Well my feeling on this is if the original companies wouldnt over price their product there wouldnt be any copies. Cmon why does a kit cost 3k! They say its because of materials used. If this is true then why does a Street Sceen Bumper cost 300.00? I say copy away until these guys lower the price!

 

Being with a company that does not sell forgeries/counterfeit products at all, this is an easy one for me.

As was said before by someone, lets not use the term "replica" as that might entail authentic copies or something. Plain and simple, this is theft of design and counterfeit products. Lets call them what they are..

The main issue to me is theft of creative design and riding along on a famous name/designers reputation.

Noone is going to buy " Steve's aero kit" regardless of how it fits, cause they dont know who Steve is (nor do their friends). Now if Steve steals a design and copies it, and sells it as FAMOUS MAKER style, it suddenly has more credibility to the buyer.

If these parts were any good, or had any originality, then they could market them on their own merits. As it is, these forgeries usually have horrible fitment and quality of materials, and worse, now the authentic part has been "identified" with the inferior counterfeit piece.

With more and more manufacturers from Japan coming to the United States, I'm sure we will see an increase in prosecution of these forgeries, and in time, hopefully, these companies can channel those efforts into design and production of their own original designs to further the aftermarket.

'NUff said. I'll end it with a quote I was enlightened to by one of our associates..

"There is nothing in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and he who considers price only is that man's lawful prey." - John Ruskin

 

agreed!!!!

 

how much did you pay for your g35, why does it cost that much, cause its an infiniti... i can go on if you wish.


btw if people dont want to pay 3k for a body kit, they can by a different one from another company whose body kits arent as expensive (say ings compared to drft), or god forbid, not buy one at all.

 

thanks dan! hope to see you at jgtc!!! party at barney's err....brandon's house

 

let's say company X is able to create a pill to cure aids or cancer or whatever, and spends $100 billion in research and development, overhead costs, etc. they can manufacturer the pill for $.10 a piece.

why sell it for $1000 piece when they can manufacturer it for $.10? because only the second pill cost $.10, the first one cost them $100 billion.

 

I have the Esprit replica kit on my car, and have the follwing to say:

1. The quality of the side skirts is great, fiberglass is kind of thin, but not thin enuff to break at high speeds (130 - ).

2. The quality of the back lip was kind of rough, but not that bad, and only required minor prep work before painting.

3. The actual Esprit kit cost about $2200 or so. The Spirit kit cost me $650.

4. I have the actual authentic Greddy front lip, and the quality of this piece is absolutely PERFECT, yet it's URETHANE. Urethane probably tends to be better in smoothness and form than fiberglass.

5. The fitment of the Replica kit on my car fits as good , if not , better than the actual Greddy front lip.

That's all i have to say regarding this topic. If your scared to purchase a replica kit, don't do it. If your not, buy it.

It all depends on WHAT kit it is. I researched the board before i got my kit. Havabooz had the kit already and said it fit good, so thats the only reason i went with it.

Peace to all and keep a positive attitude in life, regardless of what everyone else thinks.

 

at the end of the day though, it doesn't really matter cuz replica kits will always be around.

 

well i just got my replica espirit kit the other day, and fitment is ruff...

the rear isnt too bad because i am gonna mold it anyway, the front wasnt to bad it just got chiped in the delivery but is repairable, but the side-skirts are nasty...

i would have to pay an arm and a leg to ge them to work, but the the good thing is that the company i bought them from is sending brand new side skirts to my body shop for free, and before i send them them the ones that are f-up!

i have to say thats not bad customer service for a replica kit!

 

doesnt change what it is

 

hmmm for the people that buy knock off body kits ... how do you feel about fake purses?

a lot of my girl friends get so pissed off when they see other girls walking around with knock off purses. they say it makes them look cheap ... if you can't afford the real thing don't buy it.

you can fool the average person, but anybody that really knows what they're looking at, knows the difference.

would you buy your gf/wife a fake lv/gucci/faragamo/etc bag as a gift and try to pass it off as the real thing?


i feel the same way about body kits.

 

heh yeah, ask your significant other if "designer imposters" would be ok instead of the actual perfume =D

 

some people are just idiots for paying for a purse that costs 300-500. That's absurd. I'll buy the ole' lady a knock off purse any day over the real thing. Sheez, I need to save my money for my Z.

I can justify spending over 7,000-8,000 for a greddy turbo kit, but don't even think about getting a purse for 300-500 bucks.


It's not the same thing anyway, a replica spoiler kit is the same damn thing an authentic kit, minor differences. The authentic kits don't justify the $$$$$ differences.

Knockoff kit = 650
original= 2200

2200 - 650 = 1550 for me to spend elsewhere.



I love knock off kits!!!!!!

 

I honestly don't have an opinion about fake purses one way or another but I can just picture a bunch of guys sitting around looking at the cars at a meet up...

"Like uhhmuhgawd, did you see that Mole guy's wing?"
"Yeeauhhh, it sooo trahhshee!"
"I knowuhhh, eeewww."
"And like uhhmuhgawd, there's some guy with a front lip......"
And who is generally the person looking at the car? Experts or "the average person" -eh? As I said, I have an original kit, but it doesn't change my view. If someone had a knock-off version of my kit and it looked good, I shudder to think there'd be a "girl purse session" and would compliment them if it looked good. I guess I'm not much for caring about designer labels, etc.

 

Knock off kits tend to have very bad molds and actually end up costing you more in the long run since the body shop would have to do more work to make it fit and straight like the REAL thing

 

not everyone tries to pass off replicas for the real deal.

 

G352NV.....Is your car really lowered or is that a Photoshopped lowering kit? Looks PS'd to me for some reason. Just curious.

 

Wow I forgot about this topic. The car in teh pic is photoshopped. The car is a bit higher then that now. You can see it on my site. www.tacoma.gixxer.com
Now back on the subject. Do you really think a kit costs 1000000 to produce these kits? The problem I have is price! If they priced it right they wouldnt have to worry about it! Dont try and tell me "but it costs soo much to make" I have a 03 silverado. When I bought a SS front bumper cover I priced them from a few places. One of them was Street Scene. They wanted 320.00 for it. Now keep in mind this is made out of the same type of stuff the G and Z kits are made of. Anyone that knows truck stuff knows that Street Scene is top notch stuff and very big in the truck world! So hmm why is it soo much less? Lets face it! We dont drive cheap cars! The same kit for a Honda Civic would be MUCH less! Why? because the car itself doesnt cost ****! The body kit guys know that those people dont have as much cash! I say to those that make fake kits change them 10% and put your own name on it! I'd be happy to save myself 2k Im not a name brand person

 

take your favourite brand tire, you pick, now lets say you can get a kirkland tire for alot less and it resembles the tread, why not just get that.

 

It gives people a choice. If their was a positive review, others will try it. If it doesn't live up to the test, people won't buy.

Its a choice. You can buy it or not. Replica or original.

Yes, I have a replica esprit kit. I checked out the product before buying it. It was up to par for me. Next to that, I wanted it. So I got it. It works well. If it breaks, I can replace it with a replica or original.

Enjoy the car the way you like.