PraiseTheLowered

I was getting my car worked on today and I read an interesting article about Greddy Company

http://wot.motortrend.com/6279757/tuners/j...llow/index.html

Basically what happened to Greddy is that they had to file for Bankruptcy in Japan. The cause was a massive influx of copied parts being poured into the market at dirt cheap prices. Greddy spent years developing aerodynamic parts, exhausts, tunes etc. The products they made always fit perfectly and were backed by a good warranty should any issue arise. Basically when you bought Greddy for your car you know the part would fit right and it was made right with good quality control and that it would add performance do you car. It would not break easily, or cause damage to your engine, suspension or body pieces. There was a certain something where you bought a part, installed it and didnt think anything like "shit i hope this doesnt fall off" or "I wonder what that sound is?". It was mounted and you had piece of mind because it worked right.

I know everyone is looking for a deal but what is happening now is legitimate companies that spend millions in proper research and development are losing money because people dont want to pay for the authenticity of the piece. They don't want to pay for the people who came up with the product. People just want the product and cheap. This is the most evident with the Breyton Lip.

I almost bought a Rep lip from VIS which not only is made from fiberglass, but also doesn't fit. It doesnt have cut outs to fit on the stock bumper. Basically you buy it, not knowing how the authentic one mounts and find out afterwards that the $250 lip will cost you $800 to get it to even fit and doesnt sit right.

The authentic Breyton lip fits perfectly and has withstood a few good scrapes for being low. Nothing cracked, bent, or broke. It stayed perfectly uniform and on the bumper.

The main point of the article was this; this is a trend that is growing. Legit companies are designing awesome products that actually work. People are not buying them because the cost involved to get the part to work in its initial development is reflected in the MSRP. Copy companies let the original maker do all the leg work and then make their own illegally and dump it out on the market.

Take another example of RPI air scoop. This caused a shit load of controversy over $100. RPI spent countless hours figuring out the exact degrees of bend their scoops needed to benefit our cars. So what did people do on here? Many bought the scoops. A bunch didn't and claimed they could replicate the same outcome on their cars by jerry rigging their own. A person that is into DIY to know their car and save money is one thing, but a person claiming because they copied the general shape of a product can get the same outcome is wrong. It doesn't work like that.

I don't know Im not into Rep pieces. Never have been really. People create our products and those people need to be able to make a living do it so it can continue and we can benefit from that. If original innovative companies go out of business then what products will the copy companies offer? Nothing. They will die out as well because they are not creating anything themselves.

I think its important though to distinguish between a rep company simply making copies because they can and not offering anything that can benefit us and Rep companies that bring ups a rep product that builds on the original design and then adds to it. VMR, MIRO, Umnitza, Rota are just a few that do this.

I think its important to step back and think that hey, if I spend some more money now for authentic pieces thats ok. I don't have to mod my car balls to the wall all out in 2 months. It can take a year or more and thats fine. This mentality of have it all right now has to stop. We as consumers have to be willing to pay for the research and development of a product to some degree, otherwise those fields will eventually die out. People won't start up new companies because there isn't any money to be made.

Take the Seibon/VIS CSL trunk. Everyone wants a US spec plate CSL trunk for the e60. Seibon/VIS won't make it because the money isn't there. People want that trunk but for $400-$500. So what do we get? Nothing. One won't be made until we as consumers are willing to pay for it.

I guess the message I would want to leave here is this. Take your time modding. Buy genuine quality parts that are proven for cars. Stop buying copied products as much. That doesn't mean stop altogether but think about it before you do that.

PraiseTheLowered

wow 36 views and no comments

fallen on deaf ears I guess

CWS530

Almost as bad as the stupid French jokes I posted--1 response, which was negative . Maybe everyone is out buying authentic parts?

PraiseTheLowered

lol well that would be ideal but it seems that many of the new threads are for rep spoilers, roof spoilers, wheels etc etc

ill look at your french jokes thread lol

BMWRINO

that was a whole lot of reading for a lazy Friday afternoon at work.. thank PTL for sharing your thoughts..

PraiseTheLowered

LoLz wreading iz guud four yew

Frank5er

Thanks for taking the time, PTL! It's an eye opener

BTW, I matte black my OEM grills, is that bad? Just kidding with you my friend

CWS530

I have matte black grilles from Trinity. Is that bad? I thought I was supporting a forum vendor, which I do every chance I get (Brabus (John), Trinity, AKAlius, Garry).

PraiseTheLowered

lol assholes

dont get all bent out of shape.

I mean a product that is invented by a company and then copied

Like the RPI exhausts, then some cheapo company comes out with TPI exhausts that claim the same everything but are obviously inferior

PraiseTheLowered

I dunno,

for me GReddy/Trust on your car was huge. It meant you not only had the money to buy it but were smart enough to know what to look for.

Same thing with my te37's

Every rota grid subie around here drools at my volks because they are the real deal, whereas they all know their rota grid wheels arent even close in performance and strength.