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Bad Experiences With New 2016 Saleen Yellow Label

Austinj427

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That's absolutely BS.

They just played a stupid card. I would make sure this information makes its rounds and pay out of pocket to have their crap work fixed, and make sure everyone knows about that too.
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redgt

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Yeah, I wouldn't buy a car built by Saleen.....even if it came with the last gallon of gas on Earth.

Hate to say it OP, but when they quoted you a two week build time did no warning bells go off to you?
 

jperls

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Well....things seem to have escalated.

I was contacted by the president of Saleen by Facebook. We have been going back and forth for a while. Recently the president has changed tactics.

Shorty after she removed or hid my post on teamsaleenusa.com. I asked her why she did, it didn't seem very honest.

Shorty after the president threatened to send by boss an email in complaint about me. This is my personal car, it has absolutely nothing to do with my career, this is by far the most unprofessional interaction I have ever had with a higher up in company.

Unfortunately for her, my boss is well informed on this topic and has seen the car in person and seen all forum posts. He is on my side in this situation and doesn't understand where a threat like that has anyplace in this situation or my career.

Second the next day I was contacted again by the President and was told Saleen would warranty my parts only if I removed all my forum posts.What a shady way to do business. If I would have read a forum post like this I would have never bought the car.

I wonder is this is their strategy, delete all the bad posts on their controlled forums and try to blackmail other people on the other forums into removing their negative posts?

Well I'm not a fan of being threatened or bullied, a third party has been contacted and this forum will remain active so hopefully the next guy doesn't drop $60k on a car of unacceptable quality with a company that won't stand behind their own product.
That is blackmail...pure and simple. Time to lawyer up and go for the jugular! If you have saved everything, you will be all set. Seriously, you are looking at a lot of money here...violation of contract, blackmail, violation of warranty, slander...thats just the beginning (i'm sure those on here who are lawyers have a lot more charges that could be added)
 
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scharfe

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Yeah, I wouldn't buy a car built by Saleen.....even if it came with the last gallon of gas on Earth.

Hate to say it OP, but when they quoted you a two week build time did no warning bells go off to you?
The two week guarante seemed fine with me. I've installed a supercharger kit on a 5.0 in a garage over a weekend and figured that would take more time than applying some stickers, changing some rims and putting some prepainted parts on.

I even looked into driving time, figured it would take 4 days round trip. Turns out it spent over 2 weeks being shipped (if Saleens ship dates can be trusted) guessing this would be standard for them so they knew they were lying to me when they gave the guarantee from the start.
 

sbrenskell

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Well....things seem to have escalated.

I was contacted by the president of Saleen by Facebook. We have been going back and forth for a while. Recently the president has changed tactics.

Shorty after she removed or hid my post on teamsaleenusa.com. I asked her why she did, it didn't seem very honest.

Shorty after the president threatened to send by boss an email in complaint about me. This is my personal car, it has absolutely nothing to do with my career, this is by far the most unprofessional interaction I have ever had with a higher up in company.

Unfortunately for her, my boss is well informed on this topic and has seen the car in person and seen all forum posts. He is on my side in this situation and doesn't understand where a threat like that has anyplace in this situation or my career.

Second the next day I was contacted again by the President and was told Saleen would warranty my parts only if I removed all my forum posts.What a shady way to do business. If I would have read a forum post like this I would have never bought the car.

I wonder is this is their strategy, delete all the bad posts on their controlled forums and try to blackmail other people on the other forums into removing their negative posts?

Well I'm not a fan of being threatened or bullied, a third party has been contacted and this forum will remain active so hopefully the next guy doesn't drop $60k on a car of unacceptable quality with a company that won't stand behind their own product.
I would buy a Roush before I buy a Saleen just by how they treat you. Roush seems (I have never done business with them) like they stand behind their product. It seems that Saleen does not. I would contact a lawyer and see what they say. You might have a case against saleen. KEEP EVERYTHING!!!
 

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scharfe

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Any updates?
The rear deck lid cover finally showed up, was "only in the mail" for about 4.5 months lol. It's sitting at my dealers haven't even looked at it yet.

As far as I know the president of Saleen is still refusing to fix the other bad parts unless I remove the forum posts she doesn't control. I'm going to call my dealer tomorrow to see if they heard anything different.
 

stanglife

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Sounds like Saleen has turned into the typical rip-off custom shop with poor products, workmanship and service. Who even owns them these days?
 

jperls

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The rear deck lid cover finally showed up, was "only in the mail" for about 4.5 months lol. It's sitting at my dealers haven't even looked at it yet.

As far as I know the president of Saleen is still refusing to fix the other bad parts unless I remove the forum posts she doesn't control. I'm going to call my dealer tomorrow to see if they heard anything different.
Seriously...you need to contact a lawyer and sue..they have put you through hell and have violated the terms of contract plus threatened blackmail and/or extortion.
 

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jvandy50

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This is a shame, because the car looks good if done right. Even if they fixed everything I'd still be pissed every time I drove it! Hope you get this resolved to your satisfaction.
 

Cobra Jet

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I wouldn't put up with that BS at all from a so called President of any company.

Social Media is a very powerful tool - use it to YOUR advantage and DO NOT BACK DOWN.

Hell, I'd post all of the President's interactions with you publicly - let everyone see how you're being treated after dropping YOUR $$$ on their product. I'd also let others know how you're being treated.

Threatening your employment over their excessive delays, excuses and poor customer service - really????? Post your facts on any forum, under the constitution you have right to free speech. Why would anyone else want to deal with a company that is treating ANY customer in that manner???
 
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Cobra Jet

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Did you all see this article already?

link:
http://autoweek.com/article/car-news/saleen-being-sued-ford-dealership

Actual article content:
SALEEN IS BEING SUED BY FORD DEALERSHIP

Texas dealership not happy with Saleen for multiple reasons
JULY 18, 2016

A large Ford dealership in Texas is suing Saleen Automotive, alleging fraud and breach of contract, and another dealership says it’s having similar problems getting Saleen to deliver a supercharged Mustang that was promised and paid for long ago. Financial documents show that Saleen is deeply in debt and low on cash.

But CEO Steve Saleen, a former race car driver who has been customizing performance cars since 1984 and rose to fame with his go-fast Ford Mustangs, says those dealerships’ experiences aren’t representative. Saleen says it’s a “small miracle” his company has gotten to where it is since he was forced to start anew several years ago.

In its lawsuit, Red McCombs Ford in San Antonio says three 2015 Mustangs it paid Saleen Automotive to modify arrived six months late and missing more than $22,000 in upgrades. The dealership says it has been unable to get a refund for the missing equipment and extra months of floorplan expenses -- which would amount to half of the $60,850 in cash with which Saleen said it started the year.

Meanwhile, Friendship Ford of Bristol in Tennessee says it’s still waiting for a “Yellow Label” Mustang it ordered from Saleen more than a year ago. Ford Motor Co. sent the Mustang in September to Saleen’s 4-acre headquarters in Corona, Calif. After lengthy delays that the company blamed on a vendor, the car’s whereabouts have become a mystery, according to a Friendship executive.

Saleen, which originally agreed to deliver the $55,000 Mustang by the end of last year, told Friendship and Automotive News that it was shipped in early June. More than a month later, Denny Fruth, Friendship’s general manager, said he’s still waiting.

“I don’t know where the car is. I don’t have a clue,” said Fruth, who envisioned the 715-hp Mustang helping to draw customers into his showroom. “Every month this year, it’s been another story. I actually thought about jumping on an airplane to L.A. and walking in the shop to see if it’s in there.”

High demand

Steve Saleen, who started upfitting Mustangs in 1984, acknowledged that customers have experienced delays. But he said his company has delivered “hundreds” of modified Mustangs since Ford redesigned the car for the 2015 model year.

“Demand for the new car has been unbelievable,” said Saleen, 67. He said he was unaware of the Red McCombs lawsuit, which was filed June 1, and said it “seems a little frivolous,” given that all of the dealership’s cars have been delivered.

“This is a new model, so it takes a while for us to get up to a rhythm here,” said Saleen, a 1996 inductee to the Mustang Club of America’s Hall of Fame. “We don’t buy anything off the shelf. We completely re-engineer the vehicle. All the tooling, we have to start from scratch. Everyone just thinks, “Oh, you just put a supercharger on it.’“

A predecessor company, Saleen Inc., assembled the previous Ford GT supercar from 2004 through 2006. But Steve Saleen lost the use of his own name when he resigned in 2007 to start a new company. He regained the Saleen brand name in 2012, after a legal battle, and Saleen Automotive became publicly traded over the counter in 2013.

Still a startup

Since the new company’s 2011 incorporation, regulatory filings show it has lost about $30 million and earned a quarterly profit only once -- in 2014. At the end of 2015, Saleen Automotive listed assets worth $745,755 and liabilities of $11.4 million. The company also said $1.3 million of its accounts payable at year end were more than 90 days late and that it owed $401,689 in past-due rent as of March 24.

“These factors raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” it said in its most recent quarterly report, noting it is “not generating sufficient funds to cover operations.”

Steve Saleen said his company is still a startup but growing in spite of the challenges its niche presents. He said its vehicles perform well and generate strong margins for dealers.

“There’s a reason why there aren’t a lot of companies like us that do this, but for us to have been doing it every model year as long as we have, we must be doing something correctly,” Saleen said. “Year over year, we have been improving. As with any company, we continue to need capital.”

The company reported revenue of $3.8 million in its 2015 fiscal year, but it lost $8.5 million. That compares with 2014 revenue of $5.1 million and a loss of $11.1 million.

A Ford spokesman said the automaker has no contractual relationship with Saleen Automotive. In addition to Mustangs, Saleen makes high-performance versions of the Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Challenger and Tesla Model S.

The article "Saleen under siege" first appeared on Automotive News.

By Nick Bunkley, Automotive News
 

Cobra Jet

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More (all of which BTW is PUBLIC info):

Original link:
http://jalopnik.com/mustang-tuner-saleen-says-it-owes-millions-of-dollars-1661373045

Actual content:
Mustang Tuner Saleen Says It Owes Millions Of Dollars, Has Only $7,261

Michael Ballaban
11/24/14 12:45pm

Saleen Automotive, creator of crazy Mustangs and the gorgeous Saleen S7 supercar, is in a bad way. According to its own quarterly earnings report the company is getting sued by its bank, it owes its law firm money, it's resorted to paying contractors in stock, it's looking for a buyer, and, as of September 30th, 2014, it only has $7,261 in cash left.

$7,261 is not enough to run a car company.

The company's most recent quarterly earnings report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or Form 10-Q, is horrific. But the nature of it can only hint at what potentially lies beneath the surface for Saleen.

It's full of painful admissions and sad disclosures, like the one admitting that it might not be around much longer if it doesn't find a buyer, and another saying that it has failed to pay back its bank loans.

In short, the company's financial health is a mess. We've reached out to the company for comment on its earnings report, but a planned interview has yet to happen. Company founder Steve Saleen was forced out in 2007, after his eponymous company declared bankruptcy, leaving him without his own name. By 2012 he was back in charge of Saleen with his own name.

In 2013, Saleen entered into a reverse merger agreement in order to become publicly listed, under the ticker symbol OTCBB: SLNN. Essentially, what happens in a reverse merger is that a privately-owned company acquires a publicly-traded shell, and then the shell assumes the identity of the privately-owned acquirer. We could spend hours delving into the long and complicated history involving reverse mergers, but the pertinent point to us is that it lets us look into the company's financial health.

Here are the hard numbers as they reported last quarter:

The company only has the aforementioned $7,261 in cash on its balance sheet.

Saleen's total current assets come to $668,629

The company's total current liabilities, or things it owes people, comes to $5,634,841, including $583,900 in unpaid payroll taxes

That nearly $5,000,000 discrepancy is a problem.

But if you go through the rest of the company's 10Q, the problems only get worse. The company's revenue has shrunk by nearly half, year-over-year, and in the three months from July to September, the company lost more than $2 million which is up from the $1.1 million it lost during the same three months in the preceding year.

And the slight bleeding that can affect any car company has turned into a veritable torrential hemorrhage. Saleen Automotive began July of 2014 with about $1.5 million on hand. It quickly burned through nearly all of that.

Where did it go? And where did that cash come from, to begin with?

It's hard to say, just from the balance sheet. Where that $1.5 million came from to begin with is the easier part of the equation. They say $719,933 came from customer deposits, likely for upcoming vehicles like the Saleen 302 Black Label, and the hotted-up Tesla Model S, the Saleen FourSixteen.

Where it went is perhaps even more troubling. You would think that Saleen's biggest costs, right now, would be research and development. Squeezing 640 horsepower out of a new Mustang, and getting more speed out of the already-absurdly fast Model S, would not be the things you'd think would come cheap.

But the company spent only $250,130 on R&D over the summer. It spent almost double that, or $443,767, on sales and marketing costs, like photo shoots and auto shows. The vast majority of the rest of its expenditure went towards general administrative costs.

Though Saleen says that they've already started deliveries of the FourSixteen to customers, it's unclear what is going to happen to the company. So in the end, we're mostly just left with questions about the fate of the company. And Saleen itself doesn't sound too confident (emphasis mine):

During the six months ended September 30, 2014, the Company incurred an operating loss of $3,056,980 and utilized $1,714,196 of cash in operations. The Company also had a stockholders' deficit and working capital deficit of $5,718,593 and $4,966,212, respectively, as of September 30, 2014, and as of that date, the Company owed $583,900 in past unpaid payroll taxes; $1,148,574 of accounts payable was greater than 90 days past due; $352,795 of outstanding notes payable were in default; and $398,176 is owed to a bank as of November 2014, which the Company has not paid and expects to be in default unless the bank agrees to another extension. These factors raise substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern.

Unpaid taxes, unpaid accounts past due by over 90 days, and hundreds of thousands owed to a bank definitely, definitely raise substantial doubt as to whether or not Saleen can continue operating at all, let alone past the end of the year.

The company says that even in its current state, it can continue operating until December 31st, 2014.

It's been paying contractors in stock, which has fallen in value to just 2 cents a share. The bank that was keeping the company afloat through loans filed suit over non-payment back in February of 2014. Saleen Automotive quickly agreed to a settlement that involved a payment plan in exchange for an extension, but still has not even paid the balance on that.

The company "expects to be in default" unless another extension is granted, but which had not been by the time of the filing.

Saleen's only saving grace, by the company's own admission, could be some sort of mythical wealthy benefactor, ready to inject millions into the moribund business, like a knight in shining armor made entirely of money.

But of all the things that have been looking unlikely with Saleen Automotive, that might be the most unlikely of all.

Photo credit: Jim Cooke/Saleen Automotive
 

GNN60GT500

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The sad part is even if you did sue them, sounds like you would never get any money out of them
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