Ohlins, OMG!!

OurCognitiveSurplus · Postby **OurCognitiveSurplus** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 9:51 am

Steve says words to the effect of "the damage will make no difference to the performance of the damper" and "the damage will disapear when the collar runs over it."

IMHO these claims are probably true and false respectively (I did run the collar over the mark, made no difference), but I feel as if he's missing the point.

OurCognitiveSurplus · Postby **OurCognitiveSurplus** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 12:14 pm

Talked more with Steve - tried to look for some sensible solution. His position is either return the product or suck it up.

I don't want to post it to him, have him post it to Sweden, wait for Sweden to post it back to him, then for him to post it back to me because the opportunity cost of all that faffing about is way higher than me just sucking it up.

The main game here is having great coilovers on the car, not wasting time ensuring that a bit of bling is as-bling-as-can-be. As Sailor said, I may well put my own scratches on them before too long.

So I guess the best thing for me to do is just suck it up.

Does Steve get points for fantastic and outstanding customer service? Not from me. I'd say the service is exactly average.

deviant · Postby **deviant** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 3:03 pm

What else can he do for you though?

OurCognitiveSurplus · Postby **OurCognitiveSurplus** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 3:30 pm

If I was in Steve's position I would have contacted the factory in Sweden and explained to them they sent out a damaged but operational product. The ball is then in the factory's hands. Perhaps the factory knocks a couple of hundred off the bill it sent to Steve. Steve pockets some money for his trouble and knocks some money off the bill he sent me. That way the loss for the mistake ends up with the person who made the mistake and the compensation ends up with the people who got put-out by the mistake. Sounds fair and saves posting hardware all over the world.

If the Ohlins factory in Sweden refuses to assist the Australian distributor, then Steve can come to me hand-on-heart and say he tried, but no luck.

I would say that either of those outcomes (a small discount, or a failed effort to negotiate with the factory) would be reasonable. I guess other options would include sending me a fifth damper to swap-in at a convenient time. That way the opportunity cost falls on the factory, not on me. Solutions are limited only by the imagination!

Anyway, water under the bridge now, should be in the car tomorrow afternoon :mrgreen:

Postby **NitroDann** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 4:06 pm

Its one frikkin nick dude, and it doesnt effect anything at all.

Dann

OurCognitiveSurplus · Postby **OurCognitiveSurplus** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 4:13 pm

Couldn't agree more, which is why I'm excited for tomorrow

pap11y · Postby **pap11y** » Mon Jun 18, 2012 5:49 pm

Post it to Sweden...?

Wasn't the point of buying locally that you don't need to send stuff OS?

Guy_Coles · Postby **Guy_Coles** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 9:39 pm

I'll be honest and say that I've been in Steve's position for significantly larger $ items (try 250-500K). It's not easy being the middle man and having to comply with other companies DOA rules. I was the guy that put Steve's details up here and my experience has been great, I bought them somewhere else and Ohlins policy was "ship them back to where you bought them and then we'll talk", Steve was great in my opinion and bent over backwards to help me given the circumstances.

I wouldn't call a scratch across the thread DOA (Dead on Arrival), Yes, not what anyone wants but equally possible the outcome of a backroad stone on a bad wheel angle on your first test drive, so life goes on really. Functionally it does everything it promises ?

Gmi · Postby **Gmi** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 9:45 am

I wouldn't accept a nick. Especially for something so expensive..
Your too nice guy~!! Wakefield July? Ohlins ;)

OurCognitiveSurplus · Postby **OurCognitiveSurplus** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:45 pm

So first dive on the Ohlins today, initial impressions.

Comfort: The ride was really very similar to stock. Perhaps the car travelled a little better over some holes and joints and a little worse over others - but the difference is less than +/-10%. If I had to say anything, I'd say it performed better on the larger expansion joints and man-hole covers but perhaps worse on the smaller road-nuisances like rough and wavy bits of ash-felt. On the whole, no complaints. Certainly no jolting or crashing etc. Given the springs are more than twice as stiff as stock I have no idea how the ride is so similar. Completely liveable day-to-day.

Performance: People like to say that the mx5 handles like a go kart, I've never really agreed with that before. I know it sounds weird, but with the Ohlins in the steering-wheel felt a little bit smaller and had a little bit more weight. The on centre felt a little bit better (tighter?) than before. Around corners the car was far more flat and stable - feels right. I've never really dríven an mx5 with other coilovers, so I'm comparing against fresh (only about 15,000km) stock suspension. But it's hard to be disappointed. Feels like a different car. Why didn't Mazda put this sort of stuff in in 1998?

Bad news is that my water pump is on the way out. So there goes another large from my bank account. Spent almost the insurance value of the car on parts/maintenance over the last month. Pay day tomorrow at least :oops: