Putting your money where your mouth is???

Kelly's Hot Rod Parts and Phoenix Machine attended the hot rod and restoration trade show last weekend in Indy. After talking to some company reps. it seem like to some extent a few have lost direction. Alot of manufacturing has been outsourced overseas in recent years. Now is the time for consumers, to encourage American companys to produce more of their inventory in the USA. We also sell and use parts from many well known suppliers that outsource and believe most companys would do less manufacturing overseas if we as the consumers were willing to pay more for American built products. Many people have targeted low priced catalog suppliers as unamerican and really do not understand that most would prefer if they sold american made products, but also need to have low prices to compete in todays market.. Are we, as Americans, willing to pay more for items made in the USA, if it helps stimulate our economic recovery ?? LETS ALL PUT OUR MONEY WHERE OUR MOUTHS ARE!!OR STOP COMPLAINING!!

 

Like paying to advertise here?

 

There are a lot of reasons that hot rod equipment is made offshore other than price. In fact, speed equipment companies have been sourcing product off shore since the early sixties. First Mexico, then Japan, Taiwan and now China. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state environmental boards have forced the issue on chrome plating, sand blasting, casting and so on. Throw in ball busting corporate or sub-chapter S taxes along with high labor costs and you have a host of reasons to take a look at having your widgets cast and plated off shore.

I'm not defending the practice, just pointing out that there are more issues than just pricing.

 

Well said...

...and don't forget corporate greed and shareholders demanding double digit returns.

 

.....I may have missed it in your first "money where your mouth is" speach, why you aren't an Alliance Vendor?

I purchase by reputation and potential of h***le factor (i.e. waste of time shipping the wrong parts back etc..) I have yet to return anything I've purchased from the vendors here. I attribute that to the vendors here making a commitment to Ryan about their level of customer service and actually employing a live person who is familiar with what their company sells (not some dolt in a remote call center who only "works" the phones and leases a prius)

 

I appreciate the concept, but I am afraid the solution is really in the inept hands of our government. I don't think a gr*** roots consumer movement will ever grow large enough to change things.

 

he said it! i try to only buy american when it comes to my car parts, but most all disc brakes are made over seas. so ive been told by our parts store. its hard to find american parts now days when it comes to suspension parts. become an alliance vendor!!!!

 

All of my DVD's are pressed in The U.S.A. I wounldn't have it any other way.

 

as long as a union worker makes 4 or 5 times what i do.
no wonder i buy from offshore!
i cant afford that kind of home made welfare philosophy.
sad but true.

 

I don't see any real need to solve the problem for the "sheep" rodders!

I can justify spending a little more to make my purchases through a small organized network of reputable suppliers. However, as of right now I'm actually a little over $185 ahead on the discounts, free shipping and I haven't made any big purchases yet

I don't know that all the vendors here do their best to have the manufacturing done in the US, but if they get a bunch of poorly made **** sent back (no matter where its from) and a bunch of negative posts, I don't know that Ryan would tolerate it for very long.

"govment" solutions always fail, too much "special interest" agendas.

 

but....but....this is a "global economy"...we have to be accepting of other country's industries...regardless of how much lead they toss into their export toys, or the poisons that wind up in their export pet food. I notice that some of the stuff I purchase is made overseas, but I expect the US distributor of those parts to stand behind their product - irrespective of where it come from.

Over-regulation by our government is what has forced companies to outsource their products (or even services in the case of banks and/or customer "help" (har har har) departments. The rising cost of providing for cradle to grave healthcare for everyone that punches the time clock is also a factor. We need to get off of the 'en***lement' wagon and take care of our own business, or surely the foreign countries who presently hold the bulk of this country's debt will become "wolves at the door" within the next few years.

I got a little wound up - sorry.

dj

 

I gotta call ******** on that. Edelbrock seems to be fine. Yes the government hasn't always helped but the biggest evil that has pushed this is greed. The quest for making the most profit each quarter regardless.

 

won't argue THAT point, but I ***ure you that E/brock has been forced to comply with an awful lot of EPA regs and their prices reflect that.

Nonetheless - you are correct, greed is a heady fuel

dj

 

they have forced a bunch of EPA stuff at us, but I gotta say it's not all bad. I enjoy clean water myself. I wish that companies could be trusted to look out for us as well as themselves. But greed is indeed a heady fuel. I try and vote with my wallet and buy US made first.

 

HERE HERE!!, rabble rabble rabble rabble.

Buying american is awesome!

Even when the company has plants/factories here and the money goes over seas... *cough* toyota *cough*

Just kidding

 

Typical consumer in the US doesn't care when it affects his or her wallet.
If they did,Speedway and Walmart wouldn't be so big.
In my bike shop,I sell Chinese stuff every day.Just a few years ago,I would have laughed at the prospect of that,but reality changed .My stuff is vastly better than the big boxes,but my suppliers have to source from China to survive,except for the ultra high end frames.
Some Chinese stuff is fine.It would be nice to always have a choice,and know which is OK,but that's not possible in many cases anymore.
I don't want Asian parts on my vintage cars,just on principle.Too bad that's not possible.
Sorry to add to this post,this comes up all too often here.
Many reasons for this,not just a simple explanation of greed or government.None of them good.

 

American made doesn't always mean higher prices. Case in point, Rebel Wire.

 

There are some areas where one just has to go overseas. Scotch whiskey and Tequila are the items that puts my $$ in a foreigner's purse. I try to be a good citizen and balance that out by drinking copious amounts of Wild Turkey, Cruzan Rum from US Virgin Islands, and Abita Springs beer.

 

Or ME all my stuff is made in the USA using either USA made products or German..mostly USA Products!!!!

 

Buy American...it should be so easy. It's not. There's another factor being the general work force and their current lack of talent or the will to gain that talent. Now before any of you get your ******* in a wad about how good you are, perhaps it's not directed at you so chill out. The largest part of the general labor force works on their "8" rather than their job. Doin time, gettin paid, "...I wanna raise..." and now we have what we have.

I prefer to build more and purchase less. I prefer to spend my hard earned dollars in MY community before any other. That applies nation wide. Getting on here singing about imports and buying USA does little to solve problems.

 

i believe you are what you buy,i'm american,i buy american.

 

I couldn't have said it better 33 5 window coupe!

 

Was talking to Chuck Miller on the weekend, he is the guy that built the Zingers!

He was pleased to hear my stuff was locally made, not imported from far away,
and proudly showed me that his hard cover book was printed in the USA.

 

remember the saying, I've heard it a lot on TV,"A rising tide raises all boats" well we havto remember the rest of that saying! we are all in the same ocean now.

 

I know i'm going to get bashed for most/part of this but what the hell... i agree in buying american! I support american manufacterers and workers i like to support the little guys b/c i AM one of the little guys! I am a firm believer in paying for quality products, bottom line.

The problem i have is sometimes they're just unaffordable at the moment and you need to get something cheap and on the spot. Tools for instance, while overseas tools are obviously inferior sometimes waiting to save up for higher quality ones aren't an option in the short run.

The main problem i have is a lot of people say we should pay more for american made products. Why? Why should the consumer be expected to pay more? Why dont american product manufacturers price their products accordingly? I for one understand that quality demands price, i also know that american fair labor laws, unions, and company politics all play a key role in deciding prices. And whether you agree or not there is a "premium" in buying American. But i also know that people are greedy that will never change... CEO's don't NEED their multi million dollar a year bonuses and they p*** that along to the consumer that's why american auto manufacturers are tanking, but that's another argument for a different day. Even the bigger companies do it, Painless and American Autowire sell similar kits to Rebel wire, but Rebel is so much more cost effective for the consumer. Why is the same or similar product so much more expensive from one manufacterer to the other... food for thought.

Sure i wish we could go back to simpler times where Made in America stood for something, but we lost our way a long time ago.

All i can do now is praise the living hell out of the small time american companies bringing back the quality products at fair prices and buy from them. Believe me Rebel Wire will be getting my order instead of a lot of other companies.

Sorry for the rant haha

 

IMO, "Made in the USA" should be the motto of every small business.

If all of us small manufacturers made every effort to build our product with as much US content as possible (by dealing with US suppliers whenever possible) it would lift us all a little bit, and foment consumer confidence in US manufacturing again. When we support US manufacturers, we are really supporting each other.

The big problem is, you can't ask a man to pay X% more for a product just because it's made in the US.

All of my parts are made right here in the US, either in my machine/fab shop here in MO, or by a single trusted contract machinist I deal with.

I'm proud of that, but I guarantee you that my customer base is not proud enough to pay 25% more for my stuff just because it was made here. Sometimes you can get away with it because you're the only guy doing what you do, or your product is so much better than the compe***ion, etc.

The biggest problem we as manufacturers have is that over the years, a lot of good names have gone to hell and drug the "Made in the US" plaque down with them. I've bought made in the USA **** just like I've bought made in China ****. Apparently excrement recognizes no national borders.

If you bring the product and the service, and can keep the price within a compe***ive margin, you'll pull business with the "Made in the USA" tag. Ask for much of a premium though, and you'll see your sales fall off badly (or just never materialize).

On another note, a lot of times, we manufacturers would like to use 100% USA made parts in our products, but we find it impossible to find certain things.

Electronic components are big one, and amazingly enough, bearings are another. Try finding a real honest to God USA made tapered roller bearing now a days. You can't do it. Even Timkens are made in China now. *** was never made here, and now they're made in China too. NSK is still made in Japan (IIRC anyway), but that doesn't help the Made in the USA thing very much. There are hundreds of other examples.

I wanted to buy a US made manual lathe a few years ago. Guess what? Can't do it. The only honestly US made brand left is Monarch, and I **** you not, they wanted $189,000 for a new 16"x60" engine lathe. They would reman one for $88,000. Castings and all, made in the USA, but damn. I ended up buying a very well made Chinese machine with US installed electricals and good bearings for less than $10,000. Same size machine, same weight machine, certainly not as pretty or a slickly finished as a Monarch would have been, but for less than 6% of the price.

In that instance (just like a million others), practical considerations had to over rule the desire to have a USA made machine.

We can all do our part by patronizing manufacturers who keep high quality production in the US, but as manufacturers, we have to ***ist the customer in this endeavor by remaining compe***ive on price and over delivering on quality and customer service.

The time when US companies could rest on their laurels and let their name and reputation bring in business with no worry about compe***ion are long over. We've all gotta work for it now.

 

Coolhand...excellent post

One point that I didn't see made in the thread to this point...nationalism.

I would only like to mention that the "made in USA" label meant something, not because of nationalism but because of the quality and price of the item. People wanted stuff made here. Through the many faults and foibles already mentioned in this thread, that label is really no longer significant as it really doesn't apply. Those using nationalism as a reason for buying American should be careful with that however.

Much of our current and more of our past economy was built on exporting. If our buyers had been hugely nationalistic as proposed by several here, the "made in America" label would never have even emerged. Imagine what would happen to our economy if 3 billion consumers decided to be nationalistic and buy only from their home country. What would our economy look like then?

 

I'll buy American when American companies remove their heads from their ***es and start competing again. Charging me twice as much for a part and trying to pull on my "un-American" heartstrings isn't gonna work my friend. The purse rules this house, not the flag.

 

I agree, thought it was was wages and health care coverage, but now I found out the biggest factor is that there is no enviromental protection at all, just dump the Mercury and sluge anyware. In a few years the places won't be livable, this is where the big savings is. Just look at Russian industral revolution- BIG MESS. Sorry for the rant but if we don't complain, soon won't be any jobs.

 

Hard to compete with crazy unions. We can't have the cake and eat it.