SEIBON's poor quality and worse service

[jstans84]

Hmmm this might make me rethink my plan to buy some Seibon parts but idk, the only problem I ever had with my Seibon cf hood on my civic was that the windshield sprayers didn't fit. other than that it was perfect.

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[chadstyle]

Originally Posted by Godzilla35

I was pretty surprised that they had such a strong presence at SEMA... but I guess not much has changed.

I built the first widebody 2010 camaro and took it to SEMA that year...it was the only widebody at the show. (The following year Topo Designs had 5-6 widebody camaros there) I had LSD begging me to put their door hinges on it but the owner of the car and I protested it to the end. Seibon called me every single day offering me anything I wanted to run just their hood and trunk. It was a black camaro so I asked them if I could paint the majority of the hood and trunk and just leave two small "windows" of carbon showing through. They gave me free Hankook tires for installing their parts so I tried them out. I spent more messing with the hood and trunk alignment and fitment than I did stretching the factory sheet metal 9" to fit 26"x13" wheels in the rear while still tucking rim. They never aligned perfect no matter what I did with the adjacent panels, there were uneven gaps as well as high spots and low spots galore. On top of the fitment the resin on the parts was so fresh that a week after painting them they shrunk even further and the weave started to show through the paint!! Worst of all the factory hood WITH the latch AND liner on it was still lighter than the Seibon hood. The factory trunk was lighter as well. I called my contact there and screamed and yelled and told him even though the parts were "free" they had costed me thousands in labor and days of time and in the end were junk. He told me it was because they were "new to market" but would get better in quality. I showed up three days before SEMA at their California headquarters with every other Seibon SEMA car going in their booth. I walked around quietly and looked at the 12-15 other cars there and solely at the fit and finish of their products on these cars. EVERY SINGLE CAR WAS AS BAD OR WORSE!! I burned rubber back to the shop, swapped back to the factory parts, and showed the car.

I have been building cars at a professional level for 16 years...I know my shit when it comes to cars. If you guys are car guys and watch car shows then I'm sure you have seen my work on many occasions. I'm not "trolling" (such a stupid term) but simply warning consumers not to waste their hard earned $$ and time on Seibon.

Some people have said in this thread "if I spent hundreds of dollars on a CF part it better fit perfect"...that's almost as concerning as Seibon. Real CF that's done properly and "dry" will save weight and fit perfect but "hundreds of dollars" is more like THOUSANDS of dollars for these parts. People spending $400-600 on hoods and trunks from Seibon are getting what they paid for...junk!

I'll post a link to another thread that a guy was obviously sponsored by Seibon got upset when asked about fitment by another user I replied and said "look at all the gaps around the hood" and he got upset with me and blamed it on other issues. In the end of the day he was dead wrong and couldn't argue with straight facts.

We're all here for one common reason..we LOVE our cars!! We're "car guys (and some girls too)" and want to make our cars the best possible and share amongst each other. Part of this should include being honest about parts used and experiences with companies. I've told my story with Seibon, please tell yours...people deserve to know the truth!!

[chadstyle]

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19699

Here is the thread.. Look at the last few comments. I've told the guy how nice his car is on multiple occasions but because I pointed out the bad fitment of his hood (which is obvious) he took it personal and got mad. I stated that the factory parts are lighter and fit better so why not just throw them back on? I even own a place in his same town so I hope to run into this guy in person sometime and really check these parts out and then listen to his excuses. It's clear he got them free from Seibon for SEMA and is trying to defend the company but my word is everything and I can't be bought with money or parts. I get free parts, I get dealer accommodation on parts, I get all sorts of deals in exchange for exposure and showing my cars at high traffic venues...I'm still brutally honest about the quality and fitment and customer support. This guy just took it personal instead of saying "yeah, there's some fitment issues and they weigh more but I like the carbon look"...

I may be "new" to these forums but I'm not a "troll" and I'm here to help. I'm not hiding behind a screen name either. My name is Chad Utt...google and see the builds I've done and the quality of work I'm capable of creating. "Chad West Coast Customs" may also yield some good videos and builds I've been involved in. Hopefully people here will realize I love this platform and I'm here to help others in the community and learn as much about this platform as I possibly can so I may help on projects as well as steering people away from traps like Seibon.

There's my rant..lol..you will now be retuned to your regularly scheduled show.

Chad

[OjiGeorge]

Thank you for the write-up. I was planning to buy their trunk with integrated spoiler... not any more.

As an aside, I have the carsmo spoiler on my car right now, installed it myself, and it fit flawless. I would expect the same from any quality part.

[#87]

This makes me glad I paid the 450 for dealer installed OEM wing.

Stories like this make me scared since I plan to do FI and hope something like this doesn't happen when I do.

[bakerr6]

I've never bought seibon parts and never plan to. I'm not a flashy type of guy anyways,s o if I'm going to buy aftermarket parts to save weight, it's going to look as stock as possible

[chadstyle]

Originally Posted by OjiGeorge

Thank you for the write-up. I was planning to buy their trunk with integrated spoiler... not any more.

As an aside, I have the carsmo spoiler on my car right now, installed it myself, and it fit flawless. I would expect the same from any quality part.

I also have the Carsmo spoiler on my car. The fit was perfect!! It did need some body work on the top side to smooth out some ripples but now its gorgeous. I'd be willing to bet that the Carsmo fiberglass spoiler weighs less and fits way better than the Seibon spoiler. I think carbon should be used in weight saving applications where it makes a major difference in weight and I would never install a CF part as big as a hood or trunk without painting at least 90% to match the car. There are a few lip spoilers for the bottom edge around the entire car that look great while left in carbon but the parts are small and close to the ground...

If my experience being shared saves one person the headaches I experienced over their horrible quality parts then it was worth the time I spent typing it.

[Supermassive]

Such shitty quality


DSC00097 by Supermassive80, on Flickr


DSC00099 by Supermassive80, on Flickr


DSC00107 by Supermassive80, on Flickr


DSC00106 by Supermassive80, on Flickr


DSC00138 by Supermassive80, on Flickr


DSC00145 by Supermassive80, on Flickr


DSC00121 by Supermassive80, on Flickr


DSC00122 by Supermassive80, on Flickr

All I hear is accusations with no pictures to back up the claims, the only person with "proof" of a bad experience is the OP. To anyone else, without pics, or some copied correspondence with Seibon, your argument is pretty much just conjecture, since I am sure there are plenty of satisfied people with Seibon. The fact that you have managed to turn this into another "Agency Power" thread when we should be hoping for the best possible outcome for the OP is lunacy. I wish i had a bad experience with something for my car so I could join the "Hate Brigade" on this forum...

Also no, I am not sponsored by anyone.

[chadstyle]

I'm sure I can dig up some pics if that's what it takes...this was 3 years ago. I've heard similar stories from 10 years ago all the way up to this thread today.

The part the OP is referring to is installed with 3M VHB tape.. Seibon denying him the opportunity to swap it with another part if this is truly an isolated issue.

Btw, supermassive, your car looks hot!! In my opinion it would look good with some white on the hood with just small amounts of carbon showing so it looks more like accents as your wheels do. Either way, looks great and I'm glad you're happy with your hood!!

[chadstyle]

Supermassive, I like the carbon in smaller doses like your roof lip spoiler and your trunk spoiler..looks good there!! Maybe paint the hood and leave some unpainted areas around the vents or body lines to tie it all together...just some constructive criticism as overall your car is gorgeous!!

[armythug]

Originally Posted by chadstyle

I'm sure I can dig up some pics if that's what it takes...this was 3 years ago. I've heard similar stories from 10 years ago all the way up to this thread today.

The part the OP is referring to is installed with 3M VHB tape.. Seibon denying him the opportunity to swap it with another part if this is truly an isolated issue.

Btw, supermassive, your car looks hot!! In my opinion it would look good with some white on the hood with just small amounts of carbon showing so it looks more like accents as your wheels do. Either way, looks great and I'm glad you're happy with your hood!!

Yea it sounds like a sin but more white on the hood with black vents. Either way his Seibon parts do look good. Looks like it's just hit and miss with the company. I might press my luck because that hood with integrated spoiler is too hot.

[chulooz]

Originally Posted by Supermassive

Such shitty quality


Also no, I am not sponsored by anyone.

Are you ignoring the (uneven) gaps around the hood or do you really think that fitment is like OEM? Any more pics of how it lines up specifically. Sorry some people are picky and post about it.

[Jason952]

Thanks for reading my post guys, this is an excellent forum for sure! Supermassive's car looks sick IMO, just didn't have his luck on fitment and the diff btwn our pics show it.

Jason


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[Supermassive]

Originally Posted by chadstyle

I'm sure I can dig up some pics if that's what it takes...this was 3 years ago. I've heard similar stories from 10 years ago all the way up to this thread today.

The part the OP is referring to is installed with 3M VHB tape.. Seibon denying him the opportunity to swap it with another part if this is truly an isolated issue.

Btw, supermassive, your car looks hot!! In my opinion it would look good with some white on the hood with just small amounts of carbon showing so it looks more like accents as your wheels do. Either way, looks great and I'm glad you're happy with your hood!!

Thank you for the comments, the hood is getting painted to match the car and I will be leaving the vent strakes CF for a little contrast. Trust me I believe you when you say you had a bad time with Seibon, it's bound to happen with any company, and yes now that i know how Seibon's customer service is treating the OP I won't be purchasing from them again until they rectify the situation. My point was that surprisingly enough I feel like what i got from Seibon was dead on. I measured the gaps on my hood and was satisfied with what i got, yes the right side gap is about 1mm wider than the left, that is hardly enough for me to complain about. Especially since my stock hood wasn't perfect either...the fact that it was the same color as the rest of the car hid the gaps better. I have a feeling that when the hood is painted the difference will be unnoticeable. This is one of those things i was seriously worried about when i bought the hood, I've seen other CF hoods that we're way way worse as far as fit.

Yeah i have the same SN lip, i used 3M tape and it fits perfect, I didn't need to force anything...I had commented to the OP when he originally put it on that i would have been furious and demanded a new lip if mine looked like his...apparently Seibon is being a ****. So I'm not condoning or even suggesting people should buy the products, just that there are some of us who didn't get screwed and actually love the look of the parts.

I don't try to be a white knight for brands that are obviously sticking it to their customers and that's not what i am getting at. I honestly think that as a community we should put Seibon in it's place...the customer is always right is good business practice, especially when dealing with car communities.