EAG, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Oh stop, don’t you know by now, my sarcasm is heavy and 90% of my babble is for amusement purposes only, even when it’s not amusing. [emoji4]


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To be fair, going back and watching a few EAG interviews by NSG, which were done a few months back, EAG isn’t accepting new cars or full deposits (whatever that implies) until around September. It’s a good thing they understand their limitations when it comes to accepting cars and getting them done in a timely manner. In short, they haven’t been accepting cars since Jan and won’t be ready to for a few more months.

They can still sell kits. Their 360/430 kit is proven. Their 599 kit appears to be there already. If one is uncomfortable sending a car in to EAG, you at least have the option to work with the installer of your choice.

 

You make a great point about motive to convert a 599. I was floored by a few who thought this was a way to jump in on the OEM valuations. Utter foolishness. The factory stick 599s are more rare than a 250 GTO, that's the valuation story. Rarity and originality. Converted exotics are for enthusiasts, not investors. As for any prediction about future values of converted 599s versus F1, not sure that's a bet worth making. An F1 599 appeals, in my opinion, to a different buyer than a converted one. Aren't non-factory Daytona spiders worth more than factory coupes? The enthusiast market is much larger than the investor market. We see it every year. Enthusiasts get older, our dreams don't die, next thing you know, TRs and 355s that were $50-75K all day long are now triple or more. As for bankruptcy, looming competition, and other encouraging predictions, EAG has practically no competition with Ferrari conversions. Yes, of course you can find somebody else to do one for you. But no one else specializes like EAG, no one comes even remotely close to the number of Ferraris they've converted to date. Anyone who bought one of these new, never been done before EAG 599 conversions, without serious adult-level patience, was doomed from the start to be miserable since. I'm giddy with anticipation.

 

Just saying, EAG was not the 1st:
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/ferrari-599-f1-to-mt-conversion.542801/

I've personally offered to help EAG work through their backlog of conversions.
Supply the car, supply the complete conversion kit, we will knock them out for the clients.


S

 

Them ignoring you means literally nothing. They run their business. You are not a part of their business.

 

We need a separate thread to discuss that seafoam green interior.

 

I guess we see things differently.

They seem to have dozens of clients waiting on conversions to be performed.
Also, allegedly there's pending class action lawsuits(s)
There is not enough time in the day to perform the conversions they pre-sold with their current staffing level
I'm offering a way out of said back log...

Nope, I am not part of their business at all, yet I keep getting pulled into the mess their business has created.... SMH

I truly hope this works out in the end

S

 

So, you’re here talking about somebody else’s lawsuit and somebody else’s business. Why aren’t more dealers doing concessions? Because your factory in Maranello won’t give you parts. If I were in your shoes, I’d press the factory for business, not an independent shop. For what that’s worth…

 

OK Bill.... That's what it is, you figured it out.

S

 

Fwiw, between the people i have referred to EAG and everyone i have helped here over the past 18 months, it must be a group of at least two dozen maybe 3 dozen- each person has been very pleased with the final product. If at the end of of this, the only gripe is the turnaround time was too long, i can think of half of a dozen other name brand ferrari related manufacturers that i can say that about. Onward and upward, good post Art.

 

We all get F-chat fever sometimes, don’t hold it against me. As another guy here says, “may the horse be with you!”

 

How many times have we heard the "I'm sorry, I'll do better" post now? Give me a break. You have had cars for years (including mine) that aren't finished. The leadership/management (or lack thereof) is absolutely pathetic. I still have hope that my car will get done but I don't know why on Gods green earth someone would turn their car over to you at this point.

 

glad to see you have been able to get EAG's attention and can now resolve this. Your 599 is currently at EAG?

 

Hopefully, it's another shift cable option. Makes the F355 manual shift rod feeling that much more special .

 

Both this interior and the red one before it belong to 612s and both appear to be finished conversions, proof that the 612 conversion is a real thing.

 

It is good to hear TheNew(est)EAG’s side of the story. But why won’t you let @488lvr tell his side of the story? This is especially troubling considering your post implies neither he nor the other recent additions were “top performers.” EAG can’t really expect anyone to trust the company if it won’t even let customers hear potentially differing opinions.


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60 cars sat there at one time, at say £30k each in up front payments, wow $1.8 million sat in the bank, nice bit of seed capital that at 0% interest, and then there are the kit only pre payments on top, great business to be in.

Cars are leaving the place at least now, so fingers crossed the backlog gets cleared before the cash runs out..........

I must say though as much as he comes across as a charlatan in this entire dire saga, on every actual vid I have seen Art is always beavering away in the background, he clearly enjoys the conversion process and wants to get these things done, as I said before EAG needed a stand alone management team, it appeared this had finally been put in place, but I guess he simply cannot let go and let them do what they do hence back to where this all went downhill in the first place.

 

Paul have you ever spoken to Art? i tend to agree with you on most topics outside of EAG. I have grown up around many shady people and in an industry littered with *******s. You should spend 15 minutes on the phone with Art. I i think you will be surprised by the conversation.

Over the past 22 years of ferrari ownership i have used MANY shops, mechanics, techs - Art is in the top of the peer group. As silly as it sounds my 430 cane back with both the vibrating driver side mirror and rear view mirror fixed. I did not ask him to address those.




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I have no need to trouble him, as I do all my own work, and in direct contact with the guys who he uses for the ecu side of things.

In the future though I could see me purchasing kits to fit in the UK.

I am sure if like yourself, if you are in the inner circle then things get done promptly via EAG, but you cannot deny this extensive backlog for those that are not is not a great experience for them and a black mark on the company to date.

Fchat is the place to go for first hand experience of all things Ferrari, good or bad, yours is a positive one, but so far it is the only one to come forward on here, hopefully this changes as these 60 plus cars get back to their owners and they finally get to laud the manual experience.

 

Fair, but outside of the all the drama from a few keyboard warriors, aren’t we talking about poor turnaround times/poor communication at the end of the day? Is there one instance of credible deception? Where are the posts calling for the heads of all the other companies who are guilty of the same exact thing?



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Terrible communication it would appear, and promises not kept, or simply being ignored is not a great way to do any business, especially for the people who have parted with a large sum of money up front and not seen their pride and joy for a long time as a result.

A company here in the UK with a first rate reputation and an an order book many years into the future is called Retropower, they operate an online app tracking system that keeps customers up to date with regards progress and cost in real time with photos and direct links to the guys actually doing the work.

I understand there are quite a few options out there now for such a customer friendly system, all people want is re assurance at the end of the day as to whats happening, and regular justification for delays/ outside suppliers problems etc etc, if they had all been kept in the loop I am sure there would have been far less negative publicity to date.

There are no doubt a lot of people waiting in the wings, ready to press the trigger once they can see such essential improvements for the company.

The worrying thing is that Chris clearly knew what was needed and how to implement such, and Dan has been waving the EAG flag now for a long time, with those both now suddenly sidelined then before I or I imagine many others would even contemplate being a customer this many miles away then I would want to see a raft of happy customers waving the flag for quite some time first.

All constructive criticisms on my part, its a much wanted product at the end of the day.

 

So many apologies, so much "sorry we're working on doing better", so much....turnover.

No one cares if you're working 7 days a week, 12-14 hour days. At this point in the "business" you run, that is completely irrelevant and honestly, expected.

I sincerely hope everyone gets their cars back, and that EAG doesn't take anyone's money or car until they stabilize.

Good luck to all.

 

i dont under the hope everyone gets their cars back - where wld the cars go if not back to the owner?