Westfield parts department

[Andy Bennie]

Not sure how others feel, but after waiting for the parts department to open up, I cant believe the inflated prices they are charging, unreal !!

[Andy Bennie]

Example, carbon fibre kick strips £112, from NV £50.

[Morris]

@Andy Bennie  There are two sides to every coin and prices need to be set not only to satisfy the customer, but also to make the supplier some profit.

 

I reckon once you've accounted for increased raw material prices and energy costs across the board, there's not much profit to be made if you still want the cost to be competitive.

 

Also, I can't say if this also applies to carbon fibre fabric, but finished CFRP parts imported into the UK now attract higher import tax as they can't be recycled.

 

I'm just thankful that W-C has been resurrected and hasn't sunk without a trace, which is great for both us as a group and importantly for British industry.

 

As for the cost of their products and spare parts and what we're happy to pay, we all have a choice.

 

[DMc]

The price of Fibreglass is still eye watering, £500 for 1 rear arch 

 

edit - 

 

on balance, the cost for example of a sport 250 clutch disc is spot on,  and the supply of the many Westfield specific parts is often priceless 

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Just a personal view, but: They have invested huge amounts into the business, are having to buy considerable stock up front, due to lead times normally "hidden" from the customers, as they aren't starting from scratch the way they are now. Plus, call me cynical, but I suspect the deals previous suppliers have put forward in terms of minimum order quantities and margins aren't exactly great, as those suppliers will be cautios and seeking to recoup any previous losses.

 

I suspect over time things will stabilise and arrive at "true prices". Though I wouldn't expect any great price reductions. Costs of doing business have gone up so much since the "factory" was last open.

 

We all want to see them do well, (I hope!!) and be around for a considerable time to come; equally I'm sure many look forward to seeing the products be developed further, and see their true potential. This is going to take investment in time and people, that will have to be paid for.

 

Of course though, the quality of parts and availability etc, all has to match with the cost! It's a two way thing. At premium prices, we expect and have a right to demand, premium products and service.

[Charlie_Zetec]

19 hours ago, Andy Bennie said:

Not sure how others feel, but after waiting for the parts department to open up, I cant believe the inflated prices they are charging, unreal !!

I agree in principle.  I do want to support W-C, but with the number of suppliers that have been highlighted in the interim between WSC closing and W-C opening, people have had more options.  It’ll only become an issue if suppliers to W-C are made to sign non-compete agreements. I think that’ll be their biggest competition in at least the short-term, but prices may stabilise more going forward once the company is more stable….

[Stu Parker]

I have been in retail for 37 years in the leisure industry we have had price increases of 40 % this year so I understand if people are shocked by prices of the new parts dpt. Look at your food bills going up around 17%. 

I think prices will settle over the next two years. 

[DIY-Si]

I've seen a post on Facebook from Simeon that said they couldn't even buy all of the components for the XI kit for the old retail price. It doesn't come as much of a surprise that the old factory ended up closing if things like that were effecting them.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

In my industry, we’re seeing the buy in price of electronics and electrical items rocket. It’s kind of worse than it should be, as many of the manufacturers held back on price increases last year, so this year they’ve hit twice as hard.

 

In addition, delivery costs are up, too. Plus, (as most of our work is on site), the fuel rises are horrific. I burnt through slightly over £800 worth of diesel in February, just while working on site at one clients for a fortnight.

 

Thank goodness, we don’t have to carry the cost of  bricks and mortar premises, as commercial energy cost rise would make you want to quit and leave the country. In some cases, (small) businesses have seen electricity bills alone go from low five figure costs, to six figures in under twelve months.

 

/rant over

[AndrewBClarke]

Wyatt Polishing’s electricity bill has gone up from £21k pa to £189k pa. Their polishing compounds have risen by 120% and no doubt labour costs have also increased. This will obviously affect the prices of services and goods. The price for a bit of chrome work went up from £50 to  £130. 

[Rob Hunter - Club Secretary]

Everyone has been hit the last couple of years and it's not just energy.

 

Immediately following Brexit the labour market became a bidding war with lots of employers having to increase hourly rates by over 20% just to remain competitive and attract good people... those rises are now washing through to the price of goods and services which just compounds the energy cost madness.

 

It's all part of the 10-15 year boom and bust global economic rollercoaster ride we live in.... you can almost set your clock by it! It will soon settle down, ready for the next one in the late 2030's 🤷‍♂️

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

True, but while the Brexit issue has skewed the labour market additionally, there seem to be similar issues all round the world, the US being hit hard too.

[jeff oakley]

There are lots of reasons why parts are more expensive, I have just retired but before the Covid issues we were paying $4000 dollars for a shipping container of parts from Korea. That shipping cost increased to $16000 during that period and stayed higher  settling to $8000 at the moment.

 

That is before you put the parts in that have increased due to raw materials.

 

Once here we now have increased dock charges, increased transport and warehousing as energy prices are massive to what they were.

 

Many blame brexit for the staff shortages, but the reality is around the world low paid jobs are not easy to fill, in the UK many older workers never went back after lockdown as many took time to do equity release and live well.

 

We had staff who were furloughed, on way more than minimum wage, however once they saw how much they could get not working many did not return

 

But back to Westfield, clearly they were not making money hence their downfall and now there is a sharp business man in charge they are looking at the bottom line. It is easy to sell more cars than the next guy, harder to do at a profit.  Caterham sold 670 cars at a price that Westfield could only dream of and the components part would not be that big a gap between what WC paid. 

 

Profit is what they need and many who go there will pay a premium for ease of supply.

 

You can always get cheap parts, getting good cheap parts is the hard bit

[John Ryan]

They seem to have added a lot of parts which is good. I was wondering if they might be up for a trade. 

 

I need the headrest pad for my X1, Plus a couple of other bits, and I can send them the wrong radiator fan I got (Had to purchase another one), and I also seem to be missing the correct bolts for the fuel tank sender, the temp sensor. On the other hand I have 2 steering wheels! 

 

Might call them on Monday.