i picked up the kit for 2 of them for 250$. sold one. the paint i got hooked up on since my friends own and work at a paint and body shop. Plus i did alot of the work myself.

 

here are some pics of an example of the impact taken from an authentic bumper (300Z obviously) as well as what the owner said about what happened:

“Traffic stop...literally:

It was a cool evening and I was driving down the boulevard in my VeilSide equipped Z32 300ZX. I stopped at a normal traffic signal and when the light turned green, all the cars went except, unknown to me, the fox bodied mustang hiding in the other lane. For whatever reason, the guy decided to sit there for 10 seconds after the light turned to go. I switched lanes and there he was. I slammed on the brakes and luckily my 6 piston calipers kept me from certain doom, but not enough to protect the livelihood of my VeilSide front bumper...or so I thought. "CRUNCH!" This was the only thing to be heard. The mid 80's mustang jolted forward from the impact, and my heart sunk into my feet. I got out of the car expecting thousands of shards of fiberglass and white powdered hell, but to my surprise, the bumper was STILL ON THE CAR. Only a few of my zipties had broken and the bumper was cracked, but not in pieces. The driver of the Mustang even exclaimed "That thing is fiberglass?!" I said to him "Yeah! I guess that's what you get when you buy good quality VeilSide parts, but it's still amazing." We both stood there for a minute in amazement until realizing that traffic was starting to get backed up. As far as other damages, the Mustang had none, but my Z’s intercooler pipes were bent.

Fender bender:

Tantalus Mountain Road on Oahu, Hawaii…what a beautiful drive. 180 degree hairpins, connecting sweepers, long straights for a quick burst in boost, it’s a driving dream. However, the highly cambered corners and limited run off galleries can sometimes be deadly. I decided to go for a nice “spirited drive” one day and things were going fine. The tires were holding up quite well, e-brake working like a charm, and just the occasional tap of the EC-1 front bumper on the ground in those tricky areas. After a nice little straight, I brake set the car to transfer the weight and started a nice little e-brake slide. Well, I forgot that this was one of those quick kickback turns which are cambered A LOT. I knew I could make the turn but I'd have to adjust my angle to cut more towards the inside. I tugged the e-brake a few times to bring the nose in. It worked, BUT, the camber of the turn and additional weight transfer brought down the passenger side front corner so hard that it made a loud "SLAP!". I knew that it hurt, but at least I kept the car on the road. I continued down the hill not hearing any scraping or flapping and stopped on the side of the road after it exits the wooded area. To my amazement the bumper did not get damaged at all. My OEM metal fender, however, managed to fold up due to the impact of the bumper with the pavement. I couldn't believe my eyes; the VeilSide fiberglass was stronger than the Nissan metal.

Blind Mongoose anyone?

After a nice family dinner on the West side of Oahu, we were headed back into town. It was very dark on this portion of the road, but my HID lights made things very bright, too bright for the mongoose. Apparently this little guy got blinded as he tried to scurry across the road in front of the car. I saw it at the last second and clenched the wheel (mongooses are basically the size of a smaller cat). "Bang"...Poor little guy. I couldn't help but think what had happened to the car as I heard terrible sounds go beneath the car. Was this the final blow to the front bumper? Had it finally met its match? We got home and I grabbed my handy LED flash light to scan the damage. There was a considerable crack in the bumper, but it was still mostly intact. The sound we had heard under the car was my lower front diffuser being demolished by the rodent. But the VeilSide bumper was still there. Old Faithful had done it yet again.”

 

picture 2

 

fender


The good thing this being original, it held up through the abuse and the bumper is still repairable.

 

At the price of fixing that bumper (primer/bondo/sanding/reprimer/paint) you could buy another knock off and just paint it for even less

 

or you can use veilside's replacement program and buy another original for 50% off.

 

Swifty has a great point. You can have your bodyshop hack up and paste the knockoff on and make it look decent (not really, most will still be able to tell it's fake) but there is no substitute to the durabilty and quality of authentic aero parts that are made right. I know some of you will say the thicker knockoff kits are durable but I've seen them chunk and actually cause more damage to the vehicle during impacts because they are too rigid.

 

Are these knockoffs we are discussing even legal? Would it be like buying a bootleg cd, or is it like buying aftermarket v.s o.e.m? Just wanted to clarify the legal aspect to help make up my mind. Thanks

 

ive never herad of anyone gettin arrested for haveing a bootleg body kit

 

lol okay i give up. But only veilside offers that kind of program

I KNOW that authentic kits are better in every way possible to the knock offs. Except for PRICE, is why I am discussing it.

Bang for the buck, a knock off is a great deal.

 

hell i got my knock off for 150$ cant beat that.

 

and it looks great too!

 

i have the veilside C1 kit and the VIS both for my SC400 . I bought the veilside about 5 years ago and the VIS just recently. Back then I just wanted the Veilside and nothing else so I bought it and the SC was my daily driver. I used to live in NYC 25th street and 2nd avenue and my car was street parked. Every time I would come out and see that someone had bumped my car while parking or leaving the parking spot drove me crazy. I would never spend 2500 on a JDM authentic kit if I have to ever street park my car of if it was only car. For me it would have been smarter to buy a knock off and replace as a part became unrepairable. The reason why I had to buy another kit because the front and rear of the veilside C1 kit has since disintegrated from the abuse of street parking. So looking at the above scenario who still thinks that I should have bought an authentic kit?

 

Maybe not. That is not the answer to my question. My question is from an ethical and moral viewpoint as to whether the parts are made legally, and sold legally, or are they made bootleg style, ripping off the patent holder. Are these bootlegs sold by reputable companies or do you have to go to someones garage to buy them? I am new to this so, an honest answer would be appreciated. . By the way to an untrained eye, the fake kits look fine.IMO

 

well from what i know. A company copies the orginal kit and then sells them. Most of the orginal kits are sold through regular business that prob sell teh oringal as well.