QUOTE(sww914 @ Apr 23 2009, 11:44 PM)
I buy a lot of parts in San Luis Obispo. I was at GPR and Strasse today. GPR's prices kick ass!
And they pay to run a banner ad here.
It would help both of them to have a full on web commerce capability for those of us outside of easy driving distance, to see & order what they're selling! Plus I prefer to use my Visa/MC where I have some protections, as well as earning airline miles while paying for all this dang stuff!
I've got them bookmarked from the Vendors Forum too, & will "shop" everywhere I can for the best deals I can, cuz I've got a bunch of work to do & parts to get,
and can't afford to overpay.
But being old school,
if I can - I prefer to go in & touch & feel & see what I'm getting BEFORE I lay down the coin! We used to have a dozen or more good Porsche suppliers down here in SoCal - OC & LA area, and now most all are gone! And now with PP gone to the big NYC Investment Bankers & their shipping BS in FL, now there's only Pelican locally! So I'd like to preserve more options down here, cuz competition keeps everyone honest! It can't hurt to give their local PP guys a little support to lobby their new ownership to give us out here better customer support - can it!?
Those guys you're ordering from at PP in Van Nuys are regular folks too who need their jobs to feed their families, & apparently they HAD to sell out or close down - so you're preserving CA jobs too!
...and why not hit them up to advertise here too, & Pelican along with them - heck "Dr. George" too! I have the old estimates for new parts on my 914's repairs from 5/85, which now are
5x that for those that are not NLA, & the last listed prices for the NLAs - some of which are several years ago! That is
double what the inflationary rate has been over that period, and most of that (3x) has been just in the past 5-10 years! It just shows what happens when there is no competition, as Porsche knows when they stop producing & start jacking their prices. For example - chrome bumpers were $200+/- in 85, $450 in late 90's & $2000+ when last available!
...did they redo them in Platinum or something - NO!!!!! They're just
us!
If I lived up there by you in the Central Coast, then I'd do a bunch more business with them, as well as Go Westy for my 88 Westy! ...with the latter I've had good luck with long distance parts so far! ...and with The Bus Depot in PA to, altho they're a bit slower to ship.
BTW - PP also started out small like Pelican, GPR, Strasse, etc. as a small privately owned storefront in Van Nuys - I still have some of their flyer type brochures from the day - & now they're just too big for their britches! ...or their NYC money men are anyway, & look where those putz's got us with this economy now!!!!