itsjiggajames

iTrader: (5)

This is not a thread to bash shine, they are friendly people..

I'm down a lot of money because I *believed* that shines product needed "minimal" prep work like they said, but my body shop begs to differ... (Read their how to paint a v2 and you'll see that they agreed that scuffing the bumper with a scotch and then apply primer should be ok..) My body shop (2020 Autobodytech) is not a POS shop either. They have done a lot of work for front page cars but I only remember seeing the Falken G35, Falken S14s, and falken Mustang.. and numerous ferraris, lambos, AMGs, what not.. you get my point.
Here is the bumper after 200 dollars of prep...

Pictures below

Or in short, there are cracks and pinholes and bubbles everywhere. There is a LOT of prep work going into this bumper, and i'm paying near 700. Original estimate was 400, and then after they took off that "paint" or "primer" or whatever shine says it was, hell broke loose. My bodyshop even said this is the worst bumper i've ever gave them.. (i've taken numerous bumpers there)

I've talked to Shineauto, and they said they'll replace it, but since i'm 200 dollars deep with the shop for just sanding and filling in and reenforcing the fiberglass what good is a new bumper going to do.. i'm going to have to do the same **** with the replacement, and pay for that one too.. damn

I read up on Shine's paint procedure, forwarded it to 2020 autobody, and they said you cannot just attack the surface with wet sand and then hit a primer.. anybody have any body shop experience? All I know is 2020s work is top notch, and everything i've EVER had come out of there has been Flawless and paint matched perfectly.. and held up much better than other paint shops . I.e. JTAUTOSTYLE. (paint flaking off after 1 month, and 50% of my veilside sideskirts paint falling off.) In fact, the OEM paint is worse and chips much easier than 2020s.
So i'm heated, down past a grand for a replica v2 that i bought with intentions of having it fit great and have minimal work. Fiberglass.. Never again. I don't care if its superman's work, f8ck it. Tired of working with FRP / Super FRP / Super duper FRP.
Sorry about the vent. I just feel I got raped after reading about how awesome the quality of their bumpers were.

Hopefully this bumper holds up and doesn't crack after its painted..
End vent.
Concluding for future FRP buying members...
Fiber glass will be fiberglass. I don't care about anybody saying their fiberglass is uber special.. polyurethane or polyethylene is UBER special.

itsjiggajames

iTrader: (5)

Pictures




This one is filled in.. can't see the cracks / bubbles / holes




These are just the corners.. the entire front of the bumper has some too.

noodleman

iTrader: (13)

my authentic vertex kit is FRP, and my bodyshop had no problems with it what so ever. No pinholes/bubbles, and no major preps required. He mentioned it as one of the easiest kits he'd had to be put a on car.

sucks to hear the problems you had with this bumper. hope it works out for you.

Done Deal DR

iTrader: (5)

I'm sorry to hear about your problems, from everything I've read this definitely appears to be an isolated issue with your Shine bumper and not with everything they manufacture.

lgear080

iTrader: (21)

I think they would have taken a return, especially from a "semi"
local buyer. They seem to be very stand up. I have heard very
mixed reviews - i.e. some perfect bumper, some..... eh... not
so much. I would NOT invest this kind of coin in paint and prep
on a bumper. :L

gsazabi

iTrader: (51)

Definitely an isolated incident since this is the first complaint out of MANY MANY V2 bumpers Shine has sold.
I've had the Shine V2 and now Shine Amuse kit, and all it required was very minimum prep.
I think you should've instead just gotten the replacement before they started all the prep work. Your bodyshop told you that they'll charge extra before they started the prep work didn't they?

You should take it to Makito@Seven Apple for the work; he would've charged you way less for GREAT quality work.
He's located a bit far at Santa Fe Springs, but he has worked on so many Shine V2 kits. Basically 90% of the local Shine V2 owners go to him to get it done.

itsjiggajames

iTrader: (5)

I understand that, but 2020 autobody is top notch work.. the problem is not with the prep.. the problem is with the Shine V2 not standing up to the quality they have advertised, and now as a consumer I got a POS one.. Makito quoted me 475 if there was minimum prep work involved. This one takes a LOT of work.. originally this bumper was getting sprayed for 400, and 50 dollars to fill in the bumper lines because I have a HR with a hood hump.. 50 to install.. roughly 500 to have this taken care of.. now because of all the damn cracks and pinholes, the price is going up. They need to fill in everything and reenforce it..
so sand, fill, reinforce some parts, sand again, wet sand to smooth it out, shoot primer.. then paint.
argh

I still believe shine has the better v2s, but if I got a crappy batch.. I'd like some sort of compensation at least. I'll be happy when all this is over... hopefuly ken will call me back.

Changvi

iTrader: (66)

I can honestly say that you got a bad batch of the V2. I've had their V2 for over a year with out any issues or what not. My body shop said that Shine was one of the easiest bumper they have ever worked with with no adjustments.

usmanasif

iTrader: (4)

I completely side with the OP. I am going through the EXACT scenario he described. My Shine V2 has TONS of FG waves and pinholes in it, to the point that some of them look like the bumper was pressed into while still wet from the molding process. I took it to 4 body shops, yes FOUR of them. And the quotes ranged from approx. $800 to $1,100 just for paint and install (there are slight fitment issues too). To put it in perspective, each of those shops charges no more than $350 or so to prep and paint an OEM bumper (I have seen actual invoices from them).

Shine was defensive when I brought the issue up to them but they did offer to send me a replacement bumper. I told him that I simply don't believe it will be that much different than what I have and that I want to do a return.

That was last week. Never heard from them since then. They very strongly downplay their quality issues prior to sale and absolutely falsely advertise this particular bumper. Buyers beware. I know they have excellent reputation and few people have had issues with their products, but I am (sadly) speaking from experience and there is simply no argument to be had against that. I was hoping to have my car completed two weeks ago, but instead have to deal with this nonsense.

If this is a "bad batch" issue indeed, I have no problem with that. But they do need to acknowledge it and refund their customers' total purchase price including shipping since we did buy it under a false sense of quality.

thebarrenland

I second Seven apples. Makito is a crazy and dedicate guy whos work to me is unrivaled. My V2 shine bummper had no problems, and I inspected it before I took it home, Im local. Its worth the drive to santa fe srpings and hes a cool guy to work with. I got mine painted and installed for 400. Im going htere next week for my nismo side skirts and rears and will ahve him instal master grade CF roof.

omegamanex

iTrader: (2)

the official nismo v2 bumper is fiberglass also ...

.. i wish someone made a urethane replica

itsjiggajames

iTrader: (5)

Update: ken from shine called me and helped me out.. he is refunding me 180 dollars and his reason for the bumper being poor was because the one I had was rushed to finish for me. I don't care whatever the reason is, but I thank him for being a stand up guy and giving me a refund so that at least I don't have to pay for the extensive prep work.

So my final price is roughly 550installed. i'm satisfied.. just hope the bumper isn't weak and prone to cracks. That'll be a whole 'notha story.

And btw this isn't an issue with my bodyshop.. why does everyone keep telling me about makito? lol this is clearly an issue with the product itself. I'm glad you guys think makito is great.. but like I stated, 2020autobody has done work Makito hasn't even gotten near.. (not bashing on makito, he was my second option, just farther away from me)

usmanasif

iTrader: (4)

Ken has finally replied to my email from almost a week ago within hours of posting my experience in this thread. We'll see how it goes. I'm just FCUKIN frustrated with this mess.

itsjiggajames

iTrader: (5)

I was in the same situation.. the shop keeps asking for more because they'd rather just not work on it because of the hours of work they have to put on it.

boostedZ

iTrader: (9)

whoa... a lot of work has to be done.. just saw the photos.

usmanasif

iTrader: (4)

Exactly my predicament. A top notch local independent painter I went to for an estimate told me that such kits have the tendency to expose a lot more pinholes and waves once the factory primer is sanded off and since they are invisible until then, he didn't feel comfortable with the high estimate he had given me since it could risk him having to "work for $10 an hour" if the bumper turns out to be as bad as he thinks it might be. He said at that point he will have to stop and shoot it with paint just to stop himself from working at a loss. And that would leave me with an imperfect final piece that costs $1,500 (bumper+prep/paint/install). Its hard to imagine that I would have saved money by going with an authentic V2.

Sorry for the continuing rant. I am the best customer to work with and it takes A LOT to royally **** me off. Too bad it had to happen in this case.

Zivman

iTrader: (19)

To the OP...
Looks like you got a bad piece, as you already know. **** happens and I am glad ken took care of you.

In regards to anything fiberglass, expect work.... not at all. I have an authentic wald kit and it was a simple scuff and paint. there was a single wave spot near the exhaust cut-out that required about 10 minutes worth of sanding to correct.

I have seen numerous replicas and shine's are by far the best I have personally seen. Pin holes are probably the most commonly seen issue with FRP products, and yes, I have seen them on shine products. That said, I have seen much worse on other replica manufacturers pieces. What you show in your pics seems to be an extreme case, and again, sounds like ken is being a stand up vendor...

Another thing to consider is the shop you are using. Some shops will simply scuff and paint regardless of what you bring them. Sounds like your shop has a reputation that they care about and want to put out quality work. This should be applauded and expected from a bodyshop.

I have the luxury of having an "in-house" bodyman to take care of my paint and bodywork.

Good luck... post pics when everything is finished