Originally Posted by roadsterdoc

This thread is interesting. What makes it valid also makes it weak. No specific vendors were named so it is more credible than the typical "tuner bashing/praising" threads, yet this omission offers little help to those seeking feedback.

Originally Posted by ard

Interesting question Dan-

I 'segment' my purchases into 'projects'. Tires and wheels, suspension, audio- all fall into defined categories and all under the umbrella of 'commodity' ... for these it is almost exclusively price. A set of HRE C20s from you or a JIC Cross suspension is the same no matter who sells it. Once it arrives I can inspect it and deal with any issues- the point is that there are no 'intangibles' in evaluating those items- at least for me.

Then we turn to the 'squishy' stuff- drivetrain mods; flashes, turbos, wastegates, etc. There my decision is driven almost exclusively on issues that aren't listed on a website product description: How the programming deals with engine protection (timing, AFR, boost), tuner reputation, tuner knowldege on how his one, two or three items will fit with my other mods; quality of communications, etc. It was important for me to choose ONE company, for ALL my future mods. I was not going to be playing the 'blame game' if I could help it...price was almost not a factor on my list of priorities.

I actually think one of the risks you and other marketers face is the 'productization' of extensive mods.... there CAN be more than meets the eye, customers can be stupid, cars might not be running well to begin, installers are NOT tuners... when you are marketing products with thinner margins, and making up for it with broad advertising, the risk of getting into a bad situation increase. Managing expectations and making sure the customer is buying what he needs is hard via a website- not impossible, but more challenging.

Finally, you mention "tuner/service partner"... I don't have one. I bought a few UMW items, but I do intalls and service. Who is the 'tuner' in this case? Is it UMW?

I actually have a interesting parallel- building a house. Some people build it themselves, some hire a contractor, some self contract- others do the building but the owner tells the workers what to do... In the horror stories I have read, it is as if the contractor- either the tuner or the owner acting as a contractor- didn't get all the pieces working correctly.

In a recent case, an owner was acting as his own contractor and really didn't know how to get the subs working correctly, blaming one sub or another- almost as if one of the subs should have taken overall responsibility for the end result of other sub's work.... like the analogy?... there can only be ONE boss and only ONE person ultimately responsible for putting the pieces together. If you don't know how to build a house, you really shouldn't be acting as the general contractor.

My 3 cents

A