Has anyone heard anything on the status of these from the Year One guys?....we are well into July and they were talking May/June time frame when they took the orders. Thnx Patton Glade
I just called them last night and they said end of July, beginning of August. I was hoping to have it here this week so that I could take it up and have the body man put them on my car. Guess that's not gonna happen.
My buddy Jeff ordered them for his 70 "X", and that was like January or something. Every time he calls, they give him more dates. He said he spoke to "Jim, ext. 131" at Year One and he seemed like the only guy who knew what the hell way was up. So you all might want to birrage him and touch base. He told my friend definitely end of July. Or better yet, talk to the big wig. The only business practice that blows my gray matter, is the fact that they made him pay up front. I'm not talking about just holding a credit card number. They actually CHARGED his card. So now they have all this cash IN HAND and still no product delivered. What the hell is wrong with this picture? I thought that was illegal. I can't believe people would pay up front for something that hasn't even been produced yet. In effect, what they are doing is using your money to fund their project. Not even a down payment, I'm talking full price. I've heard of companies holding a card number, that's common practice, but CHARGING IT???? With no product, or no definite product delivery date? Guys, tell me you didn't......
I was told mid summer (july/august) when I ordered mine, not sure why everyone is getting upset. So they billed the card right away, who cares?? The way I look at it is the parts will show up one day and I won't have to pay for them. They probably couldn't get the order processed without the money to pay the manufacturers. Any time you order something online, its always billed before it leaves. BE HAPPY they are making them, I heard they were good quality, and won't be a regular item. Later Tim
Actually, when you pay by credit card, you don't have to pay until you get the product. All it takes is a phone call to your credit card company and a follow up letter explaining why you don't want to pay right now.
Thanks for the feedback and info everyone...TimR, you are right..if the quality and availability is there then it's worth paying and waiting...if it was someone other than Year One we might have cause to worry...they are, after all, still in business and doing a lot to help this hobby. Thnx Patton Glade
I got tired of waiting, found and original stainless set a E-town swap meet last year for 30 bucks! I guess I would consider myself kinda lucky on that one :laugh: NOW! if they could only produce the 70 GS grills that would me even happier, oh well I guess that will never happen. Just as a side bar note, I'm looking to create my own GS grill with supplies from Home Depot. Any info on this would be a great help, the way things look for this peice I'm going to have to come up with something. Email me here if you have any ideas, it would be greatly appreciated:TU: Larry
Geez, all I'm saying is that it's uncommon practice. Mellow out man :beer. All I'm saying is, personally speaking, not speaking for you, I think it's wrong that they take the money before they ship the product. I'm not convinced that online shopping charges your card either until the order is processed and shipped. Year One charged the card and got the money and still didn't have the product in THEIR hands, and haven't known exactly when they will. It's not a big deal to some, it's called "cash flow" to others, and while this hobby isn't cheap, it's still nice to know your money isn't tied up in Year Ones cluster f*ck order processing process. When you're as anxious as my friend is to get his X done, I guess you expect that when they charge your card, you should get the item withing 6 months or so. But obviously I'm in the minority here. o No: So I'll just shut up.
Both of you have good points...it's not like we are drivng brand x's where you can produce a part and figure on selling it...so I'll give Y1 the benefit of the doubt for right now..makes good business sense on their part for a part with questionable demand..if people REALLY want it then they'll put their $ up front. Patton
You know what? Since you put it that way it makes more sense. Then the only issue I have would be why don't they just come out and say that from the very beginning instead of people wondering why they've been charged for a ghost item? If I were told "yes, we are going to reproduce these in limited quantity, and the manufacturer would either like a deposit (which I think would have been sufficient, not necessarily paid in full, but whatever), or the full amount, that would be open and honest and I'd be fine with that. Much the same as the GSCA did with the whole M/T Header thing. And those cost a wee bit more. It's not really even a matter of "if people really want them they'll put their dollars in up front". It's almost obvious that would be the case anyway. But if Y1 would have just said, we don't really know when they'll be ready, maybe sometime towards the end of the summer, but we need a payment in full if you want a set".......this thread never would have even started. Obviously, some people were like, "WTF? Where's my moldings?" I'm babbling for no other reason other than hating when companies do things ass backwards. I'm not cheap, and I'm not a chronic complainer, it's just that sometimes businesses baffle me, I don't know why, between all our well known aftermarket companies, I should just be used to it I guess.
Ken's right on this one , as, this is not the first run of these repro parts and Y1 didn't have to invest in new tooling. Also, they probably researched the market and seemingly would have known that they(parts) would sell. On the other hand, I beleive this was a group purchase deal and as I recall, all the details were clearly printed in the offer as well as an email contact where unanswered questions could have been addressed. The best place to direct these questions and concerns is probably from the source. I've done a lot of biz over the years with Y1 and they have always treated me right. I'm sure they'll refund your money. My .02 worth of hot air Matt
Matt, You remember the whole M/T Header thing that the GSCA did right? Is that what is considered a group purchase? If so, all they asked for was $35 to have a set of headers made for you. The balance was due when they were ready to ship. That makes sense to me, since it's unethical to ask someone to lay out $100's and pay in full on an item that isn't even of this earth yet. That's the one and only beef I had with Y1 the way they went about this. Hell, I didn't even order them, my friend did. :laugh: I was just trying to make some sense of it all. I get so fired up when companies do stuff like this and we all sit around like naiive innocent victims thinking that must be the way it always works. I'm going to talk to my friend tonight and find out exactly what it was that Y1 told him when he coughed up the coin for these imaginary moldings. I know they had them, then they didn't, even though they were in the catalog, then they did this run, and that's where we are now. But I just want to find out what they said to him.
hey Larry, I know this sound silly but the overhead square panels in some ceilings are exactly the same size as the squares on a 70 GS grille. I discovered that one day in the washroom of a mall!!LOL the only thing would be that the squares on the grille were angled so the airflow would be straight through, but if you angle these peices to make the grill they would offset some. Still.... OK, maybe I got a little uptight but why is it everyone wants everything right now, it must be perfect, and it must be cheap?? Look at poor Alan and his 70 taillights....the guy outta get a metal for putting out his own cash to get them developed, instead he gets slammed at the Nats because guys would rather use some ratty POS taillight lens in their GS then pay 239.00 for two lenses that can't be identified from NOS (and with gaskets, no less!!). Its a real shame. No wonder we have no parts specifically available for our cars. Its not like I'm rich or anything either, and I can see why YO charged up front. They only made them because they got enough orders, its not for stock. I knew the details up front, and I knew there would be a delay (isn't there always a delay these days??LOL) so the timeline wasn't a big deal. Also, being YO I wasn't too worried about it, if they didn't come through, its not a fly by night operation. Hopefully they will show up soon for you guys. Hell, if they send them out by order #, I'll glady give up my place in line as I'm in no rush. later Tim
Jim, who was bashing the repro tail light lenses? PM me. I know some of the show type guys really are anal and will pay top dollar for a piece which is absolutely 100% indestinguishable from NOS. But if it isn't, they won't. I haven't seen them so I can't comment. Any attempt to repro them gets an A+ in my book anyhow. Besides, Rome wasn't created in a day either. Maybe it can be improved upon if it's not yet perfect. The good thing about the 70 lenses are that the right and left hand sides are interchangeable. 69's aren't. I got lucky and scored an NOS set and have a real nice backup set. I rarely get lucky with parts for this car. The best had to be the brandy new $85 windshield. :jd:
Well Alan had set up a display at the nats with some of his prototype 70 lenses. they are supposed to be awesome, even have the gm p/n molded in, the whole bit. I think he was asking 229.00 for a set including gaskets (NOS goes for more then that now easily). I guess the first few people who came up said something to the effect of "for that price I'll keep my old ones". Alan was quite PO'd about it (very nice about it but you could tell from his posts he wasn't impressed). Anyway, he was hoping to do 71 taillights, and 72 taillights, and then possibly use that money to help out with some grilles....but he probably won't now. I haven't seen him on the list for a long time, maybe he is on holidays. Anyway, I think we should support guys like this, instead of shooting them down. I am extremely anal about my cars, but you know, at this rate pretty soon we won't have any parts left to buy, NOS lenses will be going for 1000.00 and this hobby will get too expensive even for hardcore guys like myself (its too expensive now, thats why i have to spread a resto over 5 or 6 years, can't afford to do it any faster). Not sure what he is doing wit the 70 lenses right now. I hope they are selling for him. I would buy a pair as backups but have 71 and 72 cars, and they won't fit. later Tim
I just thought of something, has he advertised anywhere? I don't know, sometimes seeing something in print or maybe a picture really catapults a product. I must agree to some extent, that people go nuts about the price of stuff. There must be a happy medium however. In other words, the guy who's selling a $1,500 NOS 69 GS grille, should plan on being buried with it. I had Dave Tumas restore mine for a few hundred and once installed will be indistinguishable from NOS. We must also remember that we do not have Chevy's, nor will we ever have parts which will fall into the category of Chevy parts, pricewise. There are less available parts for our cars, making them more expensive. No company will ever take on the cost to mass produce any item, no matter how rare or what the need is, if it will not bring a return on investment. Unfortunately, I do not think it will ever change for the Buick fan. So guys like Alan get a thumbs up from me. While I'm not saying people should just buy the lenses regardless of quality or price, I am saying that from a club and hobby standpoint, we should seriously take a look, if we own a 70, at Alan's lenses and if you've got some extra cash and you're happy with them, buy them. It can only be a step in the right direction as far as the future of our cars goes. What baffles me, is people will complain about the price of these reproes, but the same people will get into a bidding war on ebay for a used pair and end up paying more money for them. Did they ever think that if they started purchasing the lenses from Alan, he might be able to lower the price a little in the future? I know it doesn't do much good for the guy who's buying them now, but that's how prices moderate. Anyway, just my .02.
Whats the big deal if Y1 charged us. They will give you a refund at any time if you want you're money back. Would be totally differn't if they didn't.
Excellent point! It would probably help if Atlanta Buick Specialities could sell their stuff through Year One or another MAJOR Buick parts supplier. He could have all his stuff listed in their catalogs! Think about it - who doesn't have a Year One catalog for their Buick? I wonder what it would take to form this partnership? Just thinking out loud.
:TU: Thanks for the help Tim it is greatly appreciated, wait wait!! I think I have found some ceiling tiles that my do the trick at work LOL :laugh: . Really thats a great idea! Sounds like I will use a celing tile as a template and then cut wire mesh for the grill part. What I was thinking for the middile part was using some plexi-glass and jb weld for the middle point, then paint it with some epxoy black. I hope this works, I havent started yet b/c I'm finially getting my pro-street trans am this saturday!! Things are looking good for BOP day at E-town Raceway park for this car. Hope to see some board members there!:TU: Larry
