Thought I'll repost it here...

a long time staple and innovator of high quality JDM products bites the dust.

If you know of them or have used their products then you'll know that this is just so sad that it's just disgusting :(

Sooner or later our sons and daughters... their sons and daughters would only read of what "JDM" is... are... and was. If that's not sad, I don't know what is.

oh wait, there's hope! what am I thinking... they got eBay shit! that should work.
Then they'll be in forums talking about who the sellers they got shit from instead of who makes them... SICK!!!

 

I felt very sad when Studebaker went under 2 years after the set the new world speed record for a stock production car in 1963... I felt bad when I had to close my bike shops down in 92 because of the way Japanese companies marketed their top of the line components too.

 

Maybe people realized that $200 for a shift knob or oil cap is a bit much.....

 

BBS also filled for bankruptcy and I want to say another high end tuner company did also a few years ago. It really is sad to see these great companys having issues. I think one of the biggest problems is no one wants to support these comanys. The much rather go onto Ebay and buy a cheap knock off of the part. If this keeps going on where going to lose these big companys that actualy does R&D to bring us the best performing part they can.

 

i think it was trust/greddy that declared bankruptcy before, but then they managed to survive or something? i'm not sure what happened really.

 

I suggest for you to look beyond the shift knobs and oil caps... caps and knobs are not their bread and butter. they're not like those scums who just wait for big names to come up with products and then make cheap copies of them and flood ebay.

 

BBS filed for bankruptcy again!?

 

^ yes, they did a few weeks/months back... again

 

How do you make a knock off radiator cap or gearshift ball? Every one of either I have ever seen is alike in form and function to what has been on the market for 75 years and longer.. Those two things are probably the things that ARC and most JDM manufacturers sell the most of. Most people that buy wheels or other items that replicate the styling of the pricey JDM stuff aren't even aware that there are JDM parts that resemble what they have purchased... The idea that replicas hurt the sales of products they have obviously copied just makes no sense... Has Rolex gone out of business because Asian companies sell copies of their watches that come with counterfeit paperwork and packaging that are identical in appearance... Has Colt Firearms gone broke because Uberti and many others copy their 1873 single action revolvers or numerous others copy the Colt 1911 .45 ACP pistol with improvements that make it superior to Colt's that sell for more.... Has it not occurred to anyone that their products are just way too expensive to justify purchasing by the majority of the people that own Japanese cars?

 

I suggest you look beyond this replica issue to the Japanese and European economies. :D Or in the States for that matter. I doubt, in a financial crunch, that most individuals forgo essential items, like bills, for car mods.

 

sad news ARC are good stuff.....

 

Nothing like a world wide recession to weed out companies that are selling super hyped products that the average person really can't afford to purchase... Things must be getting bad, the ratio of big trucks and SUVs to small cars is getting close to being equal here... People have got to eat.

 

price went up even more now due to them not making them anymore

 

They were all snatched up from suppliers and retailers by the time this thread was started.... What is wrong with having and using the stock OEM stuff that does the same thing? I think that people asking that question and looking at their bank accounts is why this JDM icon has closed it's doors.

 

While my posts in TheEvilOne's other threads should indicate that I and the OP are more or less in agreement on supporting the innovators who make the quality products possible.. not everything that is JDM is inherently superior or always worth the mark-up.

Especially things sold by groups like Password:JDM and the like.

How the hell can they sell things like battery relocation kits, dress up bolts and caps for 200% markups and expect to make the sales to justify the volume produced?

The JDM fans and import markets in general (including the euro cars everyone loves, myself included) are always getting screwew because the people who own them are rarely machinists or fabricators themselves with no concept of the costs of R&D, production and distribution..

For the cost of a Nissan VQ stroker kit and heads you can buy a 572 longblock or an LS7 crate motor with all the trimming and accesories.

You can buy high flow BBC heads for the cost of some peoples lug nuts around here.

I am only trying to suggest that sometimes these guys put themselves out of business.

Rota Slips v. Spoon SW388s for instance...

 

Honestly, i try to buy as much as i can from genuine companies that actually put R&D in there parts, but sometimes, the price differences are not justified by the engineering behind it...

Sure ARC made great stuff, but i would'nt be able to justify the price of most of the parts they made! seriously there is a great difference between paying for engineering vs. for a brand...

 

I have no problem paying for the best of the best when it is justified and it is the only way I can get the performance results I desire... The the salesman at the dealership where I bought my fit was really into the JDM stuff and showed me the websites that turned me on to Fit Freak... I nearly had a stroke when I saw the JDM prices and the young man assured me the prices would drop and that the US after market would be producing parts citing Jackson Racing... I had to wait until I could get stuff that would do what I wanted to do simply because the stuff that was so expensive at the time did very little to improve performance relative to what was being charged... Somewhere there is a thread here about a guy that loaded his car with high ticket items and was waiting in line to get on a dyno... Everybody was posting inquiring about when he would do it and how they couldn't wait to hear the results.. When he had did a run and posted the results his car was making less power and torque than a stock Fit but his car looked good and was all JDM.

 

Yeah some name brand parts are ridiculously priced, but it is what it is. It's nothing new - name brand anything is expensive, not just car parts.

Example:
Hanes tshirts 7-pack at target - $20.
One limited ed. tshirt - $100+

or jeans for $30 vs. designer jeans for $300

i pinch pennies for some things, and i like to be a baller for other things - but mostly, i pinch pennies (no i don't wear expensive clothes)

 

^x2!

10 char

 

I'll spend a bit more for good shoes but that is about all... I have always had to buy better clothing than I'd like to pay the money for, they just fit better are more comfortable and last longer... I'm old and don't get out much so being fashionable isn't an issue... The shirt and shoes I have on now are old enough to vote and Last month I got my first hair cut in over 5 years. You aren't that cheap, are you???