Give up on Berk? Go with Invidia?
 

So most people know about the problems with Berk. I have not been waiting nearly as long as some others but I am losing confidence that they will deliver any time soon.
I have been looking at other options and I am impressed with the Invidia. It is priced right around the same as the Berk. You can get it with a similar look (however the thin wall titanium tips look kinda cool).
And most importantly I believe these are in stock at most places and I could have it next week.
I would think about going with the FI but the delivery time is into October now. I will be putting the Z away fo the winter in early November. I want a little nice weather to drive with the windows down while listening to the exhaust.
So I guess the question is... Do I give up after waiting since April or do I tough it out for possibly another month?

idk if you really want the F.I. i would order it if your putting the car away all winter wouldnt it be nice to get it back next spring and have it sound exactly how you want? but either way invidia is nice just a little to tame for my liking

Yeah. I hear ya. What I really want is the Berk. I'm just frustrated and hate to wait.

I was looking on youtube and saw a video of the Invidia with HFC's and it sounded pretty aggressive. Very similar to Berk.

If I were you, I wouldn't care how well the exhaust sounded. If any company treated me like they are treating their customers, I wouldn't want any of their **** on my car.

i was ready to order the invidia single walled exhaust i think it has great craftsmanship. then i went with agency power but if thats the sound you know you wont regret then do it.

Touche'

You make a good point sir.

First,I feel your pain about a short driving season. But, I would also say if Berk is what you want, then you might not be happy without anything else. That said, there are some great sounding exhausts out there, and Z owners are great about posting clips and reviews. I read/listened to many before choosing FI.

Re: FI, I really respected that Tony was up front about the delay between ordering and shipping. I would be frustrated, too, if I was given a date by any supplier and then had it moved.

Bottom line, it is a win-win for you. Either you wait for what you really want, or you get another great exhaust sooner.

Just my 2 cents.

Personally, I would go with Invidia out of the two.

:iagree: It does not excuse the poor customer service provided by Berks, but this is the only reason why I have been willing to be patient and deal with all the delays...It sucks, but I can't see myself settling for something else....Especially after I had the experience of listening to Berks first hand...Hopefully Berks would improve of their customer service someday, so that others out there won't have to go through what people from the GB#1 and GB#2 have

I have been waiting since January. I also contemplated the Gemini exhaust. I have done a ton of research on exhaust systems and I am very picky after going threw a couple different ones on my G35. I know what I want and that is why I have stayed the course.

I know how you feel about winter approaching. It is August in Germany! Rains just about everyday. I know I won't have my exhaust before she goes into hibernation but that is even better. That way you don't have the anticipation about waiting. Then come next spring you will have a new exhaust!

You did get the memo about the $100 gift card being applied to the order now right? In the long run you will be better off waiting. Good luck with your decision.

Wait for F.I., it truly is worth the wait.

:iagree: :stirthepot:

Give up on the Berk. Order the Stillen. You'll have it in 5 days. :tiphat:

I agree with everyone else, run away from Berk

Berk does not deserve patient and loyal customers like yourselves. Brand loyalty is the result of great service over time. Berk is not doing it's job as a business. If the delay is coming from parts being made in another country, they should have found a new company to outsource to. For every month past your ETA at least $50 should have been removed from the price. The $100 is garbage. If they couldn't build the exhaust as promised, they should have never taken people's deposits and full payments.

They need to take some notes from FI. When there's going to be a delay, someone from the guys gets on and lets the customers know. They're on here regularly. You can see when they've shipped exhaust out to people. Not ONE exhaust from Berk since the new group buy?

Good luck guys! I heard the Berk in person as well and it's a wonderful exhaust. It was my first choice. I knew I would not wait for 8 months to receive after their level of service.

I hope someone from that company will make some executive decisions and start providing better service.

I've heard very good things about the Invidia Gemini.

My .02 C

Thanks guys. This is exactly the discussion that I needed to help me make my decision.
I know that I'd be happy with either the Berk or Invidia.
I had made up my mind to go with the Berk even before I owned a Z. It was everything I wanted at the time. After looking at MANY videos and threads about exhausts, mainly because I haven't received mine yet, I have come to the realization that I am kind of glad that I have had more time to think it over. I have been toying with the idea of dumping Berk for over a month now.

I am going to go with the Invidia. Berk has lost me.

Good luck to those who are going to wait. I know that as soon as I cancel my order Berk will begin to ship but that's ok because I am good with my decision.

I hope the Invidia ships fast for you!

The Invidia Gemini is a nice exhaust. Had I not already ordered my exhaust (being delivered this week :happydance:) I would have seriously considered the gemini.

I will personally make sure that it is in stock before you place your order. :tup:

As a fellow enthusiast, I know how difficult it is to wait on items before they arrive. If it isn't in stock, that's fine; I'll let you know at the time you make your order. But as soon as things go south, you're the first person I'll be in contact with. We try to be upfront with our customers as much as we can. Often times there is a lead time for special order items (i.e Volk with 90-day lead times), but things do go south occassionally. In these instances, we will do our best to ensure that our customers are satisfied. A satisfied customer is key to our business.

-Victor

Thanks Victor.
I called and spoke to Ryan this morning. He called invidia and they have all three tip types in stock.
Now I just have to decide on which one I want. :icon14:
I will call back a bit later this afternoon to place the order.

I guess its time for a little backpedaling. I made my decision last night before canceling my order with Berk. I called them today to do just that. I was told that the pipes are in and they are going to start shipping tomorrow. :icon14:

Now I know that they could be pulling my leg but I am giving them til Friday to ship mine since I am near the bottom of the list.

I said that they had lost me..... well they will lose me after Friday. No really, I mean it this time. :rolleyes:

I cant believe how damn wishy-washy I have been about this whole thing. I usually make a decision and stick with it.

Now I know some of you are gonna rip me for this but hear me out.

There are two big reasons why I am giving them a few more days.
1. Either exhaust probably wouldn't show up until next week at the earliest and I am out of town all next week. So I wouldn't be able to install it next week anyway.
2. I guess that deep down I know that the Berk is my first choice.

I want to thank everyone who gave me advice in this thread. :tiphat:

Stay tuned for another episode of "As the cat-back turns". :tup:

Berk and COBB should team up to release some sort of performance package. Bet they could have it out and ready by 2015.

Wow!!! What a coincidence...you called to cancel and the pipes are in....Hmmm....Why didn't anyone from Berk get on here and post that update...Geeeez....Was going through this thread and was freaked at your decision, but then read this above update....You give good reasons, but bottom line Dem is that its your car and your $$$ that your spending ont this part...I know that a lot of guys here think we are all crazy for waiting this long for Berk, but I really hope that they are true to their word and that they pull through with their recent update...If not, then they will lose you forever as well as potential customers...

If the update from Berk is good then BLAST THE MUSIC AND LETS..... :happydance: :happydance::happydance:

Epic Fail!

Yup...Berks Failed to disappoint me with another extension on the deadline....

WOHOO....WE BE DANCING! :happydance: :happydance: :happydance:

So the op bashed berk with this thread but is going with berk anyway?

lmao!! Great choice though! I love my Berk, no matter what that troll Triples says..... :P

:ohsnap1:

I don't think I bashed Berk. Just a little frustrated with them and I have too much time to read other exhaust posts and watch other vids. :tup:

I have no doubt that the Berk exhaust will be a high quality piece. Their communications skills however......

If they had been communicating from the beginning then I wouldn't be entertaining the idea if canceling after waiting this long. I just want to be "in the loop". Is that too much to ask?

I doesn't look like they have shipped any out yet. Holiday is supposedly #2 and hasn't been contacted for full payment. I highly doubt that Berk would ship without full payment. To my knowledge no one has received a tracking number yet.

Tick, tick, tick........

If you dont mind a used exhaust you might talk to dreamer. I know he just ordered F.I.'s exhaust and will be taking his Berk cat back off.

:iagree::iagree::iagree:
I've been saying this forever. I believe if people started cancelling their orders Berk would have produced the exhausts 4 months ago. It's either that or risk losing a very loyal 370Z crowd. Although I did not go with FI, their customer service made me seriously consider one of their exhaust.

Berk has posted more on the forum in the last week, then in the last 6 months, so maybe people will start receiving their orders soon. My exhaust (Boombop Shop) took 2 months to build. The difference is I spoke to the same person everytime I called and they sent me pictures of the build. I shipped out and will arrive on Friday. I will post pictures and videos soon.

Do you know how many other people they were building exhausts for?

I spoke to the shop and he said that they were only taking 5 orders at a time because they don't want the wait to be ridiculous. My exhaust is the first one that they've made since their prototype. They tweeked it and made it better. All I did was pick up the phone and asked them if they would build one for me and they agreed. I will have the exhaust on Friday and will post pictures and videos as soon as I install it.

cool, how much did you pay?

I think the difference is your exhaust is made here in America where it is much easier to track where as Berk is made in god only knows where by a supplier.:ugh2:

I remember all of this mess with the first group buy. The first time around was somewhat forgivable given that they were still setting everything up and doing quality checks, this is inexcusable. Besides I would much rather have an exhaust I know is made here by quality welders not some second rate shop in BFE.

If the customer service is this poor when you are still at a point when you can get your money back...imagine how it will be once you can't get it back.

price please?

Original price is close to $1500. It was about $1350 with the discount they offer.

It was constructed of RathGibson tubing so I trust that it's quality. They gave me a lifetime warranty on the entire exhaust. I'm installing it tomorrow so I will be posting pictures and videos as soon as I'm able. Berk seems like it's getting it's act together though. I still could not allow a company to take advantage of me like that just because they produce what seems to be a quality product. They've been 100 times more present on the forums this week. I hope they keep it up. Granted they had a very lame excuse for the delay. The delay could not stop them from communicating with their customers. I hope the wait is worth it for those guys.

That is cool. I saved myself $550 going with Berk and waiting 7 months. Is it raspy or have any drone? I see they don't have any resonators.

The reason I went with them is because they were the closest to the Berk IMO. I was following all of the Berk threads and did not like how irresponsive they were to your questions and concerns. I thought it was one of the worse job of customer service I've seen. Especially, when compared to FI and some others. I'm trying to get my car ready for Z Nationals next month at Z1 so I didn't want to take the chance of not having my exhaust on time. The guys at Boombop told me 6-8. I'm the first one that they've build since the prototype they made for their shop car.

As far as the rasp and drone, we'll know by the end of the day today. I'm heading over to Z1 to have it installed. I was going to dyno it, but it's too hot. Will post pictures up this weekend and charts up next month.

I got it for $1300 because they were a couple of weeks late. So you actually saved $300....lol.