Bad start to a new relationship

[dcdoug]

Originally Posted by Mark IV

Solution:

Call me at 716 407 0975 and I will have a new mirror shipped to you no charge and if needed, arrange for installation by a third party.

You do not actually have a "dealer" as Kieth Craft was a "reseller" and not a "dealer" for Superformance. (not a knock on KC, he does great work and builds very fine engines) but is not an authorized Superformance dealer.

The selling Superformance dealer is responsible for some of the initial warranty costs and would have resolved this issue for you.

Either call me or email me info(AT)timemachinesauto.com and we will do our best to help.

Now that's the right kind of approach to customer service. If you called Jim Creel, he should have said exactly the same thing. And if not, I would have told him that you are going to let Keith know that his customer service is lousy. And Michael, whoever he is at SPF, should take a lesson from Time Machines Auto.

[RodKnock]

I think it's wonderful that Rick at Time Machines Auto and Tin-Man have stepped up to help you with your SPF. Very cool guys. Help like that should be applauded.

[Dallas56]

Thank you all, particularly Mark IV. Michael at SPF, while tellling me I had no warranty, also suggested calling Jim Creel, which I will do.

On a more positive note, I left a message for Keith last night that the radiator fan was not coming on automatically. He called me back at about 8:30 PM, said Rob Camp of C&S Performance in Plano, Texas would take care of it, was in that evening, and that I should bring the car by. It was about 9 PM when I met Rob at his shop. He got under the hood, found what was not connected properly, and fixed the problem, at no charge. That's the kind of service that I will never get from the local dealership that works on my Mercedes.

[Dallas56]

RodKnock, I posted my reply before seeing yours. I agree with the Very Cool Guys comment. I am new to all this and continue to be amazed at the helpfulness of the site members and the wealth of available information and advice.

[RodKnock]

Most of the major Cobra manufacturers have wonderful owners and very good factory support.

[Tony Ripepi]

Congrats on the SPF,

Great deal and a great car.

All good comments on the mirror.

I went to Kragens bought a convex stick on lens , adjusted the mirror with the new lens and that gave it a new perspective that worked....... An inexpensive $2 fix.

TR

[jhv48]

As a new owner, I hope you are at least familiar with how to turn a wrench, otherwise you will become a very frustrated owner.

You can't just drive your car down the street to the local dealership, get a loaner car and come back later to pick it up when it's done.

The majority of repairs, maintenance, adjustments will need to be done in your garage, with your tools. If you want to ship it back to KC every time a problem comes up, you will be without your car more than you will be driving it.

My history:
Bought the car in August of 09 from Hillbank.
Installer put motor and tranny in.
Installer found leaking intake manifold gasket. They replaced it twice before I took delivery.
Horn didn't work when I got it home. Crawled under the dash and connected the wire to the horn button.
Oil pressure line began leaking right away. Removed the line and fixed the ferrule (this happened twice)
Engine overheated. Trailered back to the installer for diagnosis (I wasn't going to mess with the engine as it had a warranty from Roush) Tow bill $350. Stuck thermostat.
Side pipe gaskets blown. I replaced the side pipes with Full Throttle 3 inchers, with Remflex gaskets.
Front wheels out of balance from day one. Vibration at 65MPH. Had the fronts balanced by three different shops (including the installer) until I found one that balanced them on the car using a 70's style machine. Problem solved. Found one wheel slightly out of round.
Oil temp gauge stopped working. Ordered one from Nisonger and re routed the line away from the engine vibration. Cost $160.
And the big one: Trans started grinding in reverse. Drove back to installer and paid almost $1000 to have the tranny removed, transmission and clutch inspected and the pilot bushing (a $13 part) replaced.

My point is that these cars are not done till they are done. And then something else will need attention. But, when they are right, damn they are a kick in the butt. Until they kick your butt!

[Silverback51]

Originally Posted by jhv48

As a new owner, I hope you are at least familiar with how to turn a wrench, otherwise you will become a very frustrated owner.

You can't just drive your car down the street to the local dealership, get a loaner car and come back later to pick it up when it's done.

The majority of repairs, maintenance, adjustments will need to be done in your garage, with your tools. If you want to ship it back to KC every time a problem comes up, you will be without your car more than you will be driving it.

My history:
Bought the car in August of 09 from Hillbank.
Installer put motor and tranny in.
Installer found leaking intake manifold gasket. They replaced it twice before I took delivery.
Horn didn't work when I got it home. Crawled under the dash and connected the wire to the horn button.
Oil pressure line began leaking right away. Removed the line and fixed the ferrule (this happened twice)
Engine overheated. Trailered back to the installer for diagnosis (I wasn't going to mess with the engine as it had a warranty from Roush) Tow bill $350.
Side pipe gaskets blown. I replaced the side pipes with Full Throttle 3 inchers, with Remflex gaskets.
Front wheels out of balance from day one. Vibration at 65MPH. Had the fronts balanced by three different shops (including the installer) until I found one that balanced them on the car using a 70's style machine. Problem solved. Found one wheel slightly out of round.
Oil temp gauge stopped working. Ordered one from Nisonger and re routed the line away from the engine vibration. Cost $160.
And the big one: Trans started grinding in reverse. Drove back to installer and paid almost $1000 to have the tranny removed, transmission and clutch inspected and the pilot bushing (a $13 part) replaced.

My point is that these cars are not done till they are done. And then something else will need attention. But, when they are right, damn they are a kick in the butt. Until they kick your butt!

One person here described them very well. They are race cars with license plates. Race cars require a lot of care.

[Gunner]

Originally Posted by Silverback51

Race cars require a lot of care.

But even a race car, especially one bought as an assembly-line, factory-built turnkey item should arrive without significant flaws.

High maintenance, yes. A need to finish fixing and building a factory-finished roller and engine, no.

[Dallas56]

I am figuring out the lot of care part, and that's OK. I can do some of the basics now, will learn more with time. I love the car, the look, the engine sound, the beastly power, and all the attention the car commands as I drive around.

Today I ordered a convex bullet mirror from Finish Line Accessories. I am going to take the convex mirror from that and see if it will fit onto the bullet mount on my car. If is does (likely), that should solve the problem. It looks like taking the entire mirror assembly off to remount would be a chore because of very difficult access to the mount assembly hardware inside the shell or body of the car. Again, thank you to all for good advice and information.

[Got the Bug]

Originally Posted by Gunner

But even a race car, especially one bought as an assembly-line, factory-built turnkey item should arrive without significant flaws.

High maintenance, yes. A need to finish fixing and building a factory-finished roller and engine, no.

Agree. And that's the case with most SPF purchases. The only SPF related issue that I had, was that the clutch reservoir had some seepage. Superformance sent me a new one under warranty.

Based on Jim's list, the only issues that were specifically related to SPF were:

- Horn didn't work when I got it home. Crawled under the dash and connected the wire to the horn button.
- Oil temp gauge stopped working. Ordered one from Nisonger and re routed the line away from the engine vibration. Cost $160.

[Got the Bug]

Originally Posted by Dallas56

I am figuring out the lot of care part, and that's OK. I can do some of the basics now, will learn more with time. I love the car, the look, the engine sound, the beastly power, and all the attention the car commands as I drive around.

Today I ordered a convex bullet mirror from Finish Line Accessories. I am going to take the convex mirror from that and see if it will fit onto the bullet mount on my car. If is does (likely), that should solve the problem. It looks like taking the entire mirror assembly off to remount would be a chore because of very difficult access to the mount assembly hardware inside the shell or body of the car. Again, thank you to all for good advice and information.

I installed the same convex mirror in mine. It's OK, but I don't depend on it 100%. A wider convex rear view mirror is pretty handy as well.

[vanoochka]

Originally Posted by Got the Bug

I installed the same convex mirror in mine. It's OK, but I don't depend on it 100%. A wider convex rear view mirror is pretty handy as well.

Second that advice. In the end, the mirror just doesn't matter. You will be amazed how often a vehicle has sped into your blind spot without you noticing, mostly to get a closer look at your car, sometimes to provoke you. My unsolicited advice it to not trust any mirror and always look over your shoulder.

[rodneym]

I agree with vanoochka.
With that thin framed windshield and no top, it's a pleasure turning your head and...being able to see!
rodneym

[gary osborne]

Originally Posted by tin-man

Dallas 56, I have no idea who this Michael is but clearly he has no idea what he is doing. I have just returned from Hi-Tech Automotive in Port Elizabeth South Africa to check out how my own roller was progressing and met the owner of the Superformance Brand, Jimmie Price, he is without a doubt one of the most straight shooting guys I have ever met and is passionate about the quality of the rollers he sells. It is extremely doubtfull he or his team would ever let such a situation happen on one of the rollers they sell. Further, if he heard of the type of bull**** that you are being fed he would no doubt fire the guy. That said, send Lance Stander at Superformance in California an email, his email addres is lances@hillbankusa.com and tell him the type of misinformation you are being fed. Lance is the president of Superformance and has total accountabilty for distribution and sales of the Superformance brand world wide, thus he is the go to guy for resolution.

I would like to suggest that you do not judge the services or realtionship that can be had with Superformance based on one misguided and ill informed person. You made a great choice with the Superformance MK111.

Please send me a private email and I will make sure you get satisfaction at Hillbank. tin-man

Just as a point of clarification....Jimmy Price is a great guy and very proud of the Superformance (as well as the Shelby Cobra, Nobels and other cars he manufactures for other companies) but he does NOT own the Superformance brand anymore and has not for several years.

Superformance is owned by Lance and he IS the guy to go to if you cannot get satisfaction from your dealer (and Keith is NOT a dealer...but also a wonderful human being and trusted supplier of engines). It sounds to me that you "technically" bought a very lightly used vehicle since Keith would have been a purchaser.

Furthermore, Lance is an awesome guy as well, with an enormous amount of pride in his vehicles and stands behind them too. I have known Lance to routinely go well beyond the terms of the warranty to make certain that a customer is happy and that his brand's reputation is respected and trusted. Lance has a sincere appreciation for the kinds of guys who drive hobby cars and so it is not just about protecting his brand. Lance is just a good guy who wants to help people out and believes in doing the right thing. That said, sometimes what a person considers "the right thing" is in reality a ridiculous expectation.

My SPF #569 is 11 years old and I have put well over 60,000 trouble free miles on it. I am not a mechanic and don't have the time to screw with it if I was. I have had NO trouble finding people who I can trust to take care of the car in a responsible and economical fashion. It is also the least expensive car I have ever owned if you consider the high resale value and minimal dollars invested in maintenance. So just jump in and drive and smile. Life is good.

[Rickd]

Dallas - you got a great car with a super motor. Fix the mirror no big deal - but also get familiar with the organization chart of Superformance and "who is who" in the US in case there are other issues. I've been at ERA when Peter - the owner - has spent 45 minutes talking with 2 guys who bought Street Beast kits - and he was giving them suggestions on how to resolve build issues as they couldnt get help from the factory. That is a genuine man with a passion for cars. I 've got to believe somewhere in the Superformance group you can find someone that dedicated to help A CUSTOMER??

[madmaxx]

The following is an understatement but I could not word it any better!!!

"Furthermore, Lance is an awesome guy as well, with an enormous amount of pride in his vehicles and stands behind them too. I have known Lance to routinely go well beyond the terms of the warranty to make certain that a customer is happy and that his brand's reputation is respected and trusted. Lance has a sincere appreciation for the kinds of guys who drive hobby cars and so it is not just about protecting his brand. Lance is just a good guy who wants to help people out and believes in doing the right thing. That said, sometimes what a person considers "the right thing" is in reality a ridiculous expectation"

Superformance has the best replica design on the market in my opinion after owning 3 and working on 5, no I have not driven a Kirkham or ERA. 98% of the issues you will encounter are installer related. That being said the next engine I buy will be a KC 482. Currently have a Roush 427 which I love, never had an issue, been flawless from day one. When I did have questions and called the 1-800 number for Roush I get an answering machine and leave a message bullsheet, when I call KC I get a person and an answer.

It is so easy to post on these forumns with zero accountability and can damage a suppliers image. Yes you are going to have more teething pains with your car but in 3 or 4 months times the bugs will be killed and it will be as reliable as your dailey driver except for the burns on your legs from your sidepipes.

My next replica will be another Superformance because of the design, quality and Lance.

[Tim Brewer]

Dallas, there's nothing wrong with your mirror, the Cobra body mounted mirrors are really for looks only. They just kinda work and will never work like a side mirror on your daily driver. Like most others have said, use a convex mirror and learn to look over your shoulder a lot.

[Dallas56]

Lance sounds like my kind of guy. I am going to take care of the mirror (and other small ball stuff that comes up) myself, but just want some comfort that if I have a major manufacturing defect in the roller (no sign of that), I am not high and dry. Sounds like a short conversation with Lance would give me the warm fuzzies about SPF that I am looking for. As I have said already, I like the car, a lot.

Madmaxx, I can't say enough good things about Keith. He will give you his cell number, will return calls to his shop that day and to his cell in the evenings (I think he has cell coverage at home, not at shop). He called me at about 8:30 last night in response to a voice mail about a radiator fan issue, arranged for Rob Camp of C&S Performance in Plano, Texas to see me that night, and Rob fixed the problem for free (I insisted he accept a small cash contribution to his favorite charity) at about 9 PM the same evening I called Keith about the problem. Unbelievable. My car is new, but as best as I can tell from 200 miles and a week's worth of driving, from lots of due diligence about Keith Craft, from a couple of hours talking to Keith, and from a tour of his shop, he makes a great engine.

[SMOKNAC]

Just my 2 cents, The mirror on my SPF MK111 is useless, I think its the law to have one.