johanna1

iTrader: (1)

I bought the Intial D kit from them which was the poly front and fiberglass rear and sides. The front bumper is great, but the fiberglass sides and rears are not so great. The fitment is excellent, and the fiberglass is gel coated. The thing that sucks is that they have lots of voids in them which is where there is air pockets inbetween the fiberglass in the gel coat. The only way to know if they are their is to paint something over it and bake the bumper and they will start poping up. There are not to many on my rear (about 5 spots), and only one on the sides, but know I have to get them poped and redone with fiberglass. I thought at first it was something my bodyshop did until I talked to acouple fiberglass people about it and also some really good bodyshops. My bodyshop said they will fix it for less then nothing which is great and they said thats what happens when companys make copys. I just wanted to warn everyone so they will know to check for all the voids by baking it real good before painting the whole way. The good thing is I only paid about $1000 so far for my paint job and the quailty is excellent. The bodyshop did it for a great price so that I will tell some other people about them to gain some Z business since they love these cars so much. They are a perfect match when it comes to paint work.

Vertex350

iTrader: (76)

Thanks for the heads up. I'll keep that in mind when buying replicas.

RURedZ

iTrader: (2)

Do yourselves a favor just buy the originals.

It will equal less problems, less money, and less time in the body shop .

johanna1

iTrader: (1)

Actually, you will not save any money because the real kit is around $3000. Then you have to add paint which will be at least $1000 if you want a good matching paint job with lots of clear coat. I have only spent $2000 so far for my whole car paint job and body kit. I will have to spend another $200 to fix it, but after that you will not even be able to tell if it is fake or not. Little problems like that are not a big deal, fitment problems are worse specially if the sides are not long enough or the bumpers do not fit right.

RURedZ

iTrader: (2)

It sucks you have issues with your Initial D kit, It also is messed up you have to take it back to the body shop due to these issues.

Im sure you were not aware of these problems from the start. 350zforums didn’t let you know and blindly you got taken.

I cringe every time I read these stories and hope I can help educate others so they know what they are getting into.

The reason I cringe is because Knock off sellers are not up front. These compaines wont tell customers that their replica kits may be warped, bubble up due to heat, or have weird paint reactions. They basically are dirty salesman only interested in taking your money.

Knock off companies work to convince people to buy their products. The knock off seller tells interested customers that "The orginal kit has longer sides" or "The OG kit does not fit right when we copied it” to gain your business. They is how they sucker people into buying their replica kits.

When a customer tells the knock off seller they are unhappy with their kit. The relica seller quickly tells their customers that the kit was sold “as is” and the all kit never fit right. They will also tell customers that "body shops always have to modify body kits". They will also blame the body shop for "not prepping their kit right" etc etc.

Knock off kits are made in dusty factories by unskilled workers here in the us or they are imported from china. The knock off kits are made from thin fiberglass and stacked in hot containers where they warp further. They are not test fitted they are just made.

The reason the original body kits are so expensive because companies spend a lot of time money and effort on tooling and designing the kits. The O.G kits use also use high grade materials and have skilled workers or machines that make the end product. Plus they test them to fit properly.

What is messed up in this industry is that any unknown company can buy an O.G body kit make a cheap mold out of of it. The cost is about to make a relica about $3000. They then cut costs by using cheap resin, thin layers of fiberglass, and unskilled workers.

The worst thing is the customer in the end gets screwed. This is because of the dishonesty in the knock off industry not being up front to their customers.

I hate it and it urks me to death. If your going to modify on a buget save you money enough to buy an OG body kit. You will actually support great companies that have you the end customer in mind.

johanna1

iTrader: (1)

Dude, I hate to say it and not trying to argue with you, but not everyone has the money to buy the real ones and it sucks that they over charge on the real ones just because it came from JAPAN. Its the japanese companys fault for the whole thing if you ask me. You do not see real domestic kits made for mustangs that are high quality going for $4000. Their are alot of companys that make replicas that are great and some replicas that are not. I have had tons of replicas that where perfect, this is just my luck of getting a bad kit for once, which is alright, nothing a good bodyshop cannot fix and make it work and look just like a real kit for less. I would rather go down this road a 100 times before overpaying for one of those real kits and save in the end and also make it look just the same. I could take both kits and get a real good bodyshop to do them both, and I bet they could look the same with the fake one being alot cheaper. Ask anyone on the forums, they will tell you, and also see how many people actually have the real thing, not many. Veilside would probably be the only one I would pay that kind of money for because they don't jack there prices up as much as some other companys like topsecert and Ings.

B-Unit

iTrader: (21)

LOL, im fitting my Ings half kit right now, the font lip is 3/4" short on the left side LMAO. the sides fit perfect and the rear fits pretty darn good, but the front is just a disaster.

But its ok, i like doing body work, ill just cut the kit in half and fab the missing gap myself. Not bad considering i only spent 300 buks and i get to have some fun and actually make modding my car a REAL HOBBY unlike people who just shell out money for other people to modify their car for them.

Ill take 300 over 3000 a million times out of a million. spending 3k is just too much imo for some polyeurothane.

I agree with johanna

10secapsttz

Any body kit you buy will need prep work, you should simply factor in $500 extra in a good prep job..On the same note, I have personally seen some Veilside originals which were horrible fitting and needed tons of work to fit right..So its basically it is possible to just get a really bad kit,original or not.

10secapsttz

I had the same exact fitment issue with my initial D kit.

RURedZ

iTrader: (2)

If you dont have the money then you should really be spending money on your car then.

Like I said before you have no idea how much time and money goes into making these kits. If you guys fell like your justified because of price and if you want to support companies that make products poorly then thats your bad.

The money saved will equal inferior products. Plus knock off companies dont care about the quality or customer service. You will have to go back to the body shop again and again to fix inconsistancies.

Top secret, INGs and other companies from japan support this community an our car. If it wasnt for their engineers hard work none of us would not even have the luxury of having body kits.

You would not have posted if you were happy with your repilca kit. Im sure the more you drive on it and the more you fix it the more you'll understand.

Most people who buy replica trip over dollars to save pennies.

Zivman

iTrader: (19)

My experience with my real Wald kit. One tiny wave near the exhaust port in the rear skirt that required minor sanding. Beyond that, the kit only required a quick scuff and then paint. That was it, no other prep. The kit was prepped for paint in about 1.5-2 hrs it took to scuff all 4 pieces + my blitz wing (blitz wing had a few pin holes that needed filling).

I wouldn't buy replica stuff regardless of the price difference. In the end you 'might' save a buck or two, but more realistically, you pay back the difference in prep work and your car takes longer to get done.

From prep to paint to install, my kit took about 5-6 hrs Total!