Replica body Kit?
 

Hey guys. I just want to ask your opinions about replica kits. I'm planning to get a replica body kit. What do you think about it? The ori is way too expensive for me. What is the difference between the replica and the ori?

Thanks in advanced

There's two point of view

1. Save money until I can afford it and buy the authentic to support the mfr.

2. Save money in my pocket and buy the replicas. I don't care about the mfr.

if the replica is nice quality which is tested as Amuse then go ahead for it, I am really happy with the savings I made and spent those on performance modss

Support the industry and the companies that are innovating new parts and ideas.

Don't support the companies that find new ways of copying stuff.

^^ this.

:iagree:

You guys can buy the originals as loosing one sale on replica wont hurt anything for these companies. And IMO in the end of the day its a Nissan so not worth spending 10% of car value on a bodykit, rest performance parts I agree should be ok good quality which are aleast on mine

The problem is they don't just lose profit from one sale, it's more like 20, 30, 40 or even more in some cases; it all starts with just 1.

Regarding the 10% of value comment, does that logic extend to other parts as well because Work Wheels aren't cheap!

If you can't afford to buy nice parts(*regardless of what type of car you drive*) then you shouldn't buy anything. (in my opinion, of course)

I know guys with Honda Civic's that save their money and spend it on a $1500 front bumper, just because they want high quality, nice stuff.

Quality is quality, regardless of what you are buying for. I bought a $50 iPhone case yesterday because the $10 case was a cheap piece of china crap. (even though they looked the same)

Selling or buying fake, copied parts will only HURT our industry. Obviously some companies get offended when this fact is brought up because they try to make it seem ok.

The argument "hey, who needs to pay all this money for the same parts" isn't going to work. You pay for so much more when you buy an authentic part.

If you (and not you personally) have a successful company selling knock offs, why don't you try to be original and let other people copy you? Tell me how that goes.

:ugh2:

:iagree: Also, I think manufacturers should meet the consumers half way and make these parts more affordable. Some of these kits for example, don't need to be priced so high, even if its of a higher quality. It might deter replicas if the price difference was a lot less significant. Most people would likely pay a little more for the real thing. Its a different story when the real thing cost double the replica.

yah, it's difficult cause you take a JDM bit worth say 50,000yen... (basically should be $500 or less) but with the f-ked up yen right now at 78yen/$, that's already $641.

add 30% margin for the store in the US to cover their operation cost and profit =$833..

then add freight $50-150 can be up to $980+.

the japanese government is killing their own manufacturers right now... and making opportunities for copycats to take its place. and shops and people supporting these copycats just makes it that much worse. like pouring tabasco over a wound... :icon14: if you want to see cool parts for your cars in the future, have to support the JDM tuners.

like i said, copycat's cant make shitt without the original..

we just need someone in North America to step up and manufacter original kits. dont understand why we need to wait for the japanese to create products.

yep, i support original designs US or Japan.. but we've seen fitment from stillen with their original bits so far... :icon14:

Sure... but that would be a case by case basis.

You know, a lot of people don't realize how and what it takes to actually MAKE a very high quality part.

For example, in order to design and aero part, (I'm sure a few companies processes are different) but for the most part it follows:

1. Determine what the main focus of the part would be (visually, funtional,ect)
2. Determine who to sell the part to (consumer base, cars, regions, ect)
3. Determine a target MSRP and profit margin (make it worth it to sell and make money to FUND OTHER innovative products)
4. Design and draw rough sketches / ideas (pay an artist)
5. Review and narrow down ideas (pay employees)
6. Take remaining ideas and model them on the car (pay engineers / artists / employees)
7. Determine if the models can be manufactured easily and within steps (1&3)
8. Develop a working prototype for testing (pay employees / engineers / manufacturers)
9. Address any issues / possible redesign
10. Produce a limited number of parts for testing with production quality fitment
11. Check fitment and if the product meets company standards
12..ect ect

Those are just a few main steps that companies have to go through to determine what and how to make a part. It's actually much more complicated than that if you are coming up with innovative and original ideas.

Just as an example, someone had to take ALL of those steps to bring a new product to market... With a large company, think about all of the resources and people it takes to do that. I can promise you it isn't one or two people.

With that being said, because of the amount of time that those people spent doing all of those things to create something, it must be WORTH it for them to sell. Simply spending all of that time making it and selling it to make $100 isn't going to help them, nor anyone else trying to buy and resell those parts. (ie, dealers and markups,ect)

Paying for something nice is going to be expensive. And while I understand that spending $500 on a shift knob made of the same stuff the $80 one is made from, just because of the name is a little ridiculous, paying for something that has value is important to some..

Just think about it...

10-15 years ago, you didn't see knock off companies selling HKS, Blitz, Amuse, Nismo sh*t for cheap.. because they didn't exist.

Put your money in the places that have experience, the ones that started and have supported the industry. Everyone supported them then... now that you can buy cheap crap, it's cool to tell them to get lost?

:shakes head:

*EDIT*

I just wanted to point out... in addition to what I said above, but companies that base their businesses OFF of copying other stuff doesn't have all of that overhead, they don't have to go through all of those steps to copy something. They merely get a part (in this case is a bumper) and send it off to a comapny in Tawian or China, they make a mold of it, and then have people pop them out of a cheap mold for 1/100th of the original MSRP.

They buy a ton of them, and sell them to people all over the world. End of story.


:shakes head: again...

im tired, and dont feel like reading all that, so ill assume it is dilligent.

....well said, rep for you!

Sorry for the rant... it's a dear subject to me. When your livelihood depends on it, you'd have a passion to fight it I guess.

:tiphat:

How about you ask Shine Auto?
You dont pay for so much more. The Authentic part has flaws and errors. JDM parts are not always perfect. Buying fake, hurts the JDM community but the American community benefits. IF Companies were willing to go half way then we wouldnt have issues with replicas simple. I can say this, When I bought my Authentic kit from a vendor on here, total jerks about the whole procedure. Thankfully another vendor (Amplified Motorsports) were able to help out with the second one. I mean imagine spending 10k on kits and they fit like crap? tell me is that money well spent?

Is that the kit you bought to copy?

sometimes the copy can be improved over the original. but there allways has to be an original to copy/clone. tough choice

Nope. You only need one kit to make a copy not two. The second one was sold after a week after i picked it up.

For me that logic was limited to amuse only, I have spent more on other parts where i thought its needed. In fact as I said I used my savings to spend on other parts.

I bought Shineauto replica amuse to save 3500$ and it was worth it, fitment was spot on:tup:

I will say again if you guys feel to support feel free to buy original, for me it was a waste of money just for the bodykit, mainly talking about quality replica body parts, for performance side there shouldnt be any compromise.

I support the JDM guys that design and craft the originals. Anybody that's seen my car knows there's not much Nissan o.e.m. left on the exterior.
After paying top dollar for everything from Amuse, Mines, Seibon, etc., I ordered side skirts from Shine, @ 1/4 the price, cause I had to see to believe. I was ready to ship them back if they weren't spot on.
Sheeit! There's got to be some price adjustments from Japan for the North American market for them to survive, as these replicas are of the same quality with better fitment!
Just economic reality.

I wonder how many people would actually buy the authentic Amuse kit if no replica exist in this world. I can't imagine it being a whole lot more then they have sold now.

I bet most people would never even consider getting a body kit if they had to spend $6k+ on any authentic kit so even if replicas doesn't exist, JDM wouldn't necessarily be getting that much more orders on their kit.

Buy a replica wheel and they will eventually find out how bad they are versus the authentic wheel. But when replica kits are getting same or better fitments than the authentic kit, then its even harder to justify spending more on the real kit.

Like most people said, pricing needs to be more reasonable in this economy or its too hard for most people to justify spending that much money on a kit.

Yah but coming from a guy that cant make up his mind doing all the different faux (or watever) kits, vinyls, and paints I'm saving hell of a lot more money on buying just the originals I wanted for my car and keeping them. And I can bet you that my car runs better than yours like how a real Z was meant to be. Not just a pinup girl. :D

Main issue with you is you seem to lack focus and spend on all kinds of stuff that can probably buy a second Z or a higher performance car. That's a much bigger waste of money to me. :icon17: but it is entertaining to watch how your car transforms. :tup:

Cant afford it, don't buy it or work harder and make the income you need to achieve your goal. You faux buyers lack ambition and buy shortcuts at the expense of the true designers. :D. Well, just voicing my thoughts.

Personally, I don't think the amuse kit looks all that great. Only the side pieces I'd consider if that was the style I wanted. If I wanted that kit on my Z, it would have already been installed 2 yrs ago.

Don't get fakes. Buy original.....it has more soul.

dude give it a break. u just coming out as a douche. each person has the right to buy whatever they want with their money and you have to accept how it is. if u really care about the original manf, why don't you just contact them and report. their IP is the only thing they can use to protect themselves, and it would be easy for them to enforce. maybe this is the reason why we are not seeing Zele kit replicas. they can at least force some of these companies to get a license agreement with them (which can be an advantage for one of these companies doing replicas because it will corner the US market for them).

it doesn't appear that amuse care anyways, or else they would have taken action already. they're probably thinking its free advertisement for them.

props to these companies providing replicas/CF versions for having good quality, which is really the only concern for replicas.

de_dust you are right.. Kenchan you are really taking this to a new level.. To talk crap about another member because he chooses to buy performance parts and save money on kits.. Wow - get a life already!! And if you're so pro-origional kits then make one you DOUCHE!!! Have you even tried? What is your kit called? I would love to see your designs? That's right - I don't think you've made one.. I don't even know who you are? :ughdance:

My thoughts - save your money buy FAKE!!! Fake but improved!!! If Amuse and Zele want to sell in the states then make the price lower. It's freaking fiberglass fools!!! And to spend that $$ on real expensive JDM parts - then you're that guy that wasted your $$ and should have saved your $$ to buy an M3. :ughdance::gtfo2:

The American dollar isn't really worth anything, otherwise, the JDM parts would be more affordable. The standard of living is higher over there.

:shakes head: how lame

Do you even know whats installed in his car to say your stock car rides better than his modified car??

Docaam lives beside me and i rode his car once, this car that you were saying its a pinup girl will attract girls more than you can imagine.

You wanna buy JDM body kit? then go ahead and have fun while speeding lower than 30 MPH because you will be scared as hell from accidents because of your "JDM" body kit that cost 10k dollars.. one small accident and say bye bye to your 10k. :owned:

oh and btw there is a story behind his wrap and repainting his car. so next time dont judge before you can afford what he bought for his car

now :gtfo2: and get me my coffe

Love it!!!!!! :iagree::gtfo2::happydance::owned:

I don't feel like commenting on your intelligence at all. :shakes head:

I love doing what I'm doing specially when the jobs are sponsored:tiphat:

Kinda bothers me when people describe replicas as 'fake', I see it as paying for what you think is worth..

Kenchan made some valid points on supporting the originals, but he did made an example of the stillen kit and the fitment issue. But I do have to agree with docaam and the others when it comes to comparing replica KITS and performance parts.

why would MOST people prefer JDM over reps? i would assume its cause of bragging rights.. the comparison between the quality of original vs rep (same material or better, better fitment and cheaper to replace) and the thought of more and more new kits are coming out is a good enough reason for me to choose the rep over the original.

exhaust/performance parts/wheels should be the original, but kits, i can do without.

No, I think you missed the point. I have not "wasted" (your words) any money on any of my original JDM bits. Your comments say originals are a waste. I don't think so...especially if you want this industry to keep going. I was just flipping the coin on you to show wat others feel about modding a car...especially one that drives well in stock form.

Your sponsorship explains why you make such comments but I know you have original installs on your car too from looking at the picts. My comments are unbiased from sponsorship. I'm just stating wat I feel about fakes and comments against 'wasting money buying the originals,' that's all. To me redoing things over and over is a big waste of time so watching you do wat you love trial and error is fun. I think you and your sponsors put in a lot of effort into your car.

Once again... the hard truth of the world we live in. If people didn't buy them, they wouldn't exist. Plain and simple.

I guess buying the legitimate authentic part deal means a little more to some people than it does to others. To whoever mentioned something about the Zele body kit... just wait... I'm sure it's coming.

The reason companies like Zele and Amuse refuse to meet American customers half way is because they're doing perfectly fine in Japanese markets at their current price and have no major interests to sell stateside aside from the few guys who buy (and they figure it'll likely be less replicated since its more expensive to buy). Even so the US standard is based off price, while the Japanese one is based off quality, meaning that a cheaper product usually beats out a quality one here. I understand fitment could be improved in replicas, but have they been tested? idk so I can't say. All I do know is that Japanese companies usually test their products with race teams... as feedback comes in they tweek and add on to their design.

So what am I saying? Well I don't hate on ppl who buy replica or companies that make replica, to each their own. I just don't understand ppl who complain about not having enough options stateside when Japanese companies are basically afraid to sell here. It'd be great if American companies started making their own parts... but once again why go into business making original when its much easier and cheaper to make replica? Haha unfortunately its a cycle that will probably never end... not because of replica companies but because of the market itself. I obviously support the Japanese side of things, but after all these years of the same issue I've learned to not fight it haha.

This is a good post. JDM is JDM. They don't really care about the outside and I think this is very true...can be said about a lot of smaller j-companies. they are doing fine without our business. Does make one look silly defending them... I'm just voicing my opinion on supporting original designers regardless of JDM or origin. :)

I've got to side with Kenchan on this one.

I'm certainly not a fan of most JDM products. I think they are overpriced and that they aren't really worth the money. With that said, I really don't like replicas. No matter how you want to dress it up, it is someone copying and profiting off the R&D of another company.

I understand why certain companies make replicas, but I honestly can't help but shake my head at them. They are profiting off someone else's work, and that's all there is to it.

:iagree: