident.

You should never just Willy nilly go run a race car at 150mph without doing the work to get up to that point. Never start with your hot lap.

At any rate, here’s to swimmin with bow legged women! (Sorry, I also love the move jaws lol)