Well, Where do I start... I gotta be honest, I was not expecting to receive the firestorm that I did here. I think that you guys might be putting the cart before the horse here. The trans has not even been officially released and already people are freaking out about parts. I am partnered on this project. So rest assured, parts will still be available after Scott Smith has me killed off. There is a 3 year unlimited mileage warranty on the transmission.
This being said, let me present a situation. You buy a nice new Dodge Ram and the trans starts malfunctioning. It is still under warranty, but you are gonna buy the parts from the dealer, pay for them and pull the trans, try to repair it and put the truck back together???? Lets be serious guys!!!! REALLY??? You bet your ass you are gonna call the dealer and get it fixed. and get it fixed NOT ON YOUR NICKEL! I think you see my point here. At least I would hope so.
To be quite honest with you, I have not thought in depth about the sale of parts. I have been a bit preoccupied with getting the product finished. Contrary to what some people may think about us MONOPOLIZING parts / labor, that is the furthest thing from the truth. It is about not having units out there that unskilled people have messed with. I am not cutting on anyone, but the fact of the matter is that some people shouldn't touch stuff they are not experts on. I sure would not try bodywork. I am not a body guy. What I do not want to happen is at the Saturday night cruise, a guy walks up and asks what trans is in the Challenger that someone just bought, and the guy says a Passon A-855, but it shifts like crap. I really doubt he is gonna elaborate that "Bob" took it apart and messed with it. The end result is that that guy goes on a web board and talks about how crappy the Passon 5 speed is. Trust me, it happens. Hopefully, you guys see where I am going with this.
As far as people having to wait for their stuff, this country is ruled by the Wal Mart mentality. I want it yesterday, I don't want to pay anything for it and I want the quality to be outstanding. It doesn't work like that. I assure you that we will make any repairs of the utmost priority in the shop should there need to be any.
Not to mention, I don't want another "edelbrock head copy situation.
In closing, I would like to say that we will definitely sit down and discuss the parts aspect of the project at the earliest possible time. I was not aware that this would be such a sticking point. Probably because I just figure service after the sale to be second nature. I will keep a close watch on how this discussion develops. I will also consider people's feeling in deciding how we are going to handle this. I feel that it is unfortunate that people are so quick to write off a project that quick. Nonetheless, I respect your decision. I do find something odd though. Out of the nearly 200 people on the order list, NO ONE has asked me about parts availability for the unit at the time of order.
This reply is not meant to attack anyone personally. I am certainly open to discussion as I have been through this whole project.
