spares in the uk

[nobby]

i'm looking to get back into racing and i'm trying to choose a car atm.
i do think the 511 looks very good, but one thing thats stopping me ordering one is the spares backup in the uk.

now do you think tamiya or the importer will start pushing the car and supporting racers in the uk since lee martin started racing for them?

if not were do people get there tamiya kits and spares from?
and how long does an order take?

[Spoolio]

Good point. Maybe HobbyCo will start to support TRF cars, maybe they won't, who knows? I do know that the prices I pay for stuff from the land of the rising sun (and it's near neighbour rubberdogpooland the realm of the counterfeit knock-off) is only a fraction less than what it costs in the UK. The current crap exchange rate and post delays make it much less attractive than it was pre credit crunch. Plus, Customs seem very eager these days. I've had 3 parcels "captured" now and it's not the VAT that is a problem, it's the £9 clearance fee that the post office charge which pees me off. Factor this in as a "given" rather than as a maybe and it can skew it enough to make an import not worth the hassle. Doesn't help when your sender misdeclares the item either. I got one parcel with a true value of $18 declared at $50 so thanks for that = instant penalty.

Anyway, if you EMS stuff from HK it usually takes between 5 days to a week. Regular airmail is 10 days to 2 weeks. If you are shopping at Christmas you take your life in your hands my friend. I placed an airmail order 22nd Dec, it arrived 5 weeks later.

[DaveG28]

There are definitely one or two more shops interested in stocking bits (I think Brock/Fusion already do) now, not personally aware of the importer situation though.

Ordering from the far east is dead easy though, various places have bits but my main sources are www.stellamodels.net, rc champ and www.rc-mushroom.com, I find them all good to deal with and quick, my last Stella order I paid for on a Saturday morning and it was delivered Monday morning, 48hours!! Usually takes 3 or 4 days plus customs though, if you pay EMS shipping (well worth it on bigger orders!).

Plus I've got most everything in my pit box and hopefully people like Pugs and Donutt can attest I'm happy to supply replacements if you get caught short!!

[DaveG28]

Originally Posted by Spoolio

Good point. Maybe HobbyCo will start to support TRF cars, maybe they won't, who knows? I do know that the prices I pay for stuff from the land of the rising sun (and it's near neighbour rubberdogpooland the realm of the counterfeit knock-off) is only a fraction less than what it costs in the UK. The current crap exchange rate and post delays make it much less attractive than it was pre credit crunch. Plus, Customs seem very eager these days. I've had 3 parcels "captured" now and it's not the VAT that is a problem, it's the £9 clearance fee that the post office charge which pees me off. Factor this in as a "given" rather than as a maybe and it can skew it enough to make an import not worth the hassle. Doesn't help when your sender misdeclares the item either. I got one parcel with a true value of $18 declared at $50 so thanks for that = instant penalty.

Anyway, if you EMS stuff from HK it usually takes between 5 days to a week. Regular airmail is 10 days to 2 weeks. If you are shopping at Christmas you take your life in your hands my friend. I placed an airmail order 22nd Dec, it arrived 5 weeks later.

Customs are getting hotter and yes factor in that cost, though I still get plenty through which they don't look at. Shipping I find very reliable, to be fair all the major shops I use over there were warning on their websites early Dec onwards that regular airmail had large delays and to use EMS to guarantee fast shipping, can't say fairer than that? (or was it an ems shipment which went slow?)

Price wise I find that for any order worth more than around £50, even paying EMS, customs and handling it's as cheap as most other cars bits!!

[Fat Corgi]

Hello.
There is a Tamiya delivery arriving in from the east either at the end of this week or the start of the next, so hopefully that means that all the shops should have some more parts/spares/cars soon.
We'll see soon.