Forgestar wheels.... I don't understand being misleading

In reply to thatsnowinnebago :

Probably will end up buying Forgestar for the size. F14 17x8.5 ET40 color is up for debate. Mazdeuce says I need a bright candy color.. But that's an extra $200 for the set..... So TBD... 

z31maniac said:

Toyman01 said:

z31maniac said:

I think you're missing my point. Call up Tire Rack and see if they will sell you a custom setup that doesn't match, or is very close to the stock specs. Outside of a few outliers, Miata's for example, they don't sell wild stuff.

For example, Tire Rack doesn't show that you can fit a 19x11 square setup on a 2018 Mustang GT.......which you can.

This is fact. I never enter car information on Tire Rack. The website freaks out if you try to order a set of 275/85R18s for a G35. It literally will not put that size tire in the cart. Their site also says the wheels on my car won't fit either. It's CYA on their part and probably saves them a bundle of trouble with returns. It doesn't bother me any, I just don't tell them what car I'm ordering for.

I know it was a typo, but I now I want to see a RallyX G35 on Monster Truck tires. 

Wait about a year and a half.

Spoolpigeon said:

Call Sam Strano at StranoParts.com. Don’t use the website, just call him. He deals forgestar wheels and will help you get what you need. He got the custom offset forgestars that are on my car. 

Came here to post this. Glad someone beat me to it. 

Yeah, Sam's got the knowledge and the knowhow and he'll give you straight info and a great price.

Sam is in the same realm of personality as Terry (and they hate each other) and I think it’s hilarious. They’re both good at making great parts for cars, and also total raging “shiny happy” people sometimes. You just have to know what you’re getting into with either of them.

I'm with Mazduece. Bright, candy wheels make the world better.

STM317 said:

I'm with Mazduece. Bright, candy wheels make the world better.

I normally totally agree. It's just extra money and incredibly harder to sell later because they're polarizing and that's on my mind with doing something this special. 

And spacecadet has already been on the cover of Sportscar so he's kind of over that whole "getting your car in a magazine" thing. Or he's just old and lame, could go either way. 

STM317 said:

What's the advantage to having a dealer/distributor only sales model? These wheels are all custom anyway. Why can't they sell directly to the customer?

I gotta turn this around...

Why do consumers assume every manufacturer that sets up a website should be able to provide direct to consumer services?

The wholesale/ retail structure has existed forever for a lot of REALLY good reasons. 

It’s an unreasonable expectation.  And it would cost consumers a fortune. 

Manufacturers are set up to build product at high volume levels. They need sales that will each sell units in the thousands quantity, not on a per or each quantity. If a manufacturer had to meet the expectations of end line users for the tiny little potential volumes, manufacturing prices would skyrocket. 

How come we don’t have that same direct to consumer/ customer care perspective when we are buying stuff from WalMart made by companies in China that sell by the boatload through Alibaba?

That attitude from consumers is killing American manufacturing. “Cutting out the middle man” does not always lead to lower prices. 

Minor thread highjack. Got my fresh rivals mounted and the Forgestars back on the car. Looks soooooooo good. 

In reply to Spoolpigeon :

not thread jacking at all, looks awesome man! 

In reply to SVreX :

Noted. But these are custom wheels. They often have wait times of several weeks because they're made to order not sold by the thousands and plucked off a shelf. In this case, it seems like the dealers are just there to keep customers from buying things that may not fit, and to reduce overhead/taxes for the manufacturer.

I guess my thinking is that if a business wants to sell their product/service to people, they should make that process as easy as possible. The more steps and hurdles you put in place, the more likely the consumer is to not pay you for your thing/service. Forgeline (not Forgestar that is being discussed in this thread) gives specs and pricing for their wheels on their website, and then makes you email them for quotes regarding custom finishes for those looking for non-standard things. That seems totally reasonable to me, and cuts out a bunch of emailing separate entities with basic questions that really just waste everyone's time, or trying to deal with multiple dealers to get the best price.

In reply to STM317 :

OK.

From a quick Google search it appears that Forgestar generates $8.7 million per year in revenue with 50+ employees.  I realize that's not an enormous company, but it's about 11,000 sets of wheels per year.  That's almost 200 wheels per day.

That's not what I would call a small custom shop. A company that is set up to manufacture 44,000 wheels per year needs volume.  They are gonna sell wholesale.  Not direct to consumer.

EDIT:  That's assuming an average retail pricing.  Since they have a dealer network, they sell wholesale.  That means they manufacture a lot more wheels (at a lower price) than my guess.  

In reply to STM317 :

I think what I am saying is I agree with you.  They should make the process as easy as possible.

And I think Forgestar also agrees with you.  They HAVE made the process as easy as possible.  With a dealer network.