The Joy of Summit
 

Arriving home the guy next door hands me a new Summit catalogue :D

It had been put in his letterbox.

Time to make a shopping list ...

LoBelly

I think they picked up on all the orders coming from OZ with the dollar so good, as I got one too in the post - but from an Australian mail centre?

They are great. All my hoses\fittings and lots of other misc stuff from them. :)

Just got mine too LoBelly. Was looking at the thermal wrap and insulation mats... heaps cheaper than anything available locally. What's on your list?

I just got a big postcard from Summit with a $30 off coupon with any purchase over $100. Cannot pass up a 30% discount. :MECOOL:

Didn't get mine!!

Any good deals on TKO500 or T5 transmissions??

Cheers

In the Mustang section 6 spd T-56 from ford racing....$2,430 + freight
Cobra R HD 5 spd $ 1,980 + Freight
Super Duty 5 spd $ 1,400 + Freight
I found after the second purchase they started sending catalogs and deals.

Rob

Do they say the freight value is? Is the Cobra R HD box a TKO500?

Cheers

Its a US catalogue, the freight quoted wont help you

All the details are also on the web-site...

http://store.summitracing.com/egnsea...890+115+400070

PM 4 u

The downside to this is that the local corner speed shop is no more as they cannot purchase most parts in Australia from our so called wholesalers at a competitive price to be able to be competitive and survive.

No Local Dealers
 

To some extent this is true and the demise of the 'Speed Shop' is lamentable in terms of being able to go somewhere, look, touch etc and see what is new/available. (Anyone remember Graeme Withers Speed Shop?)

However, the Speed Shop has been in steady decline (near me) for well over 10 years. When I first moved in ('95) the local shop had a selection of manifolds, some carbies and cams etc.

Now its just parts for the standard cars and accessories. According to the owner the problem for him was the divergence between the 'tuner' and Street Machine types and the cost of keeping the shop stocked with very a limited return from a small market.

There are a couple left around Melbourne they also do internet/catalogue sales and maybe competitive depending on the item - pays to shop around

I have used them on occasion and would prefer to (use it or lose it as the saying goes)

**warning repeated rant ahead**
What is a bit annoying is that often-times the shop will be doing what you would be doing - ordering from US and waiting for delivery. The shop will be doing this wholesale and has established logistics but very often you can import yourself for less (even taking into account the GST and parasitic agencies).

It seems to me that some shops a relying on a model of exclusivity that is evaporating in the global economy.

I also enjoyed getting my SuperPlus catalogue (although it cost me $30 - to be refunded from first order)

Still I'll be enjoying browsing the Summit cataloge and the possibilities it creates for a short time - while pondering the effect of the global economy on speed shops in the digital age.

LoBelly

LoBelly, I think forums such as this one allow people to exchange a lot of information, enabling them to buy more things "sight unseen" than in the past. Whether the product/service is good or bad, everybody soon knows about it.

In my experience, you can easily save 30-50% over local sources by searching eBay or online stores. Lucas lights and most chrome bits are often that much cheaper, even after paying freight. But it's not always the case... I think it was Jegs who I nearly ordered from recently, they wanted something like 90 USD to send me a $70 uni joint, the only freight option was Fedex. No thanks!

The problem with the Internet Era of speed parts is that people are buying a lot of crap they dont need (or doesnt fit their app) and end up chumping it off to another poor bloke on ebay.

A fine line
 

I am with you Lobelly,
If you are looking for a part that the speed shops do not stock they do exactly what you would do, air frieght it in from the US or from another distributor.

It is all about value, if a speed shop adds value to the part by offering there expertise or do some home work for you then I would buy it from them. Too often though I have the dim wit on the other side of the counter give you a blank stare and ask you for a part number because they cannot be bothered to look it up.

Also they never alter prices to reflect the dollar at the time, yeah I know stock is bought well before they get it but there seams to be very little if any change over the year.

I once when to a local speed shop that was about 40mins from my place and asked if they stocked a common MSD part, no stock but I can order it in for you and you can come back in 3 days and pick it up. The sales person then picked up the phone and rang the large distributor that is only 15mins from my place and began to order the part. I interupted and cancelled the order, drove back home and stopped in on the way to the distributor, opened a trade account bought the part and off I went.

Anyone can buy and sell, add value and then you will make a profit.

Phil

I agree with you about some of the people who man counters and that is what it has come to. The day of the man who you talk to is the owner who has the experiance and knowledge, as an example a customer of mine bought a blower kit from one of the wholesales shops in Melbourne to suit his small block chev with kiwi pro heads on it. If the bloke behind the counter new anything about what he was selling he would have sold him a kit with the large port manifold but he just sold him what he (the customer) asked for. When the customer goes to fit the manifold he finds that the top of the ports is exposed so he comes and sees me and I make him an adapter plate that will seal his manifold. When I close up and stop doing this he will have to go and find his own part numbers and combinations that will fit and work together and then source them himself.
You cannot buy knowledge and experiance from ebay.

That is correct, you cannot buy knowledge and experience from eBay, but that is not why you go to eBay. I was referring to the 200% markup that a lot of local shops put on parts, and how a few minutes on eBay/google will save you big dollars... which you can then use to pay for all that hard won knowledge and experience. :)