Where's the "like button"?

Well said from both of you guys. Bill and BB

 

Huh? I'm not sure what this means. There are not only "moral rules" as you put it, there are laws. It's not legal to steal a product design from another company that owns it. It's called intellectual property. It's protected by law internationally. Just because it's costly and difficult for small companies to protect themselves from the theft does not make the theft any more legal or moral. Otherwise, every electronics company would make exact replica crappier versions of iPhones and Droids. Apple and Motorola don't hold the patent on cellular communications. Anybody who wants to build a cell phone can do so and compete in the market based on what they design, produce, and market. However it is illegal to make a cell phone exactly like (or even very similar to) their models that have been designed, trademarked, and sold by them. You can't just make your own iPhones and sell them legally. What is so difficult to understand about that?

Is it OK for someone to steal your car because you're not around and won't notice? Or is it more allowable if you live where the police don't care and won't really follow up on the case so that they know they can get away with it? Of if you drive a POS, is it more OK for someone to take it from you then? The answer is no. Stealing is still stealing. It's wrong and illegal. No matter how badly they want a car.

 

Those companies are stealing a design they played absolutely no role in creating. They are making money off of someone else's hard work and innovation. It may help to try to look at it in terms of education. You spend hours, days, weeks writing a thesis for grad school. Your roommate hasn't done any research or any work at all the entire time you have invested yourself into your work. The day before the thesis is due, he prints out your paper and puts his name on the top and hands it in. Receives an 'A.' That's okay because education is cutthroat?

Regardless, I have no stake in this game. I consider myself a JDM enthusiast. And, quite simply, I believe in paying credit where it is due. Replica companies harm the industry. You cannot compare these Japanese tuning companies to Reebok or Coca-Cola. They are not huge corporations. You say you want numbers. You can see very clearly that the parts sales coming out of Japan over the past 5-10 years has drastically diminished in large part because of these replica companies. It's quite clear.

The OP asked why there are not many body kit options. Simply, that is the answer.

I have always said that people are free to spend their money however they want. That does not mean that I will not try to discourage people from faking the funk. Not because I care about that person or his car, but because I care about the industry. Still, people will continue to buy replica parts and those same people will continue to question why our car "doesn't get any love" from the aftermarket parts companies in Japan. Over the past week I have seen multiple people on this forum refer to their fake body kits as the real thing, I have seen many justifications for the reason people chose to cut corners by purchasing the replica parts and how they felt they were handcuffed in terms of options, I even read something to the effect of one guy purchased his fake parts because he knew everyone would be going the "JDM route" and he wanted to be different to score well at shows. What? Is this real life?

It is what it is, man. We will agree to disagree.

 

Business/ manufacturing wise, is it illegal if the items aren't patented? and or if their are slight varations?

 

Past 5-10 years auto manufactures have stepped up and design cars that look decent from the factory. Manufactures have also designed their own kits like the aero which can be had at a fraction of the price and installed at a truthworthy business.
Manufactures have improved oem computers and made them harder to mod and simple bolt ons simply do not add large gains. They have made better exhausts/intakes. BBK's now come stock on sport model vehicles.
Dealerships have also added wheel/tire packages that can be financed into your monthly payment.
I do not remember much of this 5-10 years ago unless you were buying upgraded domestic cars. Just took import awhile to catch on so here we are.
Yes knockoffs hurt, but IMO their are larger reasons. But none of those really apply to the G37 because it simply isn't a tuner car. How many JDM companies produce parts for the GT-R ? How many for the G37, 3??
From day one the majority of JDM companies just weren't interested. Before the knockoffs even begin the majority of JDM tuners had no plans to mess with the G37 and I'm sure profits were a reason ahead of fear of clones.

 

I do not disagree with much of this.

 

i think that's the issue that they're discussing.

more so than the patent issue and the desire for these replicas, there is a moral issue to go along with the personal preference. it comes down to numbers...plain and simple. people don't want to pay top dollar then wait a year for their parts to arrive. they want to pay cheaper prices and get instant gratification. it's society that is the problem. these replica companies are just getting paid for society's sickness. these companies know people don't want to pay and wait. they're banking on it.

so, personal preference....then there's the moral dilema that these replica companies are faced with. do they copy another company's design and get paid for it OR not get into the business in the first place? obviously they chose the former. probably due to no moral values, but all is fair in busniess ESPECIALLY when there's little to no legal recourse. the JDM companies may want to make more kits for us, but i'm sure they just don't want to be bothered because they know there's nothing they can do.


i've never had the oppurtunity before to become an enthusiest, until i got my G. that being said, i'm pretty patient when it comes to these things, but i too am not looking forward to paying a rediculous amount of money then have to wait for a year to get what i paid for. i can understand people's reasoning going with replicas, not saying i agree with their choices, but i understand.

 

I understand the JDM point of view I get it. I'm in the watch industry and specialize in Rolex and high end watch repair. Quality between the original and replicas is night and day when it comes to a timepiece. Literally night and day, metals, movement, timing calibration, outside materials all different. With that being said I would never pay 8k for my Sub and wait a year to receive it. That just makes absolutely no sense to me. If vendors here in the US made these parts available, and the wait was say 6-8 weeks, I think a lot more people would buy them. I know I definitely would. Now with that being said the TS-P lip I have, and maybe I got a fluke, but when I got it I went out to my car and it literally snapped on to my bumper. Fitment was great, few screws and that's it. If someone is making this here and selling it and its poly and fits this good, why would I wait that long? No way. I get the moral part I do, but once again if they made these parts available to us here, we would jump on it. That being said, BB whenever u get ready to sell hit me up.

 

@ WPPJR30 & BB; Very well put....now the trick is getting others to feel this way.

In General though, one thing that keeps getting mentioned that I can't agree with is "it's not a tuner car". Some of the Japanese makers have kits for cars that wouldn't necessarily be considered tuner cars.

 

It's certainly an uphill battle, but I think the first step is awareness, as many people just simply don't think about the reality of the situation. Secondly, we do not have to berate those who choose to rock fake parts, but I think refusing to praise and "feature" cars that cut corners is a big step in the right direction. Just my $.02.

The tuner car comment... In relation to other cars. It is just simply not a popular platform for modification. We are a small niche of enthusiasts as compared to many of the other Japanese cars. However, simply based on the modification route my own G has taken, I am probably the wrong person to suggest the G is not a tuner car.

 

I can't disagree. As good as the car may look I have a hard time praising it if I know they took shortcuts. I can't wrap my head around replacing a perfectly good part with something of inferior quality

Its just not logical...i always thought the point is to upgrade, not downgrade

 

Bill, keep fighting the good fight! I know it must be exhausting to always have to stand up for what you know is right and others are just too ignorant to see. And you are right in everything you are trying to convey... I guess, to be honest, most of the reason I even weigh in on these topics is that I am just p!ssed at how cheap I feel my car is when I am at shows and I see beautiful Supra's/350's/370's/evo's/fd's/S2K's/BMW's with nothing but quality parts on them and my car sitting next to them with a bunch of ripped off ideas pieced all over it because the only way I was able to achieve the look I wanted was to buy replica's (to my knowledge of options to purchase).

But, to critique at least a little, and because I may have read a similar argument that compares this such thing to education and stealing someones paper that they worked hard on and turning it in (maybe on your blog previously?):
It is not like stealing someone's paper and turning it in instead of them... I just think a better analogy could be used so that is why I want to dissect it in hopes you use your much better arguments for this... Educationally, (and specifically accurate in reference to the G) It would be like someone working hard on and creating an "A" paper, turning it in, getting an "A" and then someone stealing that without permission, and turning it in after the first and getting a "D" because it was stolen and then for the original owner/creator of the paper to find this out and stop going to school all together because of it, but since it was so well written, everyone still wants to read it so they will no matter what...

I guess my point is, I wish you success in your education of the real and I don't want others to get caught up in an analogy with holes... Haha, plus again, I am p!ssed at how much money I have spent on my car and how much I am annoyed by the rightful scoff it deserves for rocking fake...




More on topic though; why was the G35 so much more of a "tuner" car in the eyes of the JDM? I say, if they gave more options, they would have directed the G37 into being more of a tuner car...

 

@WPPJR30 and BB