86 Speed Review (edited, edited again)
 

UPDATE: please READ through the whole thing before constructing conclusions. 86SPEED has reached out to me and KW has verified they directly distribute to 86SPEED. Boxing will vary. 86speed says the damage to the coilovers are purely from Shipment damage. though my opinion still stands.

So this is my personal experience with 86speed. (not ft86speedfactory).

Towards end of November, I placed an order for KW Clubsport Coilovers. I didn't get a tracking number or response until i reached out to them.

They claimed these are special order and they're back stocked. Ok i guess. I kept a tab on them to find out when they would ship and towards the end of December they told me to expect 1/15 for a tracking number.

1/15 rolls around and I call them because I didnt get an email and they said they're waiting on KW to ship them, saying that "they are mean people" and and they are responsible for not sending them. a few days later they eventually tell me that they got the shipping info, and KW is shipping them straight to me. I should expect it around late Feburary- mid March.

Two short weeks later they told me they're shipped. (this doesnt match their story of KW shipping directly to me, nor does it match their statement that they're back stocked. if they were back stocked I would need to wait until the new shipment arrives) tracking shows it was coming from Nevada and when the box arrives, the packaging is strange and messy. (I would not expect KW to have unorganized packaging.)


I open the box and the coilovers top hats are slanted due to nut lodged in the top. When shown to other users on this site, they suspect they are used.
link to that post:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...=138802&page=2

I'm starting to question the authenticity of their story and where these coilovers actually came from. When I asked for shipping paperwork from KW they brushed it off.
EDIT: I CONFIRMED FROM KW THAT THEY DO DISTRIBUTE TO 86SPEED, THEY CANNOT GIVE SHIPMENT PAPERWORK BECAUSE IT CONTAINS PERSONAL IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION. THEY COULD NOT CONTACT ME BACK BECAUSE OF BUSY SCHEDULE, SHORT STAFF, SICK STAFF MEMBERS. NOT THEIR FAULT FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO CONTACT ME BACK.

Still, I decided to give them a second chance and I asked for them to replace the broken/used coilovers with new ones and they said they would fix it. The second box comes in worse than the first. same messy organization and the box looks like it was repackaged (no KW logos or anything this time).

instead of opening it right away, I ask them if theyre selling me used or refurbished and they claim they "don't sell used products. EVER."

so i opened the second set they sent me and they seem more used than the first set they sold me... scratches and knicks all around. Marks from tightening nuts and discoloration.

I would advice anyone to stay away from 86Speed. While i can't confirm if they were used, in my opinion they did not seem brand new at all. When I had questions on whether they were used or not, where they came from, for authenticity i tried calling them during different times of the day and they never picked my call up. (before things went south with them, I could always get someone to pick up and answer some time during the day. It seems they were ignoring me.)
UPDATE: THEY WERE BUSY AND UNABLE TO PICK UP. THEIR POLICY. I DONT AGREE WITH IT BUT AT LEAST THEY WERENT IGNORING ME. AGAIN, KW HAS CONFIRMED THEY DISTRIBUTE TO 86SPEED.

Links to Pics
1st set of coilovers : https://m.imgur.com/a/DGH73ng
https://imgur.com/a/r64Na3G

2nd set of coilovers: https://imgur.com/a/bIJugHG

An update:

86Speed reached out to me and got someone from KW to elevate my suspicions on whether or not they sold used products or if it’s from KW.

KW spokesperson confirmed that they don’t distribute directly to 86speed but to another distribution center that 86speed obtains their coilovers from. And that the condition of coilovers can vary.

I am still going to look else where to obtain the coilovers though.

Edit: I am leaving my original post up so the whole story is there.

The “condition” can vary? Wtf. How is that a sensible reply to someone paying top dollar for a set of coilovers

It means "we don't condone such actions, but if the middle man does it, like, whatever mannn."

Seems more like this is a set that was used for a YouTube "Product demo" and you're ending up with it

That was my initial thought too, but he got two sets looking like this. Looking back at the pictures I am not 100% sure if they have been mounted before, but they do look like they were not properly assembled. The stripped hardware is not something I would be happy to see and the top nut wedge in there like that is just WTF.

Go with Racecomp Engineering, the guys are great and will take care of you. They work directly with the KW factory, my RCE SS1s shipped straight from KW to my door.

Sounds like KW had no desire to speak to you about any of this, and said what they did to get you to go away. Whoever you spoke with from 86speed must be a gigantic idiot if they’re going to stick with the story of damage during shipping and thinking you’ll believe it.

I’d be trying to get my money back and buying elsewhere.

I ship a hundred orders a day UPS from May to September and I have never heard of a screw head being stripped from shipping :D

I ordered RCE SS1 directly from RCE, which are a coilover that uses a KW shock body with custom valving, springs and RCEs own front top hats, and they came packaged *exactly* the same as yours, even with the top hats twisted heavily to the side like yours too and with some noticeable marking at the mounting points. Nothing actually damaged and the shock body itself was immaculate with no signs of use. I just chalked up the markings on the mounting points from when the suspension is put on a shock dyno before it was sent to me. I'm sure your suspension has the shock dyno included in the box like mine did. If so, some mounting scuff is normal.

If you are concerned about prior use, inspect the shock body very closely, because that's where you'll find actual wear. Even driving for just a single mile on public roads will leave tiny scratches in the shock body. If you can't see anything, then feel them with your bare hands, if they're completely smooth, then it's highly unlikely they ever saw a road, even if they did get mounted to a car for some reason.

Obviously, if any of the shocks have any signs of use, I'd definitely demand a return or discount. However if there is no sign of it, then it's up to you how to proceed but I'd personally just mount the suspension and get on with my life.