Club Funds

[Guest]

Agreed. Only die-hard hard-core enthusiasts would dream of spending twice a 1.3L's value to keep it on the road.

[Guest]

In Answer to the reply's that refer to why I and others bought up parts etc:

When I was recovering from an injury in 2004, I was forever hearing how parts where hard to find, and how the club due to it's size and other stated reasons, could do nothing to help.

I and a few other owners decided individually at first, that as we had a few quid spare we would see what we could do to improve things.

During my working life I had made quite a few contacts in the trade, and another member had his own business, so in some cases VAT could be claimed back, and not have to be passed on to those in need.

Yes it meant that we also benefited from the "project", but in the main it would help those people who had become our friends and other owners struggling to find the parts they so often stated where NLA/Hard to find.

When the unfortunacy of MG rovers demise came about, we decided to ask our contacts to keep us in mind should they hear of dealer clear out's, either due to brand change or closure, or any clearance my MGR's suppliers of older stock.

Hence "The barn" was started, and the hope was to be able to store the large quantities of parts being offered wholesale by dealers and X-part alongside our own cars and spares.
We set aside over 2500 sq ft for spares alone.

We came to the decision that we would only charge the following prices.

Cost + transport% + Storage %.

This meant that if we managed to secure say new wings @ £38 each, we would add a small ammount for transport and storage. Many times we had to rent larger vans and trucks to collect the parts from far and wide, and if a dealer had a few odd bits not worth the travel, we notified those looking for the same parts in the area to where they were held.

A door would normally cost in the region of £50-60 each based on buying a set number, or the number offered if there was no leaway in the number available.

So we would normally add £5 minimum towards transport depending on where they were, and how much it cost to transport. We would also add £5 towards storage fee's.
(the Barn cost's in excess of £4000 per annum plus services)

So, a new door would normally averedge out around £60-70 each, and a hatch for whichever model would be around £70-80.

Unfortunately, even though Rimmers and other outlets where listing they're panels at a far higher price, members of the club and general owners alike claimed it was "too high" a price.

So no, it was not done as a business, it was done to help others, and was hoped that in time the club would be in a position to take over.

As it was, the club was offered new genuine rover clutch kits by us at a seriously advantageous rate which improved when numbers purchased increased.

In the end they offered to by (IIRC) 5 or 10 kits at £10 each, which I might add was never followed through.

So, now I find myself in a postion were those of us who invested in the barn, it's content's and the expecations of others, are paying for storage for parts bought that others claim to either not want / need/ or are too expensive.

I shall by no means play down the fact that the barns location was not ideal for everyone, or that due to work commitments, we were not able to identify all the parts currently stored there through "job lot purchases".

On the occaisions I managed to get substantial ammounts of the parts constantly being requested to shows, very few actually wanted them, or again complained at the price.

This later found them to either end up buying from ebay or Rimmers etc at higher prices due to they're own decisions.

I am not bitter, (although some may say I am) I am just sorry that for those of us who tried to invest in the future of ours cars, and the cars of others has now come to an end.

Recession and lack of interest means that many "stockpiles" as they have been refered to, will likely end up with dealers or in the scrap due to the cost of keeping them available is no longer viable.

[Guest]

Please don't think Im acting in any way acusatory, I just don't know the background of how your own hoard started. Clearly now it was always decided to be a business (no one invests money for no return on that kind of scale) and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Perhaps the business model should have been stronger to support the investment rather than trying to blame the would-be buyers for not wanting the products at the prices offered?
Your parts do seem reasonably priced Mal, especially given the fact many items do seem to be NOS, but you have to sympathise that if you want a barn-type autojumbly-type rummagey feel to it, you cant then expect people to pay that of a professional outfit who offer warranties/peace of mind and a catalogued, dare I say more professional approach. It's the way of the world, Not me having a go, just commenting on how threads read. So please don't think I am.

[matthewsemple]

Agreed. Only die-hard hard-core enthusiasts would dream of spending twice a 1.3L's value to keep it on the road.

There are two types of classic car owners:

1. People who are enthusiastic about the cars and will spend money on their cars regardless of the relative value to the vehicle. For them this is irrelevant because they are not going to sell their car in the near future and they can afford and probably own another more expensive modern car or cars.

2. People who have some enthusiasm but who primarily purchased the car because it offers budget motoring. This is the bangernomics philosophy - buy a car with a long tax and test and use it until you get the prospect of a big bill. At this point scrap it and start again with another car.

Whilst this is a massive generalisation, the people who buy the reproduction parts fall into the first category and they tend to own the MG versions. Much of the MMOC's membership (and some in the committee) appear to be made up of people in the second group. This is evidenced by Mal's experience of dealing with various owners who want to buy a brand new door for a tenner.

[Guest]

Clearly now it was always decided to be a business

Perhaps the business model should have been stronger to support the investment rather than trying to blame the would-be buyers for not wanting the products at the prices offered?

It was never intended as a business.
It was intended as a way to help ourselves and other owners, and at the time made sense, as I was recovering from an injury I had the time to invest.
So the above excerps do not really ring true.

And yes, some people do invest time and money for the benefit of others without the thought of profit.


Truth be known, the barn has never truly paid for itself, and as stated it was "hoped" that in the past 8 years the club would have grown enough to perhaps have taken on more than it has, and that we could pass on the excess stock to the relevant clubs at cost.

But storage has always been an issue for any kind of car club.

Unfortunatley (from an outsiders point of view) a lack of increased membership and a stagnancy that appeared to be growing with in the club,and forums such as Triple_m has meant that it was not possible.

However, there now seems to be a more "robust?" effort in pushing the club forward in regards to publicity and recruitment of members than in recent years.

Increased input from the club here, Triple-m Admins and since it's formation the Metro owners club has always been invited, and at times request's of help in identifying parts or making it easier were made.

As restricted as we were with regards to work and home, so where those approached at the time. Many seemed to have moved away from the club scene since, and there seems to have been several major changes within the clubs "organisational team".

if you want a barn-type autojumbly-type rummagey feel to it, you cant then expect people to pay that of a professional outfit who offer warranties/peace of mind and a catalogued, dare I say more professional approach.

We never actually wanted a "barn-type autojumbly-type rummagey feel to it", we wanted owners to be able to find parts easily, or ourselves be able to go to the right shelf and pick the part sought.

Especially as we new our spare time would be limited later on, so trying to get everything identified was a mjor concern, and unfortunately not everything rover did made it easy to do.

Everything equipment wise in the barn such as racking, fork truck and such were bought through factory sales etc.to keep cost's down.
Those purchase were never incorporated into the cost of parts.
(we did'nt think we would need them long enough for them to depreciate sufficiently to cause concern)

The reason it got to the point of inviting owners for "A rummage", because it made it more of a social outing than a search for parts, and managed to bring owners and parts together.

Believe me, had it been soley meant as a business from the start, we would never have even considered the barn or it's location.

But as all "best intentions" it helped many, but not as many as we had hoped, and it's likely we will be handing the barn back to the land lords by the end of the year.

I will still publicise any offer of parts I receive, although these are few and far between now, and I will always help people out if I can.



BTW: I don't think you "having a go", it's often hard to clarify the "intent" behind the typed words of others.

[CPL593H]

Mal, I think it's a little far fetched to still carry a grudge against a club and committee which is completely different than the one you dealt with.

That's how things are changed, you join up, get on the committee and do things how you think it should be done.

Why wouldnt the club want to have a resource such as yours available?

[CPL593H]

There are two types of classic car owners:

1. People who are enthusiastic about the cars and will spend money on their cars regardless of the relative value to the vehicle. For them this is irrelevant because they are not going to sell their car in the near future and they can afford and probably own another more expensive modern car or cars.

2. People who have some enthusiasm but who primarily purchased the car because it offers budget motoring. This is the bangernomics philosophy - buy a car with a long tax and test and use it until you get the prospect of a big bill. At this point scrap it and start again with another car.

Whilst this is a massive generalisation, the people who buy the reproduction parts fall into the first category and they tend to own the MG versions. Much of the MMOC's membership (and some in the committee) appear to be made up of people in the second group. This is evidenced by Mal's experience of dealing with various owners who want to buy a brand new door for a tenner.

This is the tipping point, which it seems we are starting to see, where the people you refer to in 2 are replaced by the people in 1.

At this point mals stock becomes much more valuable. And he'll be able to name his price on body panels etc....

[Guest]

There's also a third category, ones who want something interesting but don't have bottomless pockets and the actual vehicle does have an intrinsic value and cannot be treated as throw money at it regardless of cost. Montego countryman vs e-type. A certain amount of realism needs to be gotten here, rose tinted specs sales must be on the up!
Mal, I'm really not trying to have a go at you at all or poke holes in whatever chip you are carrying on your shoulder, but these are exactly the situations and old school negativities that have turned people against clubs and into more generic fora like autoshite and retrorides. It's silly but I can see why ur time and effort bearing little fruit over 8 years could be frustrating. C'est la vie I suppose

[H48HPE]

i think the point Andy is making is that if these things are to happen then the first thing is for people to join or renew their membership.

We cannot succeed with anything if we don't have funds coming in.

Thanks Oli, thats what I was trying to put accross.

Someone mentioned service packs - contact the spares coordinator and this can be sorted for you - we have loads of service items.

We're in the process of buying things for the club stands like sail flags and banners - all aimed at promoting the club and the cars, we're trying to invest the members money well to forward our cause and try and get people interested.

I'd just like to know what you can't get that's keeping your car off the road... Unfortunately (or fortunately - depending how you want to look at it) these cars are getting old and are now classics... Getting parts for classics is harder than for something newer, With Maestros etc its still a lot easier than owning something like an Avenger etc where a bottom ball joint costs over 50 quid delivered. Unfortunately this is par for the course. The club will help where possible, but I think at the moment we might be best keeping a community of like minded enthusiasts going who can help each other out...

It'd be good if you joined up mal, you're just the sort of person we need... I know in the past the committee has upset people etc, but it changes and evolves...

[normanmg2000]

parts

hi, i would just like to thank all of you that source ,store,and sell parts to members, i myself dont think i am good enough on a computer to help out ,or have really, anywhere to store lots of parts,but have a few parts,and would donate to anybody desperate for them,for what i payed for them,looking forward to barn sale [mg mal],it has only been recently that i have been able to [a] acess site, [b]start to get round various parts of it.

[Guest]

CPL593H Wrote:

Mal, I think it's a little far fetched to still carry a grudge against a club and committee which is completely different than the one you dealt with.

That's how things are changed, you join up, get on the committee and do things how you think it should be done.

Why wouldnt the club want to have a resource such as yours available?

Who's carrying a grudge?, just because I have never been a member of this club hardley means I have issues with it.

I don't have any cross to bare against any member of the committee(past or present), or the club in it's entirety.

Any one who thinks that, may believe they have reason to do so, but I assure you they do not have a real one.

And if you are to read and digest my post's in there entirety, you will see that this club is not the only group of enthusiast's mentioned.

This thread has nothing to do with personal bias, or unsubstanciated theory's about one owner or another.

It's about the pro's and cons of trying to keep the parts supply going for our cars, not just for now but for a long time to come.

My part in it(and Sean's and Cliff Ball's plus others) merely shows that there are those who do not wish to pay a reasonable price for parts, whether it's a door from me, a link bush from Maps, or a filler pocket from MGM.

And...

Unfortunately in the past, and to a certain extent currently, there seems to be more owners in that catagory than those who are.

There is no dig at the club, it was an observation of my experiences of the club, it's membership and the general downturn in the interest shown by owners new and old over almost 10 years.

Please don't try to make this a personal issue as it is not.

[digital efi]

Exactly how many paid-up members does the MMOC have at the moment?

[Guest]

well i joined a couple of weeks ago and im number 132 i think, is that an indication? I dont know how the numbering system works (ie are expired numbers replaced etc)

[CPL593H]

well i joined a couple of weeks ago and im number 132 i think, is that an indication? I dont know how the numbering system works (ie are expired numbers replaced etc)

The numbers are recycled. Its around 250 iirc

[CPL593H]

CPL593H Wrote:



Who's carrying a grudge?, just because I have never been a member of this club hardley means I have issues with it.

I don't have any cross to bare against any member of the committee(past or present), or the club in it's entirety.

Any one who thinks that, may believe they have reason to do so, but I assure you they do not have a real one.

And if you are to read and digest my post's in there entirety, you will see that this club is not the only group of enthusiast's mentioned.

This thread has nothing to do with personal bias, or unsubstanciated theory's about one owner or another.

It's about the pro's and cons of trying to keep the parts supply going for our cars, not just for now but for a long time to come.

My part in it(and Sean's and Cliff Ball's plus others) merely shows that there are those who do not wish to pay a reasonable price for parts, whether it's a door from me, a link bush from Maps, or a filler pocket from MGM.

And...

Unfortunately in the past, and to a certain extent currently, there seems to be more owners in that catagory than those who are.

There is no dig at the club, it was an observation of my experiences of the club, it's membership and the general downturn in the interest shown by owners new and old over almost 10 years.

Please don't try to make this a personal issue as it is not.

Several times in this thread you have highlighted where the club has not backed you in spares related issues, I am suggesting that this is an area we are looking to change.

It's hard to talk about your personal spares collection without making it feel personal