Paul Boz

I've read every single post in the archives I could find that discussed the vertex kit itself, as well as the ViS knockoff. After pooling all of that information I came to the conclusion that ViS are ranked at about a -3 on the 1 to 10 scale for customer service. I can deal with this because I put up w/ waiting 3 months for my Erebuni kit for my 240sx to come in. (The Erebuni kit is a knockoff of the veilside kit). What gets me about them is their quality control over their products. This is where I become a little confused. I get the general idea that the front bumper and the rear lip fit nearly perfectly (after slight modification). I then get the impression that the side skirts require quite a bit more modification to fit. I can understand them being off perhaps as much as an 8th of an inch, but I read that someone's was like 2 inches too short. This could be a problem for me. I could shave the car to accommodate something like an 8th of an inch, but 2 inches would require making a custom insert after slicing the skirts in half. I could do this as well, but it would be very tedious and time consuming. Basically I'd just like to know the general consensus on the fitment of the individual pieces (Front bumper, rear lip, and skirts) and maybe a ranking from 1 to 10 in regards to the difficulty level of modifying the car/kit to make it fit right. The final thing that has me is that I've heard various prices quoted all throughout the forum. I've heard people say the kit could be had for as little as $800, then others say they maid $1300.

I wouldn't even be asking if I could determine a bias one way or another, but it seems that some people swear that the kits are good quality (but require slight modification) and others swear that it's the worst waste of money possible. Thanks for taking the time to respond to such a long winded post, I just want to make sure of what I'm buying before I commit the money.

DriftGirl

iTrader: (6)

You get what you pay for.

Paul Boz

yeah, i know that, thats not telling me much though... alot of times you can get great value at a cheap price. thats one thing that steams me about the auto world, is that people always say "you get waht you pay for" when in fact, alot of times you can get the same for less. all i realy wanted where written out answers to my questions, not a single line fortune cookie style reply... perhaps you could expand on your thoughts a little?

Lex Luthor

I'm with Emerald, you are getting what your paying for in this case, how can saving money on the kit be worth it if you have to spend all that time just to get it to fit? We're not trying to be snobish, but this is a Lexus, not a Civic, i'd wait and save...

DriftGirl

iTrader: (6)

WTF? I sent you a PM BEFORE I even posting my comment here.

I took the time to write out detailed info in a PM and now I get this "fortune cookie" comment from you?

-If you wanted an unbiased, in-depth opinion it was sent to you.

-If you want a higher post count, have something to say that hasnt been talked about a million times over

-If you are trying to move product say so.

-If you want to put a cheap *** kit on your car then do so...nobody cares.


Your car and you have to live with it.

Paul Boz

yeah, i'm sorry about that, i didn't notice the pm till after it was too late.... i felt bad about taht :-/ i see what you guys are saying too.. i was going to pm you back, but i'm at work and got a call, sorry about that Em..

Paul Boz

oh and another thing: i'm not trying to push any product, i was just wondering... i don't wnat to put some crappy kit on my car, so i was just asking, and i'm sorry for wanting to save money for other things...

as i just PM'ed back to you emerald, i might just get the bomex kit, because i realy like it's styling, and it's significantly cheaper than the Vertex one.

the comment about "you own a lexus, not a civic" is realy snobish though, because just because you have a lexus doesn't mean you've got the money to blow 4000 bucks buying and installing a kit.. i was and am going to do all of the work to install whatever kit i end up with (most likely the bomex kit now that i see the true opinion of people against ViS) including fitment and painting. thats why i was wondering, i just wanted to see what kind of work i might have ahead of me..

thanks for the responses though, they helped me make up that desision.

hellasboy

Better Business BureauIt might be cheap but if something is wrong with it then don't expect VIS to help you out. I believe there are several people who are in the process of suing them because of the quality of their SC kit. One local guy I know bought a CF hood for their IS from them about 3 months ago. The fit was ok, a little off here and their but nothing too big but now the hood has cracked. A CARBON FIBER hood cracked... yeah.

Also, saving money with the VIS kits are a misconception. It might be cheaper at first but you will have to pay hours of labor to fit those kits correctly. Besides fitment, their may be issues with the strength of the kit (maybe someone else with the kit can confirm this?)

Paul Boz

hellasboy-

thanks for the BBB lookup. i read that they where blackflagged in another post, so didn't bother to look them up. Thats the concensus i came to with the ViS kit in general.. it seems i'll be goign with the Bomex kit. i realy like the way the kit looks, in general. The only drawback is the sideskirts. i don't like how they're rounded like they are, but on a black car i don't think it'd be THAT noticible..

Lex Luthor

Whoa, please tell me you own a bodyshop or have a buddy willing to rent you a booth to use, you're painting the kit yourself? I don't care if it sounds snobish or not, if you're not a qualified bodyman with a shop to work in, then that is ghetttoooo. I've prepped entire cars where every panel needed some bodywork, and still I send my car to a bodyshop because they have the proper equipment and facilities. I'm not saying you need to spend four grand doing a kit, but jeese, I don't think spending eight or nine+ bills total for the kit, installation, prep, and painting is going to come out very nice. . Not trying to give u a hard time, believe it or not we're watching out for you. Don't want to create too much conflict though, otherwise a mod might close this thread . I understand what it's like to be on a tight budget, i'll help you out if I can, PM me and i'll see if I can save you any money on parts.
- LL

Grimpy

Why not get the Jic Kit? The price is very cheap and quality is there. If Manaray has them on his car, you can't go wrong... He is the most pickiest when it comes to quality...

I had the VIS kit on my SC, I got it for very cheap and I know how to modify to fit. As far as the sides being off by 2" or more... no one has pictures to prove that it is off by that much. I can say from personal experience, that the sides will be off by not more than .75"... You can get it to fit by trimming the sideskirts, never shave anything from your car just to get a kit to go on.

The rear lip goes on and requires brackets to hold it up at the bottom. The fit is not perfect. The front bumper fits but requires nut/bolt to clamp it on to the sides. The Front bumper will not line up perfectly with the light/high beams.

DriftGirl

iTrader: (6)

It's cooh

It's good that you are expanding your options. Your time will end up being more valuable than you think


Good luck in your search.

Paul Boz

well i'm not a certified body mechanic, and i don't own a body shop, much less a paint booth, but i've got a friend who owns a body shop, who lets me use it from time to time for free (suplying my own tools and paint of course) so... You don't have to be a certified body mechanic to be a good painter, because i know plenty of body shops that do paint jobs that look like they where done with spray paint. All you need to do is get good at painting by practicing a bit. it's not rocket science realy. just get down the general movement of the air gun and get the right tip, and you'll have something that looks factory

i won't lie, i'm not a master of painting by any means, but i can do solid colors as good as any average body shop painter..

Paul Boz

i found these prices for the Vertex kit on this site by searching:

Pricing for the kit is as follows:

Front bumper spoiler:$1313

Side Steps:$844

Rear Under Spoiler:$777

Full kit(all of the above):$2879

Front lip spoiler:$616

now here's the thing: i'd realy like to get the JIC front bumper and rear bumper, but would like to get the Vertex sideskirts. What i was wondering though, is what the Vertex front lip spoiler is. i can't see a lip on the bottom of the vertex bumpers (from the pics of the actual kit on cars). i think it may be on here but i can't tell b/c it looks like a one peice bumper:



What i was wondering, is if thats a lip, can it fit into the JIC front bumper? i'd greatly apriciate it if someone could shed some light un that for me. thanks alot,

Paul~

Lex Luthor

Not a lip, it's a full front bumper, and before you wanted to buy an $800 knockoff kit, now you want to buy a JIC kit AND parts of the Vertex kit? Just confused is all, wish you luck with the install and painting, hopefully your fifty thousand dollar car won't end up like a five thousand dollar car, getting a factory finish on an SC (Lexus paint is excellent, and is actually electrostatically charged with one polarity while the body has the opposite charge applied to it before the paint is applied) is not as easy as 'getting down the general movement of the air gun and getting the right tip.' I offered to help you, but you'd rather ghetto it, so do your thing...