BoostedCoupe

I agree with you on all of that but. Atleast have some pride in the parts you buy. With a manifold if you can buy a megan or so dont cheap out and buy the cheapest one on ebay. IF you do buy a knock off kit atleast try and make it fit decent and paint that matches the car. just dont put it on the car and leave it with horrible fitment. Its the people who buy shitty parts where it counts then wonders why the part failed. I understand people cant buy the best of the best but dont buy the cheapest just because its cheap.

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92 vert converted 5speed and other little things

Matej

Ugh, another one of these crybaby threads.

Do what you want with your own car, don't worry about mine.

ESmorz

Uh oh, this was supposed to be a civilized thread to whine in.

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Matej

Some of the best looking cars on here are built with knockoff parts. As someone always says, money doesn't buy taste. Spend on what's important to you. And just because someone's car looks like garbage to you, it doesn't mean anything, the owner might love it more than you will ever love your car with all of your authentic parts. (This isn't directed at ESmorz, he's cool.)

Bubbles

Nothing is ever accomplished with these threads.

ESmorz

Of course it isn't.

I don't buy parts anyways.

Suck my dick aftermarket.

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Bubbles

This thread could go JDM fanboy at any moment.

Be advised and keep your eyes open.

HyperTek

i always thought "if i cant afford the real deal, ill just wait it out, or not even participate".

Not soo many people appreciate the guy who invests and treasures his car any more. General conscious towards those people now is "you dont drift, you fail" attitude.

I dont really care, as long as the individual has a down to earth attitude and is cool, speaks with respect and is knowledgeable, then thats great... IF their car is built with all legit parts, thats a plus.

As long as the individual wont be cocky about it, or have a "i would never pay $$$ for that when i can get the ebay part"... it does kinda ruin the fun.

Also with the popularity of these cars, Vehicle theft is at a higher risk now. Even stock s13s get jacked.

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Keep it Classy

Teknolust72

Ok...lets get back on track....

How do you guys feel about your friend, someone you expect to be reputable, is directly responsible for copies? Meaning he literally bought 1 of part number, to send to a factory to copy. And I'm not talking about just some random person, but someone that many Zilvian's respect.....

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soreballz

^Who cares? The people that buy knockoff aero would never be able to afford the real deal aero anyway. And chances are, the people that CAN afford real deal aero will buy the real deal aero rather than the knockoff. With that said, people aren't hurting the real deal aero makers by buying knockoffs because they never would've paid for the real thing anyway.
Get it?

And stop pussyfooting around. If you're gonna put someone on blast, just do it and get it over with.

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-Kyle

Matej

Also, many people who like to boast about supporting the "industry" don't seem to realize that they're doing nothing for the companies by buying secondhand parts, no matter how authentic they are. As far as supporting the industry goes, buying brand new knockoffs probably helps more than buying used real parts.

FaLKoN240

I think what you guys fail to realize is that without the companies that ORIGINATED the designs that are being knocked off... the map.

They won't be there anymore.

It won't mean much to them to leave a scene of ungrateful people that don't give a shit about them and would sooner buy a cheaper product.

If they're not there, they won't be putting in the big dollars to research and develop new parts.

I will continue my rant later...

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Best way to do business with me? Make your best offer FIRST.

Matej

As soreballz said, the people who buy the knockoff wouldn't have bought the real part anyway. The people who want the real part will buy the real part. As long as the company keeps making good products and smart business decisions, they will stay around. If not, blaming the consumer is the last thing they should do. You build a business around what there is a demand for, not what you want there to be a demand for. That's what GM has been doing, and look how that worked out for them.

Bubbles

One can only hope.

Maxstyle

YOu are correct MATAJ: Currently the market reflects the hard times the industry suffered in '82. These times will seperate the strong from the weak. Those that have structured in such a way that protects themselves and those that misses a step. To answer the question asked by Teknolust's question..Although it would not be ground for me to terminate my friendship, I would not be very happy to hear he is replicating original products.

DMaxUSA

FaLKoN240 is correct once again!!!

D Max made the move to open up an office in the U.S. to support the growth of the drift scene in America, and literally, not more than 2 weeks after that, I see people asking Chaser Aero to copy our D Max wings.

PATHETIC!!!

For years, we held off on coming to the U.S., and when we finally do, some of you guys ask for a knock off. If that keeps up, then we will no longer WANT to be in the U.S., nor would be able to continue as a business.

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dmax-us.com

smokin 14

Quote:
Originally Posted by Matej
As soreballz said, the people who buy the knockoff wouldn't have bought the real part anyway. The people who want the real part will buy the real part. As long as the company keeps making good products and smart business decisions, they will stay around. If not, blaming the consumer is the last thing they should do. You build a business around what there is a demand for, not what you want there to be a demand for. That's what GM has been doing, and look how that worked out for them.

^^^^
this is what im talking about


So let's say hks makes a part fist of it's kind then u see apexi, greddy, jic, and who ever else starts making the same part to, and u start buying the part from the other compainys other than the original compainy. That too is a knock off so where does it end ?

brndck

a big name company like that wouldn't directly copy another companies product. they would re-engineer it and try to improve on it. do you see hks selling "greddy-style" intake manifolds? companies that actually invest $ into R & D are what separates them from those who just sell ______-style products.

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http://outslidersandsmokeproduce.blogspot.com/

smokin 14

It's still a knock off just a brand name company is knocking it off . Im not saying buy knock offs just get in where u fit in.

blitzkrgCT9A

All of the companies you have mentioned do not copy each other's products.

The most copied parts are Aeros and wheels in this aftermarket industry.

HyperTek

the people who buy knock offs.. well.. more then likely probably wouldn't even be involved in the scene in the first place if parts weren't cheap for them or there was a scene to look forward to in the first place.

Laughing at all the people sticking up for knock offs.

To the OP , i see where you are coming from, i once worked at a bodykit company so i know the ins and outs.. They see a jdm bumper, figure no other company has it, buy it, send it to china, few weeks later recieve a container full of copies, sell for profit.. But eventually other companys would catch on, make a copy of your copy to add to their catalog.

You see it as "a quick easy buck, the kids will buy tons of these, and i can make em cheap ", but at the same time you are contributing to the knock off market.. and then add the multiplier of all the other guys who figured this out and want a piece of the action.

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Keep it Classy

HyperTek

Im kind of oldschool with it.. if you been around before the flood of knock off parts, you could appreciate legit parts and guys with build ups.

If you havent been around that long, then I would think you may not understand why the older guys think this way.

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Keep it Classy

smokin 14

Not directly the same thing but come on a company makes coilovers then the next company come along changes the color and spring rate but it dose the same thing, but just cuz it a name brand compainy it all right.

SexPanda

If I had an s chassis, with my current job, I'd be full of name brand, quality parts. Because thats what your paying for with a name brand part.

Ex. Volk Vs. Rota.

Same design, round, holds a rubber tire that holds air... But one is better than the other, because one is name brand. And when you have a "name brand" you have one because people trust that company, and that company uses quality materials and tons of R&D. You get what you pay for.

But alas, I have a BMW. The only name brand I have is Dinan. The rest is DDM, IE Knock-off. But they are quality as well, with great customer support. But thats little things. Fog lights, grills, headlights, blah blah blah. When it comes time to do some serious work, I will only trust the name brands.

You can thank those ricetastic movies for alot. Truely a double edged sword. Alot of my friends who got into cars after seeing that movie the first time, now have nice cars with quality parts. Except my brother. he has a DSM. So he just does free shit like crushing the BOV and what not.

But at the same time, there are the people who saw those movies and wanted to be just like it, but without the cash. People who buy ebay "coilovers" and knock off wheels, just to get the look. And when they learn their cars are still slow, they get knock-off performance parts.

HOWEVER... I can't hold the reputable companies innocent 100%. They should have done what many other companies have done to survive. Unfortunately thats to sacrifice quality for quantity while still offering the good stuff for the premium price (see Chrysler circa 1980's). Great business ethics? Not quite. But nice guys finish last. You have to keep up with the market. The people who can and want the good stuff are few and far between. You gotta expand to the cheap asses.

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BRAND NEW GReddy PRofec E-01 EBC for sale, Cheap!

Teknolust72

Brndck is correct here!! All the big brands spend time and money to develop new products for their customers.

Lets look at coilovers for a moment, since we always debate this. We know there are top brands that specialize in suspension, such as Endless, JIC, Tein, Cusco and so on. And then there are what people consider "branded" coilovers, such as Greddy, Apex'i, HKS, etc. Some of you guys would call these coilovers as cheap knockoffs. However, just because they are not specifically made at that certain manufacturer, doesnt make it less quality. What it means is that those companies accept that they are not suspension experts, and instead ask an outside reputable manufacturer to produce these components for them to their own specific requirements. For example, Yashio Factory coilovers are made by HKS. Does that make Yashio a knock off company? Definitely not, since Okamura-san spent the time and money to develop a component that meets his requirements.

On the other hand. Companies like Megan, God Speed, etc, also contact similar suspension companies for their coilovers. Which is why soooo many of you guys are quick to believe that Megan=Apex'i. WRONG! That is what these manufacturers in China say as a sales pitch; "Our factory is very good quality. We make suspension for Greddy/Apex'i too". How are you gonna verify that information?? Just because a friend of friend who knew some guy in Taiwain told you.....bullshit!


Thanks HyperTek, I'm glad a couple of the old schoolers understand where I'm coming from. What sucks nowadays too, is that there isnt anything out there to teach the next generation...

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kingkilburn

Who knocked off what kit? We can confront this head on.

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G O L D E N B E A R R E P U B L I C

flip3d

Where will the market be in 20 years? Uh... HKS will be making 48V batteries that make our electric cars go 0-60 in 2.4s. 100% tq off the line, yo.

DataXUnknown

I must agree with just about 100% to the op.

The only thing that gets to me...is that I can't afford to even save up for somthing so expensive, which is why I think some people buy knock offs. They want to try and get to the top as quick as possible. Kids are on a budget (I would know), so they want anything they can get their hands on that is a mod to their cars.

ESmorz

Well those kids are idiots.

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usdm180sx

Fuck knock offs. Not my style. Oh well everyone is different.

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-Norm!