gringott

iTrader: (17)

I think what you stated in the beginning was obvious on many parts, look at the stuff on ebay, you can generally see what is crap and what is not. What you are failing to address is that many of these so called "knock-off" parts are made in the same factory as the original, of the same materials. One thing that might help is some enforcement of the laws as far as where the item was actually manufactured, rather than where the company is based, in packaging and advertising, as well as in on-line descriptions.

I could spend hours listing the parts from major Japanese tuners and parts companies that are not manufactured nor designed by them, just tried out, re branded, and the price jacked up. WTF is that about? Adding a name brand to a Chinese part, the only difference is the box?

chimmike

iTrader: (7)

I've read this before and it's not true at all. Again, the knock off parts can't even list what alloy steel they use like the name brands because they just cannot measure with any consistency in the material!

IF a name brand company gets a chinese company to produce the parts (find me an exhaust for the Z sold by a name brand made in china anyways) they have quality control on the materials and workmanship and stand by it. The knock-offs are so cheap they don't have any sort of quality control at all, whatsoever.

z-u-later

iTrader: (43)

Last time I checked, this is America and we have a free market. It's what makes us a great nation. Unless anyone would like to offer me access to their bank account, I will buy goods & services that I'm interested in, whether they are originals or replicas. It's up to me to determine the quality of the goods & services, not from someone's biased opinion in this forum.

THE TECH

iTrader: (154)

Well we will continue to have those that bring up the fact the price is everything and that there is freedom of choice and blah blah blah blah. One of the reasons why the original parts keep increasing in cost has a lot to do with all this knockoff crap. I don't think most people get it. They don't see that the knockoffs will cost us more in the end than they are providing.

I'd be willing to bet that 99% of the people who say that knockoffs are just as good OR that they PREFER the knockoffs over the originals, just can't afford the originals or don't think they should have to pay the price of the authentics.

CNOTE

What knock-offs have you bought and found that they were crap? You are speaking from experience, right? (obviously some knock-offs are crap just from looking at them)

gringott

iTrader: (17)

^ +1

To the OP: if you are only talking about exhaust, then state that is the subject. To state that ALL parts from China do not have ANY quality control unless they are being manufactured for a "name brand company" (and who decides who they are) and then they are "good" because the name brand company would of course have excellent quality control, etc, is, IMO, a statement made in complete naivety.

Now this is computer parts, not car parts, but could be a lesson for you if you are capable of understanding that defects happen everywhere.

Sony has an excellent reputation, is a major name brand manufacturer, and they have caused Dell to lose big money on a part (laptop batteries) that was defective. The part was partially made in Japan, and then shipped to Taiwan for assembly. The defects (metal shavings in the lithium) happened in Japan, not Taiwan. I don't think you get more "name brand" than Sony. Where was the QC?

When I was a child, Japanese products had exactly the same reputation that Chinese products do now. Everybody starts somewhere. It is for the consumer to decide what they want. For the most part, the members of this forum have a very good idea of what is what. Very few sub teens on here. Thanks for informing the consumer on your views. For what they are worth.

Mike Wazowski

iTrader: (113)

Replica body kits FTW!!!

gringott

iTrader: (17)

+1 Cheap and no worries when you scrape a driveway.

taurran

iTrader: (18)

I don't believe this one bit. Just another marketing ploy to justify insanely high "authentic" prices.

If you want quality and the name, buy an authentic piece. If you want questionable quality and a disposable part, take your chance with a replica. It's as simple as that.

Threads such as this change nothing.

ZTUPID

iTrader: (2)

Your mom was made in china. I win.

rocks

iTrader: (1)

I will still buy inferior parts i do not buy into this name brand jocking ricer crap. When i turbo my Z i will probably use a holset hx35/40 hybrid.

THE TECH

iTrader: (154)

I think there's one question that should be honestly answered. If the authentic parts were never made or sold, what would actually be available for the car???

chimmike

iTrader: (7)

last I checked you weren't a mettalurgist

Yeah, I'm sure you're a professional at being able to tell the difference in quality of materials used. You DO have tons of experience with that, right?

chimmike

iTrader: (7)

this is a good point.

You don't see megan racing, xs power, or those other crap brands jumping on the bandwagon making parts for models that have no other big name aftermarket, do you? Hell no.

dTor

iTrader: (27)

I doubt there are very many metallurgists on here.

The fact is that the people who worry about BS like this must not have much to worry about. Why does anybody care what kind of metal somebody else is using for their exhaust??? Are you aftermarket parts inspector? Is your livelihood dependent upon whether Joe Nobody has pipes that use T304 stainless or aluminized steel to expel spent gases from his combustion chambers?

The people who can afford to buy the "name brand" items will buy them; some will go broke doing it. Others will realize that it matters not who makes what for their cars (or any other hobby, for that matter), and that they really don't need a couple of pipes and a muffler attached to a vehicle that will deteriorate and fall apart long before the exhaust does. What matters is whether you, as an individual who is NOT buying to impress others, are happy with the results.

Some people (not you chimmike) need to wake up from this forum mentality and realize that **** like this is really only as important as you personally make it.

bb1314

iTrader: (62)

"They're made in china"

Same thing goes for my IBM laptops, your NIKE kicks and probably your mom's panties.

97supratt

iTrader: (61)

We all have our opinions, I mean its a public forum. But I don't think threads like this will make somebody not buy the imitation. Not everybody has or wants to spend rediculous amounts of hard earned money on expensive parts.

But then again i get what you're saying, the more knock off brands we buy, there is a rise in authentic prices.

I believe everybody should decide for themselves. If for example a member buys a knock off brand, we can state our opinions and if anything does go wrong they will learn not to buy that part.

gringott

iTrader: (17)

Very well said.

chris'smax

iTrader: (5)

I don't think a majority of the owners here care what grade ss their exhaust is. As long as the pipe is resistant to corosion from carbonic acid and oxidation.

The one thing that does worry me with knock off are the way the welds are done. I also think that when these exhaust are welded they are welded at to high of a temp causing the weld to be coroded by carbonic acid over time. I think this is why we see so many cracked welds on knock off items.

dTor

iTrader: (27)

Oh yeah, another thing I forgot to mention...

If you do your research, you will see that cheap Chinese parts will, over time, DECREASE the price of "authentic" parts. The bottom line is that Greddy, HKS, Apex'i and any other big name company has to stay competitive with other, cheaper manufacturers and if that means reducing their profit margins then that's what they'll have to do to stay in business.