s2kologist

my car is not clean and my volks are not real?

Spookee

I would suggest picking a new hobbie

hapybrian

That's because a synthetic diamond IS a diamond. It's not fake, it's just that
it's been cultured, rather than having formed naturally in the earth's crust.

Did you guys read the Wired article about it?
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/diamond.html

Very cool stuff.

nichigo

Because the replica fits like crap. I've seen the replica fitment, and it's nothing compared to the actual amuse kit. The material also isn't as strong as the amuse kit. The problem here is that people don't realize the cost in making quality parts. They assume that since replica companies can sell parts for cheap, then authentic parts should be cheap as well.

This is not so. The reason replica companies are replica companies, is because they have found ways to shortcut the costs by sacrificing quality in certain areas. It's easy to construct the general shape of a part. The hard/expensive part is tailoring your process to produce HIGH QUALITY parts. It's just like anything else - it's easy to learn how to do anything...but usually costly to become an expert at it.

I have had replica parts, and I've had authentic parts. The difference is night and day...but people will never know this unless they actually purchase their own authentic parts. Unfortunately, those that vouch for replicas have never bought the authentic version of the same part, so they assume that the replica is just as good as the authentic.

As far as a car being clean/jdm...i could care less as long as it doesnt' look like trash. Just know that if you have a replica, it's lower quality...and it's cheap for a reason. I don't mind replicas at all as long as people know that there's a difference...and there's a reason for the disparity in price.

assalbert

what i meant was that your car IS clean and seeing that your wheels are ce28s, one would assume the rest of your car has legit parts.

Arbeeezy

Buy what you can afford and what you're willing to spend your money on.

The End.

There's always going to be arguments for both sides and there's always going to be people who don't agree with what you end up doing. As long as you're happy with your car...that's all that matters.

ap1lvr

if its a good replica no one will ever know.....

Gunshow

Saying that something's made in China, as opposed to Japan is not a good stand point. MOST companies outsource, but to better, more expensive factories in China. As far as aestetics, I've had the real Amuse lip, and a Spugen one on my car way back. The Spugen one fit better, and lasted on more punishment. I have been in the industry for quite some time, and when making anything replica, I try my best to improve on flaws. There are companies out there, that can't be improved on, but if you take the J's kit for example, they had fitment issues galore, even after their 2nd version.

People have destroyed my replica splitter, and simply bought another one. It takes 3 purchases of mine, to equal the cost of a real one, and they break just the same. I'd also like to spend my money elsewhere, because it's not cheap going out with TOPDOWN The thing I DON'T EVER want is that people pass off fake stuff as real. That's just wrong, and to me, a better body shop is the best thing you can do instead of a good kit. Almost all manufacturers have waves in the mold, it's a given, but you can paint and install an authentic, or you can block and paint a replica, and the replica will look better. I've had people also pass my parts off as real, that's also a BIG in my book. Just because I was successful in some parts, doesn't mean people should rip off others. If I ever see a FS post like that, I make it full aware that the part is my replica. It makes the sellers mad, but I am not in this to rip off people.

On the ending note... When it comes to Zirconia, it's not a fake Diamond... It's a REAL Zirconia Be honest with your women

TurtleS2k

Well said Show

Chris_Lum

Yes there are many JDM companies that outsource in China/Taiwan....it's just taboo to speak of this Anyone in the industry who has any ounce of respect for another company will not say who is doing this and what parts are being made. So having that said, i will not go into any details!!


I agree mostly with Ben's blog on this subject. A hard part of this entire thing is that business is business in the USA and the consumer rules. It's the consumer's legal right to be able purchase most of these replica parts, however everyone's ethical opinion about purchasing replica parts vs. original parts is different. If it were down to ethics, and most people were informed about how much time and money was spent going into most of these parts, i'm sure most consumers would buy original. However, this isn't the case and consumers are mostly money driven (especially in our bad economy), so low cost replica parts play a big part.

I'm not sure what will happen in the future w/ the jdm companies, but it's just becoming harder for them to be successful in the US market. One of the only ways i can see them being successful in the US is if they move manufacturing here, where cost of parts, labor and shipping is cheaper. But most of the jdm companies are too small to expand like that at the moment.