A 3 year waiting list.... noooo... not for an LB STR

[Normb666]

Ooh, cynical, Chris, very cynical.... So is that a target or deliberate policy, hoping to save dosh if people pop their clogs in the meantime? - he said, also being cynical

Nice to know Ariel are reasonable people. They do some great stuff (even if I don't really see the point of an Atom, I appreciate the engineering and quirkiness). However I also still fail to see the point of a non-refundable "bond" - I mean, what are you actually getting for your 3 grand? There's nothing...not till the steel/ally starts getting cut and welded. That's the time at which commitment is needed (or just before!) and they want a sizeable amount, because it's being made, especially for you, to your spec, at that point. You don't need that much to show you're interested, just a few hundred. And if you get contacted early and can't raise the loot, that's no bother, they move onto the next customer and you retain your original position.
I don't think I'd want to do business with a firm that required so much money for so long, unless of course they also offered to deduct the interest from the final price? Haha, of course I'm kidding, cos I'd be wasting my breath even asking.
But here's a thought - how many LB customers have decided, during the wait, that they don't want the car? I mean ones who're just being flighty? Very few, I bet. Face it, if you're selling stuff to people, there'll always be a few who muck you about - it's almost a law!
The other thing that small bonds do, is give you confidence that the firm you're dealing with aren't using the next customer's deposit to start making your car....i.e. if orders start to dry up, you don't get yours cos there's no 3K to pay for the parts...

[renmure]

Oooh.. I don't want to make it an LB thread. I was more interested to find out if others knew about cars that had a genuine 3 year wait.

But personally, I wouldn't join a 3 year waiting list for a car, Atom or otherwise. Like you say, too much can happen over the period. That's particularly true for a kit car where the value is in the end product rather than the pile of bits purchased and assembled at any given time over the period. I guess people in Nottinghamshire can still get run over by buses. I hope Craig and Lydia stay well clear of bus routes till my car is handed over. Once I get my car I might even consider guaranteeing its continual appreciation and value by getting a bus license and, err, practicing.

The flip side to your "small bond = confidence" thing is recognising that cash flow is king in business and maybe 10 x £3000 firm deposits / year is better for planning stuff, budgeting for stuff, developing stuff and producing stuff than 10 x £500 maybes.

Anyhow, so far we have Atoms, LB's and NHS Operations. Any more?

[Normb666]

Fair nuff, we did go off on a bit of a tangent there when I saw the deposit amount! So I'll say no more...for now...

What about Morgans, how long's the wait for those these days? It did used to be 10 years a good while ago, but you'd hope they'd got that down to summat more manageable these days...say, 5 or 6 years I remember reading somewhere that quite a few times, when they'd get in touch with a customer to tell them it was time to spec their car, they found out they'd died...kinell. I guess that's mainly down to the profile of the typical Morgan buyer being a rather older gentleman, so not really surprising, but still...

[renmure]

I'm far too young to know anyone old enough to have ordered, never mind have collected, a Morgan.

However.... I do have a photo of me and a Morgan in the same pic and sharing the same bit of track at Knockhill. For the avoidance of doubt, even tho it looks like he is pulling away, I was about to overtake him again but he was certainly having at least as much fun. I borrowed the 458 GT3 for the evening. Suppose I could claim it was practice for an LHD STR. Helps that everyone was (mostly) going in the same direction. You'd think it would be hard to spin a race car on slicks eh