This is the "My Reasons for Closing" (again) page
I've had many emails from people wondering why I've closed Turbo Tek Toys on Sept 28th, 1999. Many also included very nice sentiments, wishing me well, thanking me for my efforts, and product offerings, etc. I do appreciate those supportive comments. THANK YOU!
And a big THANK YOU to our customers!
I've created this page to answer the question, of why we're closed, rather than replying to each email individually. However, before I answer that question, let me address a few other issues.
1) If you sent in an order, prior to the closing date of Sept 28th, 1999, IT WILL BE FILLED. If you sent an order in after that date, it will be returned.
2) The SVO and Turbo Coupe listservers will remain operational. There is no reason to take them down, and as long as it is possible, they will remain as they are. They were started as a hobby, and remain a hobby. There is no pressing need for the resources they are using, so expect them to exist for a long time.
3) If you are interested in parts that were only available from me, such as my special grind camshafts and exhausts, please be patient. I will probably do group sales of cams, maybe twice a year, but that is still to be determined. I most likely will not ever do the exhaust systems, or ported manifolds, again. They take too much time to assemble and ship, or port, for me to bother. As for other parts, see the "Suppliers" topic below.
Now for some history behind the company. You can read most of the details on our Company History page, here, but the rest of the story follows. If you don't know the history, I suggest you click on that link, and catch up. Last time I closed TTT for time reasons. I just didn't have time to devote to sales, and I didn't want to provide unresponsive service. This time, the reasons are below.
After re-opening in October of 1998, Turbo Tek Toys expanded it's product lineup, offering many more products, some of them completely unique and previously unavailable to the 2.3 community. This expansion was intended to take this from a hobby business to a full fledged performance tuner company. That was a mistake.
And now, "My Reasons For Closing."
1) Support: I answer over 100 emails a week regarding Turbo Tek Toys products. It is a full time job answering tech questions and giving advice, which I have never charged for. And it was another full time job, shipping our products, and doing administrative duties. That's two of me used up already, and leaves no time for development. Something was always going undone, and being put off until tommorrow. Many of the inquiries regarding our products could've been answered by just reading the web page regarding the product. Admittedly, this got annoying, but that is just a reality of retail sales. I should've known better, or hired a secretary.
2) Money: Since our purpose is to sell to the hobby enthusiast, our profit margins are slim. I could've raised prices, but I didn't believe that the market would bear this increase, and improve the bottom line. This is a VERY cost concious segment of the automotive specialty market. I won't go so far as to call 2.3 owners cheap, because I am very frugal also, and there is nothing wrong with this trait. But a $5 difference in price will make most customers buy it elsewhere. After answering hundreds of emails, I process a disproportionately small number of orders. Some are large, but most are small. I've slashed my costs, in many areas, which improved profits, but it still wasn't enough.
3) Demographics: This is not a market dominated by doctor or lawyer owners, that just throw money at their cars. If we specialized in Porsche or BMW parts, we would still be in business. Have a look at other tuner/performance sites and look at the difference in prices for other marques' offerings. Most 2.3 owners are 20 something years old, and mostly students. These customers just don't have the disposable income to dedicate to their car. If you have money, and want to keep your car nice, spend money NOW, or watch all of the parts that you want disappear or become absurdly high priced.
4) Market: We specialized in one market. I could've branched out into other carlines, but the other turbo car markets are dwindling. We did do some development work on the Conquest/Starion models, but that market is even smaller than ours. And I have no interest in being just another company selling GT40 heads for 5 liters. It would be possible to go into the custom turbo market, but only with the right customers ($$$). How people can spend $10,000 on a normally aspirated Honda engine is just beyond me, but it happens every day.
5) Career: This is a real incorporated company with real overhead, and real accounting costs. And they were not being covered by the profits made. On a personal note, I have a career in a well paid market, and it is stupid of me to devote my full attention to TTT, when I can generate 10 to 100 times as much income, by just picking up the paper. I enjoy helping others with their cars and furthering development of our 2.3 engines, but I can only devote my efforts to those actions that provide a good return for my efforts. That was my mistake, taking this company from a hobby to full fledged status.
6) Support: Support those vendors who sell or make parts for our cars. If you don't, they will stop offering products for our vehicles, or go out of business, like us.
Some interesting examples:
Most vendors don't have enough gumption to sell stuff that doesn't work. They know that it will be reviewed on the internet listservers by customers. A product that doesn't work would be quickly reported, and the vendor badmouthed. So, if a product is developed, and offered for sale, then you can assume that it works, although in some cases, maybe not perfectly. That is the nature of buying performance modification parts. This is not meant as an excuse for some admittedly bad products that have been sold in this community, by other vendors, and certainly not for any of the items we offered. If I sold it, I used it, and had it installed on my car. If I didn't want it on my car, I didn't sell it. This paragraph is intended to lessen customers fears about products in general, and to generate support for the remaining 2.3 vendors. If someone is supporting this tiny market, they want to. Support them, or drive a Honda. (I'll stick to 2.3 turbos, thank you)
Summary: Was TTT successful? I would have to say yes. There are many accomplishments that I'm personally very proud of, and my customers are more than satisifed. Was it commercially successful? No. And there isn't a thing I can do to change the company, to make it financially viable within this small market. C'est la vie. I'm not a business major, I'm a "redneck geek" as Mike Ray calls me.
If you were a Turbo Tek Toys customer, you value what you purchased, and the experience, I hope. If you weren't, you missed out, especially on the items that are not available elsewhere.
Suppliers: Many people have asked where I got parts, now that I won't be supplying them. I won't divulge any more than this; FORD. As for the suppliers of aftermarket items that I supplied, I'm entertaining an offer to buy out the intellectual property of Turbo Tek Toys, which would include this information, so I cannot say.
Feel free to ask for performance and maintenance advice personally, but I'll remain on most of the 2.3 related listservers, so I'll see any questions posted to them.
TNKS
and
Good Luck!
Dave Compton