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Welcome to the world of locost 7s
grandadkit - 1/6/15 at 04:37 PM

Just tried ringing Mac 1 and MK to ask if they've any built cars for sale. Mac 1....after a long time ringing, a message saying you can't leave voicemail. MK.......after a long time ringing, no response. This is after emailing both of them a couple of days ago with the same question and not getting replies.
Emailed Westfield at the same time and got a reply asking what I have in mind.

joneh - 1/6/15 at 04:46 PM

About right for most manufacturers that don't have a marketing team, customer service team or admin team. Most of them are two blokes with a shed and a kettle.

Bear with them, you'll get a reply.

garyt - 1/6/15 at 04:47 PM

if thinking of a westie then you can join the owners club on a free trial and see whats available / £s at least to give you a few ideas
Gary

coozer - 1/6/15 at 04:48 PM

Ring MNR, you'll get a reply there..

daniel mason - 1/6/15 at 04:52 PM

Save yourself the hasstle and call MNR! They will not leave you waiting at all.ever! Customer service is second to none

grandadkit - 1/6/15 at 05:34 PM

Many thanks for your replies but we've had an MNR and wouldn't have another. The nearside rear upper wishbone became detached from the chassis going round the hairpin at Cadwell. A (second hand) factory built car bought from MNR.

CosKev3 - 1/6/15 at 05:36 PM

Bit of a over reaction imo to two small company's not answering a phone call, hardly worthy of starting a thread on it.

CosKev3 - 1/6/15 at 05:39 PM

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=198399

Probably the reason you got no reply at MK

daniel mason - 1/6/15 at 05:49 PM

In that case don't buy a kit car. On track things can break!
My force had a rear suspension failure a few weeks ago! Would I have another? Of course!
How can mnr tell wether a suspension mounting bracket will fail when cornering hard on track?

big_wasa - 1/6/15 at 05:51 PM

Lots of brand of 7's have had wishbone defects if you do a search.

Irony - 1/6/15 at 06:02 PM

No excuse for bad customer service!

grandadkit - 1/6/15 at 06:08 PM

quote:
Originally posted by daniel mason
In that case don't buy a kit car. On track things can break!
My force had a rear suspension failure a few weeks ago! Would I have another? Of course!
How can mnr tell wether a suspension mounting bracket will fail when cornering hard on track?

You may well be right.
However it's very disconcerting when such a failure occurs, and it's even more disconcerting subsequently to discover that the first owner experienced failure of the same wishbone.
Such occurrences leave you with an impression of the product and of the company.
I'm delighted that MNR have such staunch supporters on this forum and I wish them every success.
But, as the saying goes, you can only talk about folk as you find them.

grandadkit - 1/6/15 at 06:21 PM

quote:
Originally posted by big_wasa
Lots of brand of 7's have had wishbone defects if you do a search.

Could that be why kits like the MEV Exocet seem to be popular?
OK, they're a lot heavier, but perhaps less likely to suffer suspension failure.
And the engine lends itself to FI relatively readily.

grandadkit - 1/6/15 at 06:26 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Irony
No excuse for bad customer service!

That's my belief.
Especially when calls can readily be rerouted to mobiles.
It doesn't take much to answer a mobile and say you're too busy to deal with the call right now and you'll ring the caller back later.
Leaves a much better impression than an unanswered phone........which immediately prompts the thought 'are they still in business?'

TimC - 1/6/15 at 07:23 PM

I have no personal experience, but I was quite impressed by the finish on the Ewens Sportscars at Stoneleigh.

snapper - 1/6/15 at 07:42 PM

If you build it yourself you'll be able to iron out any deficiencies
If you want a garunteed top spec car buy a Caterham or a Donkavort

Barkalarr - 1/6/15 at 10:34 PM

quote:
Originally posted by snapper
If you build it yourself you'll be able to iron out any deficiencies
If you want a garunteed top spec car buy a Caterham or a Donkavort


+1 for the Caterham (but then I would say that having recently bought a Superlight)
Also +1 for the Lotus 7 club. I went to stoneleigh and managed to get a park right outside the parts hall on concrete where the club had reserved a spot. Sat down in the marquee they put up and had cups of tea and coffee. Did a track day at Cadwell and got Free 30 mins driver training. Went to Brands and the club had hired out a suite for us to watch the Caterham racing. Free entry to snetterton to watch the Caterham racing.

If you want a starter Caterham, I'm going to put my Roadsport 160 up for sale soon - £12,500. That's R300 spec for half the price! #bargain.

daniel mason - 1/6/15 at 10:40 PM

Is the 160 dry sumped and 6 speed?

Barkalarr - 2/6/15 at 05:47 AM

quote:
Originally posted by daniel mason
Is the 160 dry sumped and 6 speed?


No, it's neither - 5 speed and standard pickup.

If you're looking for something Daniel with 6 speed and dry sump - I know where there is an R400 K for £21k which is completely track focused.
That's a 25k car.

907 - 2/6/15 at 06:09 AM

quote:
Originally posted by snapper
If you build it yourself you'll be able to iron out any deficiencies
If you want a garunteed top spec car buy a Caterham or a Donkavort







There are some wise words in the above post.

Some dodgy spelling maybe, but wise words all the same.


Sorry Paul

Cheers
Paul G

gaz_gaz - 11/8/15 at 04:18 PM

Grandadkit, you have a message coming your way

rusty nuts - 11/8/15 at 06:55 PM

He hasn't been active since June

gaz_gaz - 11/8/15 at 08:02 PM

yes, I was hoping he'd have email notifications on and got a buzzing pocket to let him know there had been a reply and read the message I sent him a couple of days ago

Ben_Copeland - 11/8/15 at 08:12 PM

Stay away from MK then. My friend cracked his rear chassis and bent the rear uprights driving it on the track.

They all fail at some point!!!!

SCAR - 12/8/15 at 07:13 AM

Look hard enough and you will find cases of stress fractures and/or failures regarding virtually every kit car manufacturer. This is probably because a major car manufacture will spend millions developing and testing a lower suspension mount where a typical kit manufacturer will spend about eight quid and hope its ok.
If we participate in kit car ownership we have to accept that a complete kit car is developed on a budget lower than the main manufacturers spend on their door handles. This inevitably means that the companies and their products have to be assessed with a different set of standards and values. If you only have two staff and they're both at a show the customer service department is going to be shut.

Irony - 12/8/15 at 07:49 AM

quote:
Originally posted by SCAR
If we participate in kit car ownership we have to accept that a complete kit car is developed on a budget lower than the main manufacturers spend on their door handles. This inevitably means that the companies and their products have to be assessed with a different set of standards and values. If you only have two staff and they're both at a show the customer service department is going to be shut.


I can't tell you how much I disagree.

Customer service is easy. Kit car companies should take note.

1. Don't promise what you can't achieve. It you tell a customer something will be finished then get it finished. If its not ready then tell them, they normally won't mind.
2. ANSWER THE PHONE! We have these things called Mobile Phones and Answering Machines. If your out and about forward your office line to your mobile.

SCAR - 12/8/15 at 12:01 PM

1. Don't promise what you can't achieve. I absolutely agree
It you tell a customer something will be finished then get it finished. again I absolutely agree
If its not ready then tell them, they normally won't mind. And again I absolutely agree but these are all points regarding basic honesty and are only a part of customer service. No one is suggesting that because a company is small and has stretched resources they can be dishonest, just that what they can reasonably achieve is going to be more limited.

Regarding answer machines these are the invention of the devil, they facilitate the worst possible customer service. Not the machines fault but by design they can and do promote really crap performance. If I call I don't want the recipient to be forewarned that I'm a caller wanting to complain or chase up supply rather than someone wanting to spend more money.

[Edited on 12/8/15 by SCAR]

02GF74 - 13/8/15 at 06:12 PM

quote:
Originally posted by daniel mason
In that case don't buy a kit car. On track things can break!
My force had a rear suspension failure a few weeks ago! Would I have another? Of course!
How can mnr tell wether a suspension mounting bracket will fail when cornering hard on track?


I would disagree with that. Hard driving should not cause components to fail. In fact the 7 kit manufacturers should expect some track use so should design for that.

People take their tin boxes to the track and they dont fall apart.

Im not talking about failure due to impact.

daniel mason - 13/8/15 at 06:55 PM

Tin tops do fall apart, regularly! Things snap! formula 1 cars have suspension failures! (See Sergio Perez)
If you buy something like a radical, which i had. Every stressed competent has a lifespan, which is listed for replacement after a set amount of hours.
If you pound round a circuit all day on sticky tyres repeatedly then eventually something will fail.

alfas - 11/9/15 at 09:01 PM

i´m self employed. i´m instralling machines and dealing with spare parts.

my clients expect to get an offer max. 2 days after a phonecall or after sending an email.

and they usually get a reply.

nowadays with smartphones you are always "online"...so there is no excuse not replying at all.

even when i´m busy installing a machine, i will answer phonecalls...and if i´m very busy i will still answer the call and ask the clients sending an email with their request.

when my "mechanical" job at the client is finished, the administative job starts, wherever i am...at home, in the hotel

so there is NO excuse not getting an answer within a reasonable period. companies not answering at all are lazy and dont care about clients...so they are not worth dealing with!!