Faking it!

I had a long chat with Chris that day while waiting for my brake hoses to be installed. One of the burning topic we discussed is about 'counterfeit' products. So recently the Honda community in USA was shocked by the news of AJ Racing - one of the leading Japanese aftermarket parts speacialist - selling fake J's Racing products. Being the official distributor for J's Racing, what they did was simply illicit and downright dirty. Their action that caused a disrupt with the Japanese powerhouse was; Making copies from the original products, packed it up nicely as if it's genuinely 'Made in Japan' and sell it off the customers at the same price (or slightly cheaper). Now that's the easiest way to get more sales right?

This matter has caught the attention of Junichi Umemoto, president of J's Racing and latest development that I know of is that they're taking legal actions towards AJ Racing. I hope AJ will have all the means to defend themselves from the furious Japanese wrath. It is unacceptably painful when you spend your hard-earned cash paying full price for imported parts and ended up getting knockoffs. This sort of business practice should not be tolerated at all and let alone given any second chance.

So the question now would be, who's monitoring the aftermarket parts aunthenticity here in our country? I've seen, heard and almost experienced getting duped but so far no stringent action taken against the so-called 'sole distributor' , yet. A friend of mine, paid almost RM5,000 for a Hondata K-pro but only after a year he found out that his car was actually equipped with a K-100, which is almost RM2,000 cheaper. This gross act of 'profiteering' happened recently and he had almost contacted Hondata to lodge a report but matter was settled swiftly by the seller. So please be vigilant when you're getting parts for your car. A good combination of knowledge, experience and alertness will surely help you getting the real deal.

Fake and genuine J's exhaust. Looks almost similar doesn't it?

Junichi Umemoto's Blog regarding the fake parts: http://ameblo.jp/umemotojunichi/entry-10430432876.html (check out the diplomatically humble letter from J's!)

Consumers respond from Honda-tech.com: http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2710556