Found an Ebay front lip - replica??
08-08-12, 09:14 PM
#46
Tech Info Resource
iTrader: (2)
We don't have a ZF gearbox. It's Aisin and always has been. Yamaha has designed every Toyota head with a G designation since the beginning of time for Toyota. Calling it Yamaha tuned isn't really saying much. I've worked on LOTS of Yamahas, and trust me, unless they have 5 valves per cylinder, they're nothing special at all.
My 1988 GTS Corolla had a 4A-GE engine, as did many a first gen MR2 and the venerable AE86. Those were all Yamaha designed. The 5 valve 4A-GE? Again, a Yamaha design.
My 1988 GTS Corolla had a 4A-GE engine, as did many a first gen MR2 and the venerable AE86. Those were all Yamaha designed. The 5 valve 4A-GE? Again, a Yamaha design.
08-08-12, 10:51 PM
#47
Lexus Champion
as a pretty serious watch collector, I can tell you I own several replicas that I promise you 100$ you couldn't tell the difference. I admit there are some pretty crappy knock offs that when looked at up close or when you interact with the movement by setting date, or using the chrono you can tell they're cheap crappy immitation stuff and aren't even good watches, much less good knock offs
The comparison I would make is this - Yamaha makes the ISF 5.0L motor, Toyota buys this motor and the ZF transmission for the ISF, if someone were to build a car that looked JUST like the ISF, and then bought the same motor and trans for it, the car would perform identically, and it would take a fully trained specialist to determine whether or not it was a real ISF - In fact it might actually take disassembling the new FISF (fake ISF!) to figure out if it were real.
This is the same as good replica watches. The internals are made by ETA swiss in most cases where a high dollar automatic is concerned, the lower end line of breitling and rolex also use the valjoux swiss movements, that same movement is also used by invicta for example in their reserve line of automatic, and just because invicta makes some 50$ watches mean they don't have other very high quality watches.
I could go on and on about watches but just suffice it to say that watch replicas come in varying qualities, I assure you the one you bought in NY was the 25$ chinese knock off variety, which when inspected even by an amateur watch collector would be obvious.
In fact I actually own a perfect example of how the above works, I have a 750$ invicta reserve watch with the ETA27 chrono movement, cosc certified invicta (one of few they make) - it's a great daily wear watch, solid titanium case, solid titanium band, honestly one of my favorite watches. I also have a 2004 Breitling chronomat 44, this breitling uses the SAME movement yet it cost nearly 10x as much. It's a stainless watch, stainless bracelet, so the cost wasn't for precious metal or stones, it was simply brand name and quality of case, and face. In the case of the breitling it also has a real sapphire crystal, where as the invicta uses a hardened glass they call "flame fusion" treated, it's very scratch resistent but not scratch proof the way the breitling should be.
In the 50s it was very different, rolex, breitling, Philipe Patek, hamilton, IWC, etc they all used to make their own movements by hand, with generally hamilton, IWC and breitling being considered the most accurate as they catered to pilots and military - but just like this thread started, it wasn't cost effective for them to continue to do that so they began to outsource, in the case of Breitling they still own a company that makes some of their movements, but for the majority of their watches they acquire ETA or Valjoux movements, still made by the swiss (note that both of those movements also have japanese counterparts, that while mechanically identical are considered less accurate, and cannot be COSC certified) - so the truth is if you buy a $500 invicta $5k breitling or a 100k$ breitling, or a 250k$ Hublot, they all use the same movement inside now.
The irony of all of this watch nonsense is that even the crappiest Chinese quartz movement using a battery is 10x more accurate, often to with in 15-30 seconds per YEAR where as even a COSC timepiece can drift 15-30 seconds per month at the very least.
sorry for the rambling
can you tell i love watches? lol.
The comparison I would make is this - Yamaha makes the ISF 5.0L motor, Toyota buys this motor and the ZF transmission for the ISF, if someone were to build a car that looked JUST like the ISF, and then bought the same motor and trans for it, the car would perform identically, and it would take a fully trained specialist to determine whether or not it was a real ISF - In fact it might actually take disassembling the new FISF (fake ISF!) to figure out if it were real.
This is the same as good replica watches. The internals are made by ETA swiss in most cases where a high dollar automatic is concerned, the lower end line of breitling and rolex also use the valjoux swiss movements, that same movement is also used by invicta for example in their reserve line of automatic, and just because invicta makes some 50$ watches mean they don't have other very high quality watches.
I could go on and on about watches but just suffice it to say that watch replicas come in varying qualities, I assure you the one you bought in NY was the 25$ chinese knock off variety, which when inspected even by an amateur watch collector would be obvious.
In fact I actually own a perfect example of how the above works, I have a 750$ invicta reserve watch with the ETA27 chrono movement, cosc certified invicta (one of few they make) - it's a great daily wear watch, solid titanium case, solid titanium band, honestly one of my favorite watches. I also have a 2004 Breitling chronomat 44, this breitling uses the SAME movement yet it cost nearly 10x as much. It's a stainless watch, stainless bracelet, so the cost wasn't for precious metal or stones, it was simply brand name and quality of case, and face. In the case of the breitling it also has a real sapphire crystal, where as the invicta uses a hardened glass they call "flame fusion" treated, it's very scratch resistent but not scratch proof the way the breitling should be.
In the 50s it was very different, rolex, breitling, Philipe Patek, hamilton, IWC, etc they all used to make their own movements by hand, with generally hamilton, IWC and breitling being considered the most accurate as they catered to pilots and military - but just like this thread started, it wasn't cost effective for them to continue to do that so they began to outsource, in the case of Breitling they still own a company that makes some of their movements, but for the majority of their watches they acquire ETA or Valjoux movements, still made by the swiss (note that both of those movements also have japanese counterparts, that while mechanically identical are considered less accurate, and cannot be COSC certified) - so the truth is if you buy a $500 invicta $5k breitling or a 100k$ breitling, or a 250k$ Hublot, they all use the same movement inside now.
The irony of all of this watch nonsense is that even the crappiest Chinese quartz movement using a battery is 10x more accurate, often to with in 15-30 seconds per YEAR where as even a COSC timepiece can drift 15-30 seconds per month at the very least.
sorry for the rambling
can you tell i love watches? lol.
08-09-12, 06:14 AM
#49
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but then again... it is an F... doing it right from the get-go is the right thing to do...
08-09-12, 06:19 AM
#50
I have a rep CF Lexon front lip. Mine cost me 1/4 of the price of the real Lexon one. Me personally, I didn't see a point in paying over a grand for such a small piece that's somewhat hard to see, that's going to get scratched up or worse in its lifetime anyway. People do love this style of lip and I have gotten a bunch of compliments on it. They can't tell its a rep/99% of them never heard of Lexon when I mention that mine is a cheap version of theirs lol.
I bought mine from another CL member on here so I don't know if this could possibly be the same company that made mine except non-cf. They seem to have a high percentage of good reviews and have a bunch of lips for sale. I do wonder why it said 09+ISF when 08 has same bumper.
I bought mine from another CL member on here so I don't know if this could possibly be the same company that made mine except non-cf. They seem to have a high percentage of good reviews and have a bunch of lips for sale. I do wonder why it said 09+ISF when 08 has same bumper.
very true to me.
08-09-12, 09:00 AM
#51
Personally, I would stick with authentic. I know it has the same chance of getting scraped and marred like a replica, but I support the companies that put in the effort when it comes to fitment and styling. I understand that it is more money to spend on the authentic piece, and it just forces me to work even harder and save even more so that I can afford authentic.
08-09-12, 09:59 AM
#53
Lexus Champion
Back on topic though.... Again, I think it all comes down to perceived value. I mean, what would you guys buy...a "K&N style" air filter...or the actual K&N filter? Say if the "K&N style" was 50% less.
I think that some of this also comes down to the actual cost of some of these things. I saw some CF A/C vents for the IS F and it was $1000 or something. If someone made something similar and it was a replica, but it was 50% off...you'd be more tempted to buy the replica. But in the case of the K&N filter...where you're only saving $25 lets just say...you're most likely going to buy the actual K&N filter.
And I think the same kinda goes back to a lot of things...HOW MUCH is the REAL thing, vs the replica and is it THAT much better. It's subjective. And in this case, I'd probably buy a replica lip.
I will tell you that I have a few Monster Cable "THX Certified" HDMI cables that I purchased when I was working part time at Best Buy (I only took the job to get the discount during holiday seasons). The cables were like $169 retail, I got them for like $22 or something like that. Insane markup and I would have NEVER bought it if I didn't have my employee discount. I've compared this to my MONOPRICE HDMI cables that I bought for $3 ($3 gets you the "high speed with ferrite cores"), and to be honest, I can't tell the difference.
Some of you maybe resolution snobs...I have friends that look at my Pioneer Elite plasma TV and say...what? How much was that TV? "My TV was only 20% that and it looks just as good"....to me it's like...you gotta be insane...My Elite looks 100x better.
But it's perceived value and maybe it's not as important to them.
08-09-12, 12:10 PM
#54
A lot has been said in this thread, but to sum up my feelings:
Buying replica if the quality is the same or close to the same as the authentic and the part is not a safety part = good financial move.
Buying replica and rebranding it or trying to pass it off as the real thing = cheap poser move
Buying authentic just to say you have the authentic so you can parking lot pimp with your JDMsweet parts = douchenozzle move.
Buying replica if the quality is the same or close to the same as the authentic and the part is not a safety part = good financial move.
Buying replica and rebranding it or trying to pass it off as the real thing = cheap poser move
Buying authentic just to say you have the authentic so you can parking lot pimp with your JDMsweet parts = douchenozzle move.
08-09-12, 03:18 PM
#57
Lexus Test Driver
I would rock a replica only for the simple fact that Guam roads suck and there are some monster *** speed bumps where I stay that would eventually scrap the hell outta the lip or rip the sucker off... I guess the whole reason why i havent bought one just yet...
Im with you OP, I actually saw it on ebay and was like damn, not bad of a price for a piece that would eventually take some beating
Im with you OP, I actually saw it on ebay and was like damn, not bad of a price for a piece that would eventually take some beating
08-09-12, 07:29 PM
#58
Lexus Fanatic
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Thanks for the mention Tommy.. As always... LoL 
This topic is always debated... In order to respect everyone's opinion, I'm not going to state mine..
But please enjoy this..
Just when you think you have seen it all..
http://www.supereplicas.com/
https://www.facebook.com/supereplicas
To each their own..
~ Joe Z
This topic is always debated... In order to respect everyone's opinion, I'm not going to state mine..
But please enjoy this..
Just when you think you have seen it all..
http://www.supereplicas.com/
https://www.facebook.com/supereplicas
To each their own..
~ Joe Z
Last edited by Joe Z; 08-09-12 at 09:33 PM.
08-09-12, 08:50 PM
#60
Do you know if someone makes a replica center cap I can buy? I'm sure those SSR ones are expensive
Back on topic though.... Again, I think it all comes down to perceived value. I mean, what would you guys buy...a "K&N style" air filter...or the actual K&N filter? Say if the "K&N style" was 50% less.
I think that some of this also comes down to the actual cost of some of these things. I saw some CF A/C vents for the IS F and it was $1000 or something. If someone made something similar and it was a replica, but it was 50% off...you'd be more tempted to buy the replica. But in the case of the K&N filter...where you're only saving $25 lets just say...you're most likely going to buy the actual K&N filter.
And I think the same kinda goes back to a lot of things...HOW MUCH is the REAL thing, vs the replica and is it THAT much better. It's subjective. And in this case, I'd probably buy a replica lip.
I will tell you that I have a few Monster Cable "THX Certified" HDMI cables that I purchased when I was working part time at Best Buy (I only took the job to get the discount during holiday seasons). The cables were like $169 retail, I got them for like $22 or something like that. Insane markup and I would have NEVER bought it if I didn't have my employee discount. I've compared this to my MONOPRICE HDMI cables that I bought for $3 ($3 gets you the "high speed with ferrite cores"), and to be honest, I can't tell the difference.
Some of you maybe resolution snobs...I have friends that look at my Pioneer Elite plasma TV and say...what? How much was that TV? "My TV was only 20% that and it looks just as good"....to me it's like...you gotta be insane...My Elite looks 100x better.
But it's perceived value and maybe it's not as important to them.
Back on topic though.... Again, I think it all comes down to perceived value. I mean, what would you guys buy...a "K&N style" air filter...or the actual K&N filter? Say if the "K&N style" was 50% less.
I think that some of this also comes down to the actual cost of some of these things. I saw some CF A/C vents for the IS F and it was $1000 or something. If someone made something similar and it was a replica, but it was 50% off...you'd be more tempted to buy the replica. But in the case of the K&N filter...where you're only saving $25 lets just say...you're most likely going to buy the actual K&N filter.
And I think the same kinda goes back to a lot of things...HOW MUCH is the REAL thing, vs the replica and is it THAT much better. It's subjective. And in this case, I'd probably buy a replica lip.
I will tell you that I have a few Monster Cable "THX Certified" HDMI cables that I purchased when I was working part time at Best Buy (I only took the job to get the discount during holiday seasons). The cables were like $169 retail, I got them for like $22 or something like that. Insane markup and I would have NEVER bought it if I didn't have my employee discount. I've compared this to my MONOPRICE HDMI cables that I bought for $3 ($3 gets you the "high speed with ferrite cores"), and to be honest, I can't tell the difference.
Some of you maybe resolution snobs...I have friends that look at my Pioneer Elite plasma TV and say...what? How much was that TV? "My TV was only 20% that and it looks just as good"....to me it's like...you gotta be insane...My Elite looks 100x better.
But it's perceived value and maybe it's not as important to them.