Yeah. There did look to be some problems with the bumper, but the shop obviously didn't know much about aftermarket kits.

My HikkataDori bumper didn't have any holes pre-drilled (though you could kinda see indentations) but that was no problem at all for the shop. He just lined it up, marked and drilled.

Heck, I drilled more in the bumper than the shop did, because I mounted the aluminum lower engine shield, and mounted the grill, it's not rocket science. Really, it's better to leave the holes un-drilled, because you can actually get fitment better (especially in the case of a car that's had front end damage, where stock mounting may not line up 100%)

 

The KuRookie is sexy!! I picked those choices because I liked the look of all of them. But the Nismo Aero was my first choice going in, more my style (I'm 45 now, so you would think I would know better by now) But for those following along at home, I'm a life long jackass!! I have a long history of "Ready, Fire, Aim!!" But I do learn from my mistakes.

Check my threads. I'm not a troublemaker who goes out trying to stir up ****. I mostly just come to the site to get info, PM people specific questions, but not much of a poster. I know how to search and can usually find what I need on my own. Probably half of my total post count has been related to my front end/accident.


Well, I wasn't going to select my bumper based on the vote , just wanted to get people's perspective and maybe suggestions of other fronts I hadn't seen. My fav before the vote was the Nismo, but I couldn't find one and time was/is of the essence. It is amazing how many vendors advertise products, but then cannot guaranty shipment. One company told me it would ship in 6-8 weeks!!

I would like to give a big shout out and THANKS to 19kdrill He read my posts and on his own (I guess he felt sorry for me) went out and found an original Nismo Aero front and e-mailed me the link. I also bought the Nismo aero sides and license plate delete from 19kdrill.Thanks 19kdrill you rock!!

In all fairness to Strafe, based on some of the feedback I received, most body-shop guys thought the bumper was acceptable quality for FG. I had no idea that acceptable quality FG would mean cutting out delam bubbles and having to re-fiberglass most of the product. Color me ignorant. But based on the voting, the majority of the voters thought it should be replaced too. So there is a real difference in consumer expectation vs. acceptable industry standards. I noticed on Monday when I picked up the bumper that there was a bottom corner (nearest the wheel), that was literally paper thin, you can see through it.

From my perspective the customer service from Strafe was bad, real bad. I contacted other Strafe customers that had issues with defective parts, but strafe seemed to go the extra mile to help some/most of them. So I cannot say that my customer service from Strafe was necessarily typical of what others can expect when dealing with Strafe. In all honesty, I think that Dustin/Lawrence (Strafe) got their feelings hurt/pissed off when they spoke with my body shop guy, then took it out on me.

We have agreed to meet in the octagon to settle this once and for all, get your tickets now, they are going fast!! Kidding. Sort of, I would like to, but we haven't agreed or talked about it. I hope he is not huge

In Dustin's e-mail response to my suggestion to "let the people decide" by voting, he seemed cool with that idea:

From: "Dustin strafe" <dustin.strafe@gmail.com>
Date: Saturday, August 28, 2010 6:15 PM
To: "Jeff Shelquist" <jeff_shelquist@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Pics of the defective StrafeSpeed bumper

Okay sounds good jeff

Dustin
Owner Strafe Automotive
www.strafeautomotive.com

On Aug 28, 2010 3:10 PM, "Jeff Shelquist" <jeff_shelquist@hotmail.com>
wrote:
posted the pics on G35Driver with a poll. Let the people decide. I will have
better pics posted on Monday.
Jeff

I was ready to "man up" and accept the peoples' vote, I thought he was too. I was disappointed that he didn't live up to his end of the bargain to let the people decide. Shoulda seen that one coming I guess.

So as of now, I have "like new" StrafeSpeed FG "gialla" style front bumper and Strafe sides for sale- AS IS!!

Just to set the record straight, I never told Strafe to refund or exchange OR I will post bad stuff about your company. My intent was not to try and hurt Strafe's business. If my body guy would have told me the bumper was great, I would have never posted anything. I had two conflicting views and I thought the board was the perfect place to "take the dispute". I repeatedly said I didn't know if the bumper was "normal" or crap or whatever, that was the whole purpose of the thread. I wanted unbiased responses from the group that I felt would be most knowledgeable. Some of you act like I violated some unwritten board ethical standard.

I was offended that Strafe would basically say, if you don't post anything bad about us we will work with you, but if you post- screw you.

Do you guys really believe a customer should "have to stay quiet" just to get the vendor to respond to legitimate issues/questions? I don't!!

It was solely by virtue of Strafe's presence on this forum, that I presumed the company would be credible, upstanding and trustworthy and not like some anonymous e-bay vendor.

I say live by the "board" and die by the "board"! If a vendor is continually shipping out crap (I'm not saying that Strafe does), I would expect to hear about it from other members- that is the value and power of the board!!

Look, to all those that said it should be handled through PMs. I tried resolving the issue through PMs, e-mails and telephone calls with Strafe. All had been tried and failed.

So my next poll is going to be whether I should delete the original thread or leave it. I will abide by the voters wishes!!

Thanks for tuning in!!

 

I like the Karuma Z. From your list Ilike the Nismo.

 

so, you've got one of the other silver sedans running around, Tampa, huh? looks a lot like mine but so far I just have paint chipping off of my front bumper... Got a body shop doing the work (I'm assuming) or a friend?

 

Desert Platinum actually and NO front bumper right now. Yeah body shop is doing it. What area in Tampa? I'm in Countryway.

 

I guess I need to find a list of the colors, I'm guessing mine is probably Desert Platinum, too. Looks like the same color. I'm actually in Brandon.

 

^Check the stickies in the 03-06 sedan media share section.

 

My bumper never came with holes, but it is really not that hard to figure it out. I figured it out myself and I dont know squat about bodywork.

Fiberglass is not perfect, but it shouldn't be a problem for a body shop to figure it out, just need to find the right places. Some shops dont even touch aftermarket fiberglass bumpers. My kurookie didn't come with bubbles though.

 

I have repaired and seen the Rookie bumper and i was shocked on how great the quality was for fiberglass. I could not see through it like the pic posted above. Maybe your bad bumper was just a slip in quality control.

Rookie gets my thumbs up. Im glad you got the Nismo though.