Just went to Laysons, web site, to see if they made a correction. BOY, did they ever. DD exhaust manifold kit, $495 + $125 Core charge.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

I was going to buy one at the previous price.

Well, snap back to reality (ouch).

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82 D150-225/727
02 Dakota-3.9/5 speed
87 GMC C7000-8.2 Detroit Diesel/5+2

i hear ya on the issue of "who else" when it come to parts- especially performance parts. but layson's seems to be just a middleman, with a habit of reselling 67-76 "generic" a-body parts as 63-66 with nothing more than a different part number and more money. charlie, you and i had a talk about them as a "vendor of last resort." it sucks that they haven't changed since then. too bad it was too good to be true, but at least their website has changed.

-james

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Yeah, I've used Laysons a few times. Each time it's been a pretty miserable experience. I ordered a taillight trim ring last March and it's still on backorder.

-josh

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64 Dart 170 /6

damn, and here i thought it was just me....i dropped a large chunk of change with them on my FIRST (hopefully LAST) order --- almost 4 weeks later it shows up short 4 items - after they told me on the phone that nothing was on backorder and all parts on the way... "oh we've been really backed up in shipping lately...ha ha he he".....was the excuse, after being on hold for eternity listening to that stupid recording over and over..."we're making the move....." gee, my dart has only been waiting for THESE parts for 4 weeks -- and no apologies from them....i'm tired of these specialty shops thinking they have carte blanche with us the paying consumer - it aint right.....sorry for the tirade....but as others said use layson's LAST.

I called Layson's, at the beginning of December, to see about getting an item for a Xmas present for a friend. They said it was in stock, and I asked if they would gaurntee delivery, (they have been known lie about in stock items) before Xmas. I was told that would require an extra charge for expidited handling. As I recall it was about $20. Phoey on Laysons.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

I'll go to bat for Dave Layson.

Some folks with short memories might not recall the time when you could find NOTHING in the way of restoration parts for early A-bodies. Dave took it upon himself to work that issue and now there are lots of items on the market. The vast majority of those items are a direct result of Dave going out on a limb and investing to have manufacturers make those parts.

I've bought from them several times without a problem and even the biggest are not immune from supply problems. Last November, my wife ordered some parts for my Valiant from Year One as a Christmas present. They arrived this week, because the manufacturer didn't have them in stock and had to build some. Supply problems are not usually the fault of the retailer.

If we are going to drive marginally collectible cars that originally had low production numbers, we better be prepared to suffer some inconveniences and pay higher prices to get what we need. If you want availability and low prices, get a Chevy.

That makes a lot of sense and I have to say I've never dealt with Layson's personally but on the other hand, this seems to be an ongoing problem and the warehouse moving explanation will only fly so far. There are also coninuing complaints about unkowledgable, unhelpful, and even surly sales people... that is inexcusable. My beef is their prices which is why I will look elsewhere first. Example being door panels, almost $800.00 for a set of 4 from Laysons, $500.00 (which is still a bunch!) from SMS in Canby, Oregon. I haven't bought them yet but you can be sure I'll be calling the folks in Canby when I'm ready. Being the first or biggest in an industry does not guarantee continued leadership, or even success... just ask IBM, Visicalc, Lotus and Word Perfect. We can, and probably should, appreciate Dave Layson's work but no one can rest on their laurels.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

My problem, with Laysons, is not his prices. It is with lying about the parts, and availability. I firmly believe, he has a right to price his parts at whatever he wants. It is my choice, whether I want to pay that price, or not. I do think it is a ripoff to charge an extra charge for expidited handling, because "we are shorthanded, and behind in our shipping". Also to charge $15 shipping and handling on a fuel tank filler gromet(sent 1st class mail). Also tell me flat out their floor pans listed for the 63-66 "A" are made for that car, and charge more then the pans for a 67-69. Then send me pans for a 67-69 and tell me I have to cut them down to the correct size. (I already had the later pans from Year One, for less money)Then give me a hard time about returning them for a full refund. I had to threaten to dispute my CC charges, and report them to their state atty general. Then they made arangements for return/refund. I still have the reciepts and e-mails, to prove all of this. I will most likely buy from Laysons, again, but only when I cannot get the item elsewhere.

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Charrlie_S
65 Valiant 100 2dr post 170 turbo
66 Valiant Signet 170 nitrous
64 Valiant Signet
64 Valiant 4dr 170
64 Valiant 4dr 225

Agreed, but that isn't the principle problem here though - its the fact that the retailer tells you its instock when it indeed isn't - thats either the retailer lieing or not keeping accurate inventory - both of which are the retailers fault.

We have a shipping/ payment model that works well around here. When the item is ready to be shipped(I mean in a box with address label) the customers CC is charged and an email sent with tracking number.
The incentive to ship ASAP is on the supplier,,,,

At no time is the customer charged for anything he does not technically own.

We stock everything we sell at all times. If we cant stock it we look at whether it is a product/service we will continue to carry. Sometimes we get a run on a product and it takes a week to get something out. The customer is never charged until the product is ready to go.

I have never had to give anyone an excuse(we dont stock them) or refund.

I wish when I ordered things it was this way....so thats what I do for my customers.

my brother bought some overpriced armrests from layson at carlisle, having been told they were the only supplier for those particular items. less than an hour later, he found an identical set for almost 50% less. when he brought layson's stuff back with his receipt in the bag, he was met with a bad attitude and told "all show sales are final." when my brother made it clear that they didn't want to take that position in front of the 10-15 people in the tent, layson's relented. he got the impression they just didn't care about customer service.

-james

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whoa horsey.....i understand availability issues on these what some might call "less desirable" classic cars.....the point is CUSTOMER SERVICE. you don't tell somebody on the phone that they pulled your order personally, all the items were there and shipped, only to find that that is not true.
and all the parts that they did have in-stock took 4 weeks to process?
from washington to california? it feeds the whole notion of "if you don't like , well, see if you can find the parts some place else"....that's just plain weak in my opinion.

chevy schmevy.

Same here. It's the only honest way to do it. And if something's not in stock, the customer is told it's not in stock. If something's en route but not yet back in stock, or if the customer wishes to place a special order for something not usually stocked, I run an auth on his card, only capturing funds when the items have shipped.

This ain't rocket science. Anyone who gets it wrong doesn't want to get it right.

And yes, Layson has had some stuff reproduced over the years, but most of his stuff is bought elsewhere and marked up. That's why he's got perpetual out-of-stock problems: He doesn't want to tie up his own money in stock, so he waits til he has customer money in hand and then places the order with his upstream supplier. That's OK if there's no problem up the chain, but even under the best of circumstances, shtuff happens.

I've needed a lot A-body parts over the years, but I've managed never to "need" to buy from Layson's. I imagine it'll keep being that way. I don't shop at Mitchell Motor Parts, either. There's just no reason to reward bad behaviour with my money.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Yup. That's the only right way to do it... And if a person doubts that theory intrinsically, he needs to read no further than the MasterCard and VISA merchant agreement. Ours specifically forbids us from charging a customer in advance of shipping (or electronic delivery, in case of software.)

- Erik

PS. I will say that, when I have visited Dave Layson in person and he has shown me samples of what they've engineered along with stories of how many vendors they tried until they found a result they were happy with... the parts always look like top quality. Truly impressive, in some cases. I will also say that I've seen rather a lot of stuff in his warehouse, racks and racks full, so the idea of him not tying up his money in inventory may be a bit exaggerated. My experience with him does not include mail order, so I cannot comment on the remainder of the issues brought forth.

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Lots of early Valiants and Barracudas have crossed my path.
Also a handful of other toys for variety now and then.