ECS Tuning experiences?

[Njay]

its the same with the APR supercharger, it was designed and built in Melbourne however costs $20,000 in Aus and $10,000 in USA

[AusScare]

It's not just car stuff that I mostly get overseas anymore. The only thing that I really buy from the shops now is food and short notice gear that I need.

Ths. I've just bought my second pair of sports shoes online, as well as my 2012 calendar, iphone accessories, and the rest.

[Bug_racer]

The thing that baffles me completely is McKay radiator hoses.

They're made in Sydney but it's cheaper to buy them from the US, even including the freight.

Cause everything over there is cheaper . To buy the part here the US counterparts pay the same as the Aussie ones . They pay freight and a few taxes which are probably way less than ours and dont need a large profit to sell it as they not only sell more but also have cheaper overheads .

---------- Post added at 11:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:44 PM ----------

And the people who buy everything from overseas and look at every last dollar , your the ones who forced manufacturing overseas . A lot of skilled labour is moving out of Australia as well . Next I can see companies hiring labour from Asia because it will be cheaper to do that than hire local people . Question is , how would you feel if you lost your job because of that ?

[Manaz]

Cause everything over there is cheaper . To buy the part here the US counterparts pay the same as the Aussie ones . They pay freight and a few taxes which are probably way less than ours and dont need a large profit to sell it as they not only sell more but also have cheaper overheads .

That's not how it works. The US importer buys more in a month than get sold in the Australian market in a year, and so gets massive economies of scale - I'm sure that's the reason for the price difference on the hoses Pete mentioned, and regarding the APR super charger, I'd be surprised if they're all made in Melbourne (designed, again I'd be a little surprised since it's primarily designed for LHD application, and there's some other stuff at play there, keep reading). We are a tiny market comparatively. And because Australian wholesalers/distributors/resellers have to work from smaller sale quantities, they increase the per-unit margin to try to make a decent sized profit (if you make $1 profit per item off 1,000,000 items, you make $1m. If you only sell 10,000 items, you've only made $10k. That said, there's also some pretty rampant price gouging goes on here too, where people in the business try to take advantage of the fact that we have less choice here, and thus just charge more for items - take Mk4 oil filters as an example, I've seen evidence of Australian VW dealerships charging $80+ for a single oil filter, whereas I can get a pack of 5 from the US landed at my door (genuine ones too) for less than that price.

And the people who buy everything from overseas and look at every last dollar , your the ones who forced manufacturing overseas . A lot of skilled labour is moving out of Australia as well . Next I can see companies hiring labour from Asia because it will be cheaper to do that than hire local people . Question is , how would you feel if you lost your job because of that ?

I don't remember it being my obligation as a consumer to purchase poor quality products or services just because they're made locally or supplied by local staff. If the product's as good, I'll buy it locally, and even pay a small premium for it - but if the product's no good, why should I suffer the consequences because locals couldn't be arsed doing the job right?

Yep, I'm back.

[mikinoz]

[/COLOR]I'll get Courtney onto it , just send me details of what you want exactly

I am after this Seb, will PM you.

Volkswagen Golf III 2.0 > Braking > OEM > ES#1928186 Rear Drum To Disc Brake Conversion Kit - 4 Lug - EBK698226A2A34R

[Dyldo]

Yep, I'm back.

roflmao. he is back.

[Bug_racer]

That's not how it works. The US importer buys more in a month than get sold in the Australian market in a year, and so gets massive economies of scale - I'm sure that's the reason for the price difference on the hoses Pete mentioned, and regarding the APR super charger, I'd be surprised if they're all made in Melbourne (designed, again I'd be a little surprised since it's primarily designed for LHD application, and there's some other stuff at play there, keep reading). We are a tiny market comparatively. And because Australian wholesalers/distributors/resellers have to work from smaller sale quantities, they increase the per-unit margin to try to make a decent sized profit (if you make $1 profit per item off 1,000,000 items, you make $1m. If you only sell 10,000 items, you've only made $10k. That said, there's also some pretty rampant price gouging goes on here too, where people in the business try to take advantage of the fact that we have less choice here, and thus just charge more for items - take Mk4 oil filters as an example, I've seen evidence of Australian VW dealerships charging $80+ for a single oil filter, whereas I can get a pack of 5 from the US landed at my door (genuine ones too) for less than that price.



I don't remember it being my obligation as a consumer to purchase poor quality products or services just because they're made locally or supplied by local staff. If the product's as good, I'll buy it locally, and even pay a small premium for it - but if the product's no good, why should I suffer the consequences because locals couldn't be arsed doing the job right?

Yep, I'm back.

Your economies of scale dont just apply to the goods , it also applies to other things Ive mentioned like fuel / transportation costs , insurance .
The logic of :if you make $1 profit per item off 1,000,000 items, you make $1m. If you only sell 10,000 items, you've only made $10k , is flawed cause there are so many other contributing factors . You need a larger warehouse to store the extra goods , more workers , more security , more overheads (electricity , water , waste etc) . So you cant directly compare the 2 .
The supercharger kit will have very little to do with lhd/rhd as the rack is in the plenum and is pretty much out of the way of the engine , otherwise they would not have developed it here .
Speedflow fittings which are made here can be bought cheaper from the US than buying them locally and they are even made here and I know they dont purchase "that much" cause the factory which they are made in isnt that big .

And as for quality , I dont recall mentioning quality . I was mentioning from a pricing point of view for the manufacturer to make a good . Whats the labour rate in countries like Thailand , Burma Vietnam etc ? $20 a day , if that ? So if your going to make , say , clothesline pegs , would you make them in Burma and ship them here or have them made locally ? $20 a day vs $100+ (then add the public holidays , higher electricity , rent costs etc etc) . Its got nothing to do with quality , one person complains about a dodgey peg you just give them a free 50 pack and they are happy .

[Njay]

The APR supercharger was designed at DNA Performance in Knox Melbourne

You gotta remember that wages in America are much lower compared to Australia, my dad was thinking of working America but that meant he would have had a reduction of around $25,000 p.a for a similar job

[Bug_racer]

The APR supercharger was designed at DNA Performance in Knox Melbourne

You gotta remember that wages in America are much lower compared to Australia, my dad was thinking of working America but that meant he would have had a reduction of around $25,000 p.a for a similar job

That is true , but everything else is cheaper to go with it : fuel is 50c (or so ) a litre , electricity is cheaper , taxes are less , food is cheaper , houses are cheaper , cars are cheaper etc etc

[brimway]

I just flicked an email to test ECS price on clothes pegs

[Njay]

That is true , but everything else is cheaper to go with it : fuel is 50c (or so ) a litre , electricity is cheaper , taxes are less , food is cheaper , houses are cheaper , cars are cheaper etc etc

sorry thats what I meant, lower wages = lower cost of living

[whiteVR6]

+1 to shipping being way overpriced!

[Guy_H]

its the same with the APR supercharger, it was designed and built in Melbourne however costs $20,000 in Aus and $10,000 in USA

I'm not sure what axe you have to grind with the APR supercharger, but you twist it to make it look likes its double price. I suggest you check the price:

Use the late S5 one for example:

US retail $13,898

AUS retail $16,195 + GST - so that is 16% more than the US retail.

Included in that is shipping from the US (you can work that out, but just over $600) import duty / GST / customs clearance. So in reality, landed cost is about 7% more expensive than the US retail.

So 7% compared to 100% in your analogy is a little bit out.

So not including any business overheads as Seb and some of the others have mentioned, there is not much margin in these products.

Oh, the Supercharger kit contains just under 200 components, one component is manufactured in Australia (in small volume).

---------- Post added at 05:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:57 PM ----------

P.S. my post has nothng to do with ECS tuning, just correcting information in a post as quoted above. Oh, superchargers fit both left & right hand drive thankfully!

[Njay]

Sorry wasn't having a go at the Apr supercharger, I think its an awesome kit and good value for the output maybe the price of $19000 I saw was with clutch installation

Just checked the website $19000 was the rs4 supercharger

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[mikinoz]

I'll get Courtney onto it , just send me details of what you want exactly

Sourcing locally did not work out, not that they did not try, but it was too difficult for Courtney to sort out a price break to make it worthwhile.

I am going to proceed with this kit, so I will make the purchase and then pay what they are asking and once it arrives show the actual costs of postage as affixed to the item (if possible).