Yikes, that was a helluva read!! I apologize for taking so long to get to this, but Mondays are "ugly", it takes me awhile before I can come up for air..
First off, yes, our sales people are instructed to
ask customers if they can be put on hold, wait for a reply, and respond with a "thank you" before pressing the hold button.. And once I saw this thread, I did a friendly reminder email to all four Depots' managers to reiterate it.
And yes, sometimes you'll have the occasional customer who doesn't want to be put on hold, and wants to start engaging in some sort of sparring contest over being put on hold, and that can raise the blood pressure. But professionalism is what you should expect regardless.
That said, yes, it has been intense in sales over the past 5 months, to say the least. We have been blessed to maintain full staffs. But the
volume of business has been off the charts. A country full of gear heads, stuck at home for any number of various COVID-related reasons, turns their collective attention towards that project sitting in the garage, and says "you know, if I don't get going on this now, when I've got ample time, there's just no excuse...".
And the phones and internet have been rocking ever since.
So we appreciate your patience. Especially in Michigan where the counter-traffic has been non-stop and huge, combined with a phone system that likes to sporadically hang up on customers. That system is being replaced as fast as we can vet the new one.
Now, the topic of parts made in the USA... To the OP.. I do not believe that you are realizing or anticipating the size/scope/magnitude of that topic. There are no "blanket" answers.. I have a feeling that even if you had not been put on hold, that you would have come away feeling dissatisfied, because where do we even begin? For classic 65-73 Mustang, we're sitting on somewhere around 23,000 active sku's, sourced to a vendor/supplier/manufacturer file in excess of 1,100 different places, both domestic and worldwide. Is a tie-rod available US-made? That depends.. What's the year, the model, the engine, power steering or manual? Then maybe I can answer that question, but the answer might be different for the next part. All of the brake and chassis/steering manufacturers seems to be groaning towards offshore, even Moog. Our primary go-to supplier for steering is McQuay-Norris, which is mostly US-made with a smattering of outliers. Then we fill in the gaps with Moog, and any other gaps are filled-in with Elgin Pro-Stock. It all depends on what you're driving as to what the availability/sourcing will be.
Our "service" grade steering I keep a secret, because the parts are so damn good!! LOL.. I don't feel like tipping off the competition! There's no name on the packaging, but it's made in Taiwan, and it's super nice stuff. I can say that with confidence now, because we've been carrying it for over 8 years with nothing but success. And I'll take this opportunity to make a very necessary point...
Taiwan is not friggin' China.. The two countries, and the quality that comes out of them, and the ethics/principles that are followed, could not be more polar-opposite. Taiwan is far more similar to the U.S., in being a capitalist democratic free society. And the quality differences that I see between reproductions made in Taiwan compared to reproductions made in China are substantial.
And in certain cases, reproductions made in Taiwan are far superior to anything Ford ever bolted to a Mustang! LOL. And in some cases, we are carrying both a US-made and an imported reproduction of a specific part, and the import is the superior piece. Floor pans are a good example. Another humorous example, a Taiwan factory we buy from recently developed a new-tooling thicker-steel 67-68 front stone guard. It's beautiful, absolutely beautiful. $25 bucks retail. Meanwhile, we're still selling through our remaining inventories of Ford Tooling 67-68 stone guards, stamped in Ohio, that are
rough in comparison (due to aged tooling). $127 bucks retail.
It's all over the place, and it's pretty much impossible to "generalize" on the subject of reproduction parts, where they're made, and how that relates to the intrinsic quality of that specific piece.
At NPD, we strive to source US-made whenever/wherever we can. And where there is an imported example of that same part, at a lower price, we'll carry that as well, and allow you to make the choice based upon your priorities and budget. Everything that we source, we strive to find/source the best quality that exists, in that specific price-range. When there are numerous choices at varying price ranges, we'll go the "good/better/best" route and offer them all.
It is what it is. There is no honey hole, no pot of gold at the end of a rainbow where you can get all-US-made resto parts for your Mustang. Most US manufacturers have turned away from "low-volume" production, which is what Taiwan excels at and eagerly goes after. Most US manufacturers will look at a 200 or 500 pcs production run, and say "add two more zeros to that and we'll consider it". So moving so much to Taiwan really hasn't been so much of a choice as it's been a necessity. And while it's a slow-moving dynamic, the quality really has continued to creep up and improve.
Do we carry a ton of parts made in the USA? Yes. Do we carry a ton of imported? Yes. But the quality of a given part is not something that can be generalized about, by category or type. You have to see the part. This is why we try to be reasonable and flexible with returns.
Hope this helps..??
Rick
NPD