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12-06-2022, 02:50 AM | #1 |
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Location: Nelson. New Zealand
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Whats up with Ecklers
Im told they shut their upholstery side down but have e mailed every listed e mail wih no reply on any , always dealt with Jon for 40 years but not getting any replies , Have they gone tits up ?? even tried to order on line , no go, Not asking for negative comments, I actually have had great service from them , Any problem Jon fixed it, They certainly went down hill when Ecklers took over from Mac,s ,Was handy as a dealer to be able to combine V8 parts with A orders , Some one there must know whats up ?? Derek in a hot NZ
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12-06-2022, 04:31 AM | #2 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Did you attempt to reach by telephone?
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12-06-2022, 07:48 AM | #3 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Eckler's is no more. The company that is purchasing the holdings doesn't seem to have much interest in the early cars but time will tell. The rumor is that Cartouche is up for sale. Classtique is now the only source for model A upholstery kits.
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12-06-2022, 07:56 AM | #4 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Eckler's was indeed sold last month to a company called turn5 out of the Philadelphia PA area. the new owners have indeed closed the Cartouche division down and all employees were let go at that time. I also know that a bunch of others were let go from other divisions as well including Jon. At this point and time i really have no idea who is left over there or what the future holds.
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12-06-2022, 09:43 AM | #5 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Does not look like antique cars are in their future. Have to wonder why they bought Echlers.
https://www.turn5.com/ |
12-06-2022, 09:50 AM | #6 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
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12-06-2022, 10:07 AM | #7 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Wow, didn't Cartouche/MAC's recently buy what was left of LaBarron-Bonney? Wonder what is going to happen to all of the patterns and such.
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12-06-2022, 10:31 AM | #8 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
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12-06-2022, 10:33 AM | #9 | |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Quote:
I saw it start in early 80 with "corporate raiders" of several of my customers and for 15 years after this. Most likely the only thing that they care about is money they can make by stealing the company assets. It is very doubtful that they even know what a Model A is. In one case they came in and installed themselves as "officers" of a very large company at $1 million a year. The wife and son and his wife and one other relative each one was stealing $1 million a year from the $5 million dollars from the employee pension fund of one of the small branches of the company. In a year the fund was gone. This guy was very famous as "Master of Hostile Takeovers" for doing this to many other companies over more that 30 years. Many of these people hold MBAs "masters in bean accounting" .. I am not saying that all MBAs are jerks but these and the ones that later took over our company certainly were jerks. All that the bean counters cared about was that their pile of beans was bigger than anybody else's. Last edited by Benson; 12-11-2022 at 06:50 AM. |
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12-06-2022, 01:00 PM | #10 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Update finally got replies from them & yes been sold , Not shipping international now , Staff gone , they will ship internally mean time, Lets hope they infact keep supplying old car parts , competition is good for all , Phone calls for us not easy as we are a day ahead of them , 1st to get the sun ? So if it does not rise one morning we can let you know & it gives you 20 odd hours to fix it , sounds good to me , Summer time here, so maybe we are 6 months ahead ???
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12-06-2022, 01:09 PM | #11 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Ecklers sold all kinds of other brand of automotive parts. Foreign and domestic. Corvette, Mustang, F100s, Bronco, Mercedes....on and on.
Turn5 did not purchase Ecklers for Model A or Early V8 products. They have no interest in our cars. They are an online E-commerce outfit that is interested in F100s, Broncos mostly the lifted and modified variety. They see the stupid prices that folks are spending on an early Bronco purchase and want to join in on that trend. A trend is what it is. Turn 5 is full of young (I'm 42) computer and marketing people that don't know what a Model A or V8 Ford is and they don't care. They couldn't check the oil in their Honda Civic. Here is the proof https://www.turn5.com/#brands It's not the end of the world. It does create an opportunity for someone to fill the gap. Although the expense of making some of the parts Ecklers did or any of the parts now days is prohibitive. JAK is correct all of the Cartouche folks were let go and many on the Ecklers side of the parts business is gone. The original patterns that Cartouche had, no idea. My fear is the friendly folks at Turn5 will trash them all. Last edited by Seth Swoboda; 12-06-2022 at 01:20 PM. |
12-06-2022, 01:32 PM | #12 | |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Quote:
JayJay
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12-06-2022, 02:04 PM | #13 | |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Quote:
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12-06-2022, 02:24 PM | #14 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Dennis in Illinois, the politicians are the ones who raid the pension funds!
Two governors back that dude cleaned out the Teacher's Retirement System for who knows what, whatever politicians like to waste your money on. Usually themselves. TRS was solvent making more $$ than they spent on paying the teacher's pensions. That all got turned on it's ear. Fast forward to today the TRS is back and strong again all they have to do now is keep the politician wolves away So in answer to the original post, I too am hoping this will have a good ending. |
12-06-2022, 05:08 PM | #15 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Jeff, sorry to hear about what happened in Illinois. My sister-in-law was a teacher for over 30 yrs. Unfortunately she received very little before she died. Their health insurance was just as bad as they didn’t kick in until 6 months after she had a stroke. I think she got one month payment after that.
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12-07-2022, 12:22 AM | #16 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Ecklers didn't make anything, or at least directly, but borrow - steal - rebrand and repackage someone else's products & or services.
I personally worked for them for "17" years and in the end it took me over 2 years to settle up and collect the 10+k they were into me for. These last few years were spent working indirectly for Ecklers through a 3rd party, Danny Howell of S.E. Chevy parts. Ecklers rebranded my parts and services as being done In house by their own restoration service department. It's not a complaint, just that I was glad to be away from them and their practices. Bert's, Bratton, Snyders will all benefit and pick up some of the slack left by the loss of Macs and I do wish them all the best. In the end, customer service will always win out and just those 3 I first mentioned have their reputations backed by their customer service ! |
12-07-2022, 01:08 AM | #17 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
I was under the impression Mac's had made the steering parts?
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12-07-2022, 05:42 AM | #18 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
funny you folks mention lawsuits........
who pays when all of the funds are gone? Im thinking thats a waste of time and lawyers fees...... my experience with rentals and tenants not paying. |
12-07-2022, 09:16 AM | #19 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Frankly I say good riddance. Their parts could be pretty bad quality anyways. Support the smaller businesses who actually care about their customers and make decent products.
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12-07-2022, 09:20 AM | #20 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
They did make a few items no one else produced (1935-1936 transmission mounts) and others. They also owned Cartouche, the only place left that sold early V8 upholstery kits. It's not the end of times, however the V8 guys like me needed a few of their products. These kids at Turn5 are the worst.
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12-07-2022, 10:35 AM | #21 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
LeBaron-Bonney had a strong bid by SMS Auto Fabrics during the bankruptcy auction but at the last minute, Eckler Industries swooped in with a bid that overtook the SMS bid. There ended up being problems after the closing and there was likely ongoing litigation due to that. I don't know if Eckler Industries ever took possession of what they bid for or not but my guess is that there were missing items, spoilage, and/or damage to the remaining assets that caused the further litigation but I don't know any details. Most of it is in the bankruptcy court documents and they don't tell what happened in the end. It always sort of had the appearance of a company not taking time to look at what they were bidding on before winning the bid. It's possible they ended up with a pig in a poke.
This link was from proceeding of late 2019. https://www.dailydac.com/wp-content/...12/lebaron.pdf Last edited by rotorwrench; 12-07-2022 at 11:17 AM. |
12-12-2022, 07:13 AM | #22 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
or someone walked away with millions from the bankruptcy.......
remember Solyndra? |
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12-12-2022, 07:56 AM | #23 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
I just received an email from turn5 that Echlers is still in business, not that I would every from them.
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12-12-2022, 08:14 AM | #24 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
What happened to the wholesale distributor that MAC's had?
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12-12-2022, 10:17 AM | #25 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
I haven’t bought from them since the business sale.
But it seems they are a continuing saga of complaints and poor service on this site. Huuuummmmmm doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result… Let’s see that’s the definition of something serious. |
12-12-2022, 10:51 AM | #26 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
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12-12-2022, 06:35 PM | #27 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
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12-13-2022, 06:51 AM | #28 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
why? because the other suppliers dont have everything they might have.
I guess you are assuming all suppliers carry identical inventory |
12-13-2022, 08:05 AM | #29 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
How about supporting local car interior shops.
You might end up with a better job. On our last Sport Coupe, we used a local shop for interior and top. Fit, form, and function. Outstanding. Enjoy. Last edited by WHN; 12-13-2022 at 12:57 PM. |
12-13-2022, 09:17 AM | #30 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
The Sport Coupe is a difficult job. There are a lot of things to know about it. An inexperienced trim shop will likely not know all the things that Ford did to make it fit well and last. Anyone fabricating such a top well has either done it before or they contacted the right people to learn how. The kits do help since much was prefabricated and they come with some instructions. Some kit instructions I've looked at didn't have all the information of Ford's processes included. If I had never done one before, I would use a kit to save me all the time and effort of pattern making for a job like this.
I learned from my own and other peoples mistakes about ordering from companies that were having problems staying afloat. I don't give anybody a dime till I know they have the product I need in stock. I let my sources know up front that I want them to remove any item from my order that they don't have in stock. Paying someone full price up front for something they don't have will eventually bite a person on the backside. I don't recommend it at all. A person might pay for materials but nothing else. I would go and get my money or materials back if they defaulted from the agreed signed contract with me. A contract won't insure payback but it will give a person leverage in the bankruptcy court. It's the only legal way to show if you have been defrauded by the other party. Handshake agreements are not worth the paper they were NOT written on. |
12-13-2022, 10:47 AM | #31 | |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Quote:
A Sport Coupe is a neat little Model A with a GOOD top installation, otherwise they look like Flo from Progressive Insurance |
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12-13-2022, 11:05 AM | #32 | |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Quote:
The shop we used specialized in that type of work. I have the trophies to show for the quality of their work. I don’t understand why a lot of things people mention here, end up having negative comments from members. We are all, I believe, just trying to help out with experiences we have had. Haze Gray and Underway. 😊 |
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12-13-2022, 03:31 PM | #33 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Well, not all folks have an experienced trim shop near to them. A lot of us like to DIY thing as much as we can. Folks had mixed experience with Mac's. Some liked doing business with them and some didn't. It's not uncommon for folks to disagree in discussions similar to this.
All I can speak for is my own experience and observations. |
12-13-2022, 03:37 PM | #34 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
WHN I'm not being 'negative' all I'm saying is, if an inexperienced upholstery/top installer clown like ME installed that top I guarantee it wouldn't look right. THAT would take away from the looks of the car, a well done top is crucial to the looks of a Sport Coupe.
You are fortunate to have someone close who can do quality work. Hell I have a friend with a '62 Vette that needs a new convertible top and another with an '05 Mustang GT that needs a new top and nobody around here is capable of doing it. They'll have to travel several hundred miles to find someone. |
12-14-2022, 03:03 PM | #35 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
They should do everyone a favor and shut down. Slow shipping, no customer service no stock. They have not cared for the consumer for a few years. You reap what you sow.
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12-14-2022, 03:24 PM | #36 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
While I definitely understand your frustration, I personally would have liked for them to still be around even if their service was spotty. Often times we need what they have to offer and are willing to overlook their conveniences.
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12-14-2022, 06:48 PM | #37 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
turn 5 is local to me. like less that 10 miles away..
their name in synonymous with the number of days it takes to "turn over" employees. they are constantly recruiting for warehouse and customer service. and they offer LESS Pay than the local walmart. they are a volume business. read their website, where they claim to be "one big family" as a friend in business once said.. when you say to an employee "welcome to the family" its like kissing a hooker on the lips and telling her ya love her"
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12-15-2022, 12:55 PM | #38 | |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Quote:
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12-16-2022, 04:49 PM | #39 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
I thought I would add my experience with Ecklers independent of all previous comments.
I have purchased quite a bit of merchandise from them over the past 20 years. They had great catalogs. Delivery was relatively prompt. I never ordered anything not in stock. Until about 5 months ago, that is. I ordered a universal top bows kit, was told it would be 4-6 weeks before delivery, yet they took my money. When the time had passed, I called and was told it would be another 30 days or so. My reaction was to cancel the order and seek a refund. I had to wait 10 weeks for the refund to take place, but it did happen. I will never place another order with them. |
12-16-2022, 05:33 PM | #40 | |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Quote:
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12-16-2022, 08:46 PM | #41 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
They are still in operation but appear to be out of the Model A biz.
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12-17-2022, 07:01 PM | #42 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
I just got an email from Mac's at 12.08 this morning saying it is getting cold and I should stock up.
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12-18-2022, 10:22 AM | #43 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
I guess they overlook the difference in seasons between the USA and the South Pacific region. I'd expect that from millennials. Our education system leaves a lot to be desired.
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12-18-2022, 02:01 PM | #44 | |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Quote:
We're doomed |
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12-18-2022, 04:17 PM | #45 |
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Re: Whats up with Ecklers
Mulletwagon, i’m Curious as to what you mean by “still in operation but appear to be out of Model a biz” ? Website still functional for Model A parts. Have you ordered and were told they no longer sell Model A parts? Let’s not bury them before their time without clarifying comments that might be taken the wrong way.
Not meaning to offend here. Just need more information. Thanks. |
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