Pfadt Race Engineering has closed.
02-27-2014, 02:38 PM
#64
Melting Slicks
They were s4!t rude to me for months all because of a refund I was entitled to. This ship has been sinking for months and its pretty obvious that they were selling products that didn't exist and using clients money as a means to produce them. I've been on forums for a long time and they aren't the first to try and fail at this method. The tears should be for the employees and people who got screwed on this, not Pfadt. They did this to themselves. You secure capital before you invest.
02-27-2014, 05:15 PM
#65
Aaron and the whole PFADT team and employees,
As a highly satisfied customer of yours since years using your suspension parts, you will keep my business until your next opening...
You know I was needing some new parts, I know I will not find what I am looking for anywhere else, I will then wait for your next call.
I am sure you will be back, your products mounted on my car are simply perfectly engineered, not common in the Corvette aftermarket part business...
Christian
As a highly satisfied customer of yours since years using your suspension parts, you will keep my business until your next opening...
You know I was needing some new parts, I know I will not find what I am looking for anywhere else, I will then wait for your next call.
I am sure you will be back, your products mounted on my car are simply perfectly engineered, not common in the Corvette aftermarket part business...
Christian
02-27-2014, 06:48 PM
#66
Burning Brakes
A couple things that I have learned over the years.
-Have a great business plan and update constantly.
-Talk with as many people as you can about how they run their business, regardless of what type it is. Just about anything that can happen will and it probably has already happened to someone else.
-You better understand finance or have a business partner that does.
-Excess monthly cash flow should never be used to bank roll expansion.
-If you are going to expand, have capital set up prior, or better yet wait till you can pay cash for buildings/equipment ect.
-Low margin business is not a business that most banks want to be in. Low margin= SGP of around 10-15%
Above is only my experiences, and has nothing to do with Pfadt.
-Have a great business plan and update constantly.
-Talk with as many people as you can about how they run their business, regardless of what type it is. Just about anything that can happen will and it probably has already happened to someone else.
-You better understand finance or have a business partner that does.
-Excess monthly cash flow should never be used to bank roll expansion.
-If you are going to expand, have capital set up prior, or better yet wait till you can pay cash for buildings/equipment ect.
-Low margin business is not a business that most banks want to be in. Low margin= SGP of around 10-15%
Above is only my experiences, and has nothing to do with Pfadt.
Last edited by 540i 6spd; 02-27-2014 at 06:57 PM.
02-27-2014, 07:14 PM
#67
Race Director
A couple things that I have learned over the years.
-Have a great business plan and update constantly.
-Talk with as many people as you can about how they run their business, regardless of what type it is. Just about anything that can happen will and it probably has already happened to someone else.
-You better understand finance or have a business partner that does.
-Excess monthly cash flow should never be used to bank roll expansion.
-If you are going to expand, have capital set up prior, or better yet wait till you can pay cash for buildings/equipment ect.
-Low margin business is not a business that most banks want to be in. Low margin= SGP of around 10-15%
Above is only my experiences, and has nothing to do with Pfadt.
-Have a great business plan and update constantly.
-Talk with as many people as you can about how they run their business, regardless of what type it is. Just about anything that can happen will and it probably has already happened to someone else.
-You better understand finance or have a business partner that does.
-Excess monthly cash flow should never be used to bank roll expansion.
-If you are going to expand, have capital set up prior, or better yet wait till you can pay cash for buildings/equipment ect.
-Low margin business is not a business that most banks want to be in. Low margin= SGP of around 10-15%
Above is only my experiences, and has nothing to do with Pfadt.
but aftermarket car parts are extremely high margin. i'm not sure about pfadt but with other cars. the tawain suppliers can make a set of coilovers for $400 us dollars that retails for $2000-3000. the margin is indeed there but the volume is not. over ten years ago i was involved with a shop that folded and quite frankly, what brought us down was spending all the profits at the race track
02-28-2014, 01:58 PM
#69
Supporting Vendor
Member Since: Nov 2007
Location: San Jose CA
Posts: 30,294
Received 270 Likes
on
204 Posts
St. Jude Donor '11
i totally agree
but aftermarket car parts are extremely high margin. i'm not sure about pfadt but with other cars. the tawain suppliers can make a set of coilovers for $400 us dollars that retails for $2000-3000. the margin is indeed there but the volume is not. over ten years ago i was involved with a shop that folded and quite frankly, what brought us down was spending all the profits at the race track
but aftermarket car parts are extremely high margin. i'm not sure about pfadt but with other cars. the tawain suppliers can make a set of coilovers for $400 us dollars that retails for $2000-3000. the margin is indeed there but the volume is not. over ten years ago i was involved with a shop that folded and quite frankly, what brought us down was spending all the profits at the race track
Oh man... I always coughed out a lung after reading it
__________________
TPSMotorsports.com
Mike Mak
2705 Lafayette Street
Santa Clara, CA 95050
Phone #: 408/898-4632
Email #: MikeM@TPSMotorsports.com
Authorized dealer of Corbeau Seats, ECS Superchargers, Edelbrock SuperChargers, A&A Superchargers, Kooks, Whipple, Magnalow, Corsa, Borla. LG Motorsports, Procharger, Billy Boat Exhaust, AWE Exhaust, American Racing, TPS Brake Rotors/ Kits, Stainless Steel Brake Lines & much more...Mike Mak
2705 Lafayette Street
Santa Clara, CA 95050
Phone #: 408/898-4632
Email #: MikeM@TPSMotorsports.com
02-28-2014, 05:01 PM
#71
Race Director
and both of you guys are vendors, NOT manufacturers
when we were talking to suppliers in tawain to produce honda parts the margin was roughly 100-600% depending on what it was
vendors are lucky to make 40% on many items and 100% on a few
some are even higher. seat track repair kit that retails for 25-40 dollars costs roughly $3-5 to create, giving you a nice 1000% margin or 500% if you use resellers
some of the honda DOHC cams that retail for $699 a pair were $50 each if you bought more than 200 at a shot
the problem with car parts is the lack of volume, not the margin
there seem to be fewer people today who are into modding cars than there were in 2004, that's not a good trend
this has happened countless times with countless other companies, 9 out of 10 times they never fess up to what the problem was and just fade away
when we were talking to suppliers in tawain to produce honda parts the margin was roughly 100-600% depending on what it was
vendors are lucky to make 40% on many items and 100% on a few
some are even higher. seat track repair kit that retails for 25-40 dollars costs roughly $3-5 to create, giving you a nice 1000% margin or 500% if you use resellers
some of the honda DOHC cams that retail for $699 a pair were $50 each if you bought more than 200 at a shot
the problem with car parts is the lack of volume, not the margin
there seem to be fewer people today who are into modding cars than there were in 2004, that's not a good trend
this has happened countless times with countless other companies, 9 out of 10 times they never fess up to what the problem was and just fade away
Last edited by racebum; 02-28-2014 at 05:08 PM.
02-28-2014, 08:15 PM
#72
Premium Supporting Vendor
Member Since: Oct 2004
Location: Manassas Park VA
Posts: 36,681
Received 421 Likes
on
322 Posts
St. Jude Donor '07-'08,-'13-'14, '16-'17
Not sure where you are getting your information...we manufacture
over 300 products...
1000% margin is just laughable...
Have not heard you talk about freight - international and domestic, import
fees and taxes, labor, rent/mortgage, gas, electric, cable, insurance - business and health,
machinery, materials, shipping, packing, Web Hosting, Web Design, Advertising, Maintenance
and about 100 items that it costs to do business.
I can tell you out of the 3000+ products we sell, not 1 is over 40%
I can tell you the average CBO is between 19%-21% depending on
the balance of sale for the month.
Then take all the business expenses out
And what is left is what we put in our pockets
Regards
Chip
over 300 products...
1000% margin is just laughable...
Have not heard you talk about freight - international and domestic, import
fees and taxes, labor, rent/mortgage, gas, electric, cable, insurance - business and health,
machinery, materials, shipping, packing, Web Hosting, Web Design, Advertising, Maintenance
and about 100 items that it costs to do business.
I can tell you out of the 3000+ products we sell, not 1 is over 40%
I can tell you the average CBO is between 19%-21% depending on
the balance of sale for the month.
Then take all the business expenses out
And what is left is what we put in our pockets
Regards
Chip
Last edited by CCA Corvette Parts; 02-28-2014 at 08:39 PM.
02-28-2014, 08:31 PM
#73
Supporting Vendor
Member Since: Nov 2007
Location: San Jose CA
Posts: 30,294
Received 270 Likes
on
204 Posts
St. Jude Donor '11
and both of you guys are vendors, NOT manufacturers
when we were talking to suppliers in tawain to produce honda parts the margin was roughly 100-600% depending on what it was
vendors are lucky to make 40% on many items and 100% on a few
some are even higher. seat track repair kit that retails for 25-40 dollars costs roughly $3-5 to create, giving you a nice 1000% margin or 500% if you use resellers
some of the honda DOHC cams that retail for $699 a pair were $50 each if you bought more than 200 at a shot
the problem with car parts is the lack of volume, not the margin
there seem to be fewer people today who are into modding cars than there were in 2004, that's not a good trend
this has happened countless times with countless other companies, 9 out of 10 times they never fess up to what the problem was and just fade away
when we were talking to suppliers in tawain to produce honda parts the margin was roughly 100-600% depending on what it was
vendors are lucky to make 40% on many items and 100% on a few
some are even higher. seat track repair kit that retails for 25-40 dollars costs roughly $3-5 to create, giving you a nice 1000% margin or 500% if you use resellers
some of the honda DOHC cams that retail for $699 a pair were $50 each if you bought more than 200 at a shot
the problem with car parts is the lack of volume, not the margin
there seem to be fewer people today who are into modding cars than there were in 2004, that's not a good trend
this has happened countless times with countless other companies, 9 out of 10 times they never fess up to what the problem was and just fade away
02-28-2014, 11:28 PM
#74
Man this sucks. I had a bad feeling when I ordered 3 parts for my C5 in January and every 2 weeks another part order was cancelled. I could have dealt with the camber kit cancel, but when the control arm bushings then the Johnny Oconnell stage 1 kit was cancelled that hurt. Those are some special parts that I only wanted to stick with Pfadt for. I am just glad I already have my motor mounts and tranny brace installed. I hope they last a long time and even more so hope that the Pfadt crew can relaunch at some point soon. Aaron, i hope you are truely looking to get back in the game, reevaluate, and not give up. Good luck.
02-28-2014, 11:56 PM
#76
Le Mans Master
Thats not my problem. I bought a product I expected a serviceable support timeline. You guys can defend this all you want but the writing has been on the wall for months and this was just bad decision making. Don't get mad at me and yes those employees lost their jobs and they should be upset at the people that allowed that to happen. No excuses for poor management and bad decision making. The people I dealt with at Pfadt before this all went down were extremely rude when I demanded my refund for 3 months. Luckily I got mine how many of you will get yours?
03-01-2014, 12:20 AM
#77
Melting Slicks
Keep defending these guys bottom line is the made bad business decisions and put their own employees and their customers at risk. Its shameful and you guys defending them is why more companies will continue to do these things. Pfadt isn't the first company to do this and they won't be the last.
03-01-2014, 01:30 PM
#78
Melting Slicks
and whine
and whine.
If you base your purchases around warranties, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you, comes with a lifetime warranty.
A company that made great performance products just died. That is sad from the stand point that the products will no longer be available. It is sad that 17 people just lost their jobs. It is sad that the owner had to admit failure and watch his dream evaporate. Sad, that people continue to kick this poor guy when he is probably at the lowest point of his life.
It's just sad.....
03-01-2014, 01:56 PM
#79
Melting Slicks
As many have stated they were rude to many of us and down right ignored many of us for months and the quality of the organization well I think its closure says enough. Its easy to be a passenger seat in all of this but for those of us that got the butt end of the stick we aren't here saying boo hoo and many won't say anything until they get their products or a refund... if they get them at all. Look at all the people with C7 headers that don't fit. Will they be whiners because they received a product that doesn't fit and now the company who makes them is no longer around? What about people getting shocks leaking? Its not like Pfadt can give them new shocks now or a refund.
03-01-2014, 04:47 PM
#80
Melting Slicks
It’s with heavy hearts that we announce the closing of Pfadt Race Engineering. Since 2006 we have manufactured the highest quality aftermarket components for Corvette, Camaro, and Cadillac right here in Salt Lake City, Utah. Since the addition of Pfadt power products to our extensive suspension line, sales have increased exponentially, which put us into a perpetual backorder. We have spent the past 4 months meeting with investors and venture capitalists trying to secure financing to push Pfadt to the next level and unfortunately the deals to be made were not in our company’s or employee’s best interest. Without a large investment we do not have the resources to meet the demand, which leaves us with no other option but closing our doors.
We would like to thank all of our employees who put their hearts and minds into this business to make it what it is today. We would like to thank our dealers who expertly installed our parts and helped us build our product line with their professional insight. Finally we would like to thank you, our customers. You helped us build a grassroots performance company in the United States. You pushed us to make bolder and better products year after year. You created the Pfadt Family - and that’s what we will miss the most.
We hope this is a minor speed bump on the long road ahead. Much like GM has experienced in the past, we are also experiencing a setback, but we will reorganize and resurface, faster and more streamlined than ever. We have taken care of all of our customers in this deal - you will receive a tracking number for your product or a full refund - and we are sorry for the delays, time lost and backorders many of you experienced. You were all so patient and understanding as we grew, and once again it’s a tribute to how solid the GM community is. We did everything in our power to take care of you and we appreciate the years you allowed us to be a part of your journey. It’s been an amazing ride.
Sincerely,
Aaron Pfadt
We would like to thank all of our employees who put their hearts and minds into this business to make it what it is today. We would like to thank our dealers who expertly installed our parts and helped us build our product line with their professional insight. Finally we would like to thank you, our customers. You helped us build a grassroots performance company in the United States. You pushed us to make bolder and better products year after year. You created the Pfadt Family - and that’s what we will miss the most.
We hope this is a minor speed bump on the long road ahead. Much like GM has experienced in the past, we are also experiencing a setback, but we will reorganize and resurface, faster and more streamlined than ever. We have taken care of all of our customers in this deal - you will receive a tracking number for your product or a full refund - and we are sorry for the delays, time lost and backorders many of you experienced. You were all so patient and understanding as we grew, and once again it’s a tribute to how solid the GM community is. We did everything in our power to take care of you and we appreciate the years you allowed us to be a part of your journey. It’s been an amazing ride.
Sincerely,
Aaron Pfadt
What a joke. People buy because of quality, warranty, and reputation. When I bought my Coils Pfadt had a reputation of being a helpful and quality organization.
As many have stated they were rude to many of us and down right ignored many of us for months and the quality of the organization well I think its closure says enough. Its easy to be a passenger seat in all of this but for those of us that got the butt end of the stick we aren't here saying boo hoo and many won't say anything until they get their products or a refund... if they get them at all. Look at all the people with C7 headers that don't fit. Will they be whiners because they received a product that doesn't fit and now the company who makes them is no longer around? What about people getting shocks leaking? Its not like Pfadt can give them new shocks now or a refund.
As many have stated they were rude to many of us and down right ignored many of us for months and the quality of the organization well I think its closure says enough. Its easy to be a passenger seat in all of this but for those of us that got the butt end of the stick we aren't here saying boo hoo and many won't say anything until they get their products or a refund... if they get them at all. Look at all the people with C7 headers that don't fit. Will they be whiners because they received a product that doesn't fit and now the company who makes them is no longer around? What about people getting shocks leaking? Its not like Pfadt can give them new shocks now or a refund.
He apologized, acknowledged the problems, and indicated the customers would be taken care of. He didn't have to post anything. Yet he did. Do you have any idea how hard that must have been to write and post. And you continue to whine and kick the guy.
Lighten up man.
Go whine about some used headers you bought, or whine about some shop that tried to get you to understand everything needed to install the "used" headers before you brought the car in.
If Aaron, doesn't stand behind his words as posted, then I'll be the first one to apologize to you. But until then, dry those tears and find something else to complain about. You seem to have a talent for it........
