DC Performance and Dan Cragin............... A new start.

[Specialty Performance Team]

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for all of your support and well wishes with the closure of DC Performance. All of us appreciate your business over the years. I must admit that it was discouraging for me after being part of the Viper since it's inception. Our business model with 9 employees and 3 owners just could not ride out the storm, no new Vipers and a poor economy kind of put the nail in the coffin.

I looked at several options moving forward including taking my show to the dealers or working directly with SRT, but I kept coming back to what I love......taking care of you Viper owners and building amazing cars. I've worked hard on a new business model and certainly know what works and what does not. What I have come up with is a smaller, more focused and professional shop. The new operation will have a world class look and provide everything a Viper owner or racer might need, under one roof. One big plus will be a pickup and delivery service. I have much more to share, but I will wait for the launch.

My question to the So Cal Viper community is what do you want from a new Viper shop? And where would you like us to be? We are looking at locations now.

For those in need I can still help, just give me a call.

Thanks and take care,

Dan Cragin
310-597-6295

[T26]

Great News Dan.  Love to see you closer to Orange County (somewhere in Mission Viejo), but I'm sure that if you build it, we will come. 

[ViperX]

Hi Dan,

Anywhere in the OC, but preferably nearer to the coast.

Dan  <2

[Banzai Ben]

WEST LA! Like before! >w

[NK BREKR]

Somewhere away from the 405

[PCH VIPER]

Location is a KEY element to success.

It took me a while to put this together.  Using Kala's idea to pinpoint Vipers around the world, I used our membership zip codes to map out the general area of our So Cal Vipers.
There are many areas with 3 - 4 Vipers owners.  What is not represented are the owner's with multiple Vipers.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=217592281470847386812.0004c0a09f73dd77feeec&msa=0&ll=33.811673,-118.02681&spn=0.518026,0.800629

and YES we do have a member over in Hawaii !

[Leo]

Looks like West Covina/Montebello is dead center on the map for the group. The fact that those areas are right near my house are a coincidence

[ViperX]

Funny,

I'm thinking Huntington Beach is looking pretty good.

Dan

[SSSSE YA]

What about us ventura peeps?

[Kala]

Nice map Lance  =14

I would think any of the beach areas would be high rent district...

Too far south or north and the draw would be lower. My 2¢... look centrally... Near a major fwy, but not the 405.

Rob, rent is really cheap in Ventura county... but it's too far north for most Viper owners. 

[Super Villain]

Regarding location...a few things I am keeping in mind...

1. Dan and his family live in the West LA-ish area so if I were him I would consider my drive to and from work.

2. Rent.  Helps to keep the overhead low so stay out of high rent areas.

3. Customer base...consider not only where owners live that have Vipers, but where are the customers that have spent or are willing to spend a lot of money on their car.  This goes beyond regular maintenance.  Where do the people live who really mod their cars.  I think you will find most are in West LA, South Bay/Beach Cities, and Orange County areas.

With these points in mind, the Long Beach area seems to make the most sense.  It is about the midpoint between the LA and OC zones and the rent should be pretty reasonable.   For everyone else, if you are indeed offering pickup and delivery service then it should be a moot point.

Regarding things I would want out of a performance shop...I am going to be very upfront here.  I have probably spent more than most on modifying my car (though not as much as some ) and almost all of it thru DC Performance in one fashion or another.  So obviously I have much love for Dan and his crew.  But now that we have a chance to provide input on the new shop I am going to be blunt with my wish list.

1. Pick up / delivery - A pick and delivery service is a nice idea and will be great for some, but for others (myself included) I would worry more about it being on a flat bed or trailer.  I would rather drive my car in.  It would be great however to have someone drive me home and then come pick me up when the car is done.  Kind of like a shuttle service.  Of course this would only be for jobs that require the car be there overnight.

2. Wi-Fi and a waiting room with tables.  For jobs that require only a few hours, I have no problem driving in and waiting.  But if it is during the week, having a place where I can work off my laptop while I wait would make things more bearable.

3. Scheduling - this is a real sticking point for ALL performance shops.  I have yet to see one do this well.   Project management is the name of the game.  I cannot stress this enough.  Having someone with project management skills who can help customers coordinate when to drop off their car, when to pickup their car, and daily status reports on their car is paramount.  Lets examine a few potential scenarios... I bring my car in and wait for the work, but 2 hrs. pass before my car is even on the rack or anyone is even looking at it.  Or I come in to pick up my car, but its another 2-3 hrs before I can leave with it because it is not ready at the promised time.  Or my car is brought in and is at the shop for 5 days, however it is only being worked on for 2 days.  The rest of the time it is just sitting around (waiting for parts notwithstanding).  All these kinds of situations are unacceptable.  A project manager could help alleviate all of them by keeping the communication loop open.  Imagine a project manager calling to tell me to bring my car in on Tuesday at 11am because another car will just have been picked up and the guys would start working on my car within an hour after it was brought in.  And given the extent of my project the car would be ready for pickup Thursday at 1pm.  Then end of day Tues and Weds I get a status report of how things are going.  Finally come Thurs. I get confirmation that the car will indeed be ready for pickup.  I am a project manager by trade and this is how I run my business.  Of course, crap will happen and things will come up on a project that no one expects, but if the project is properly managed and the communication is good then the issues should be easily resolved.

4. Parts availability and pricing - I don't mind buying parts through the shop, but I want to know that the shop is offering me the best pricing they can get out of their suppliers.  And if their suppliers can't get pricing better than what I can order the part for myself then its time to switch suppliers!  I understand that the shop has to eat and make some money on parts sales, but the shop needs to be honest about how far they think they can take this.  For example, a shop sells headers for $2,000,  but everyone knows you can order that same set of headers for $1,500 at other places.  The shop needs to be fully aware of the best pricing in the market for their most popular parts.  Then they need to squeeze their suppliers so they can match that price or skip their supplier and order it for $1,500 like everybody else and maybe tack on a handling fee of $100 to $150 for the part.  And if a part is not available through your regular suppliers, start looking at other suppliers and scour the earth to get the part so the customer can be in and out with their car.  Its too easy for the shop to say they checked with their 2 regular suppliers and its out of stock.  If I can find the part in stock thru another source with just a few keystrokes and hitting up my contacts in the club...then the shop did not look hard enough.      

5. QA - Given the high performance nature of these cars, quality assurance testing and double checking is very important.  People need to be double checking each others work.  Things like forgetting to screw on a power steering cap or leaving the fuse box lid off is unacceptable.  The same care needs to be applied to making sure other parts are not nicked or scratched up in the process of working on something else.  If stuff like this happened in my shop...heads would roll.  Admittedly, I am a taskmaster and demand perfection.

6. Hours - Ideally I would want a shop that stayed open until 7pm and one that is open on Sat.  More work gets done faster and makes it easier to drop off and pick up cars.

Any performance shop that can hit these marks would be GOLD!  Dan knows how to do great work and I have high hopes for the new DC Performance!

[Newport Viper]

My Garage!

Good Luck with the new venture!

[viperCFP]

SV, several really good points.

It sure would be cool if DC could do warranty work (with a premium opted by the customer).  I'd believe many owners who DC has as clients would pay for the choice (HMO/PPO), expertise and assurance, and compensate DC Performance for their time.  Maybe Mr. Gilles can look into that.  Recall 998 and 999 come to mind!

LB, HB, OC.  Having a long commute is a total drag though, driving time limits work.  Or sleep  <1

[Kala]

1. Dan and his family live in the West LA-ish area so if I were him I would consider my drive to and from work.

There's your answer right there... A long commute would be awful after a while. I doubt Dan or his family is ready to pick up and move.

Theres only 134 automotive properties for rent in LA on loopnet... Just glancing thru them... most are too small.. one bay or 2 bay kind of set ups... Then theres the high end like a tesla dealer spot that wants $34,000 a month... I doubt its going to be as easy as picking a spot on a google map  =16

http://www.loopnet.com/xNet/MainSite/Listing/Search/SearchResults.aspx?linkcode=13910#/CA/Multiple-Types/For-Lease/c!AQKlTg4DgIGQFgIEAAYC$BARQBkwc

[Specialty Performance Team]

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for all the comments, this is exactly the type of information I am looking for. Please be critical, if it will help us provide you with a better service we want to know!

Dan Cragin
310-597-6295