This thread is getting crazy.

What you buy is what you buy. If you like it, whether or not it was a replica, that's ALL that matters. It's your car, your money, your decision.

The big issue here is if you bought under the assumption that it was a "brand name" part, then when you get it it's not. I have a lot of customers who buy from me saying that they tried to buy an authentic aero part from japan from another vendor, only to find out it was a knock off. In those instances I say that's freakin BS. Anyone and everyone who was bought something under false pretenses should be demanding a refund, partial refund, store credit or the like. That some Nigerian check scam shit and it doesn't fly in ANY industry. If i want legit jordans, I don't want knock off shoes. If i want a new era fitted, I dont want some knock off shit. If i bought some spoon sw388's, paid that price and got some rota slipstreams, i would NOT be happy....but if I wanted the look of the sw388, then rota slipstreams would be fine.

BTW I not pointing fingers at any of the shops mentioned in this thread. You all sell great stuff and sometimes infomation gets lost in translation.

 

i am curious; why should this thread be locked or deleted? is there a rule being violated in here?

 

Glad I found this. Was going to purchase some items from AJ but will look elsewhere. AJ may have quality and legit stuff but I would like to buy from a vendor whom I can trust.

 

tagged for interest...

 

Because mods lock threads before they even get entertaining.

 

All these reminds me of the good o' days on honda-tech.....

I'm better than u, u're better than me. U sell/make crappy stuff & I don't.

I'm not a J's racing part fan/user so I am not familiar with all these exhaust models & stuff myself. All I can tell that it is J's shape muffler eh(uhhh yeah it's Canada Day I just HAD to do the "eh" part lol)

I've been dealing with Ben @ A&J Racing since 1997. Ben & his staff never treat me like shit even he KNOWS I'm not there to buy his products, coz I was still driving my dad's volvo 850.

Through out these years he's been very helpful on all sorts of stuff. Great follow ups & orders always gets here on time, always kind enough to share all sorts of technical info even when it's after office hours. And Ben is one of the guy who really brought me into the sport, not trying to sell me his product, but to get a young kid like me(back in the days) to go take the speed to the track......

I've just seen too many threads like these back in the days, regarding to SPOON/ENDLESS/TEIN/5Zigen and maybe Buddy Club etc etc that Ben carried/still carrying. U hardly see someone jumping up & down like this when not a lot of people knows about SPOON/J's Racing/Buddy Club/Endless & the other brands. Once Ben @ A&J starts to carry them & race/track his civic & S2000, got the attention then good & bad things comes from here & there right after. People bash the SPOON, 5Zigen & T1R stuff he carries, but a lot of people still buy them.

Despite all that bashing u can see online, I'm still one of the guy who bought SPOON exhaust, Bride & other products from Ben. That mainly because of the great customer service & the technical support the A&J guys provides. And the product he sold me NEVER FAILED ONCE on & off the track.

 

i PM aj-racing he said my exhaust is real.

 

Here's the link to the official JP J's Racing with the information on fake products:
J'S RACING JAPAN

When you on the right column you can click on "4 oversea customer" and check out the NA dealer list. PPI is listed there which also includes a link to the site that is hosting the pdf letter. Pretty strong argument of legitimacy if you ask me.

Maybe someone can send a picture of their exhaust to a authorized dealer (bulletproof is legit) and have them confirm authenticity.

For shits and giggles here's a comparison of Umemoto's autograph from his Thailand visit.

 

I will forever love AJ-R and nothing will ever change that.

 

i don't care anymore

 

I understand there are some members who doubt the authenticity of the letter from Mr. Umemoto, J's Racing president, which I posted on our website.
J's Racing - The Extreme Honda Ride

I was asked to post the letter by J’s Racing Japan. Anyway, to prove the authenticity, please go to the J’s Racing Japan website.
J'S RACING JAPAN
and click on “The statement regarding the copy products of J’S RACING” on the right side column. You will find the exact same statement on pdf file. I believe that clears any doubt.

 

the PDF filename on jsracing.co.jp is "AJ_CANADA_(13)".

if that makes any sense...

 

thank you for clarifying everything

 

im surprised that no one from aj racing has commented on this seeing that they have been selling this exhaust as a j's exhaust. they are going to lose alot of business for that, including mine.

 

they did reply on another thread. And they set this whole situation straight 3 years ago. If you look above i quoted what ben said from the other thread yesterday i think

 

they replied on another thread but like you said this is three years ago. on the j's racing japan official website they have the letter saying it is fake

 

I don't get it, this statement is halfway between an admittance of guilt and a promise of authenticity.

• They have always been an unauthorized distributor.

• They had previously mentioned that their version of the exhaust was an "AJR" edition, while J's Racing claims that this "edition" does not exist.
  
  
• They claim "Genuine" when their "version" does not have any manufacturer stamp or anything that would provide credibility that it was made by J's. J's has never done that with any of their products. If that's not enough, ask yourself why would the silencer mounting hole be removed and overall weld quality look so much worse?
  

Somebody should slice up their "AJR" muffler and confirm whether or not it's just a glasspacked cheap knock-off.

 

perhaps i didn't state correctly. That what i quoted was written just yesterday. But this argument was brought up 3 years ago.

Assuming you had held one of these in your hands you would see its not just some cheap glasspack first off. Its not made like a glass pack. What kind of dumb **** cuts up a $500 muffler to prove some one on the "INTERNET" wrong. This is why i said the thread should have been shut down. My muffler is definitly titanium, definitly high quality on the welds and construction. And other can agree/verify.

Perhaps i'm the only one who noticed this. But junktea used to post like some kid who was like "oh i'm j's crazy gotta catch 'em all" Then all of the sudden junktea is a "distributor" according to his signature. but as of today he just changed to correct himself that he is a dealer. He runs a small parts shop that used to be a gas station. check his website. has his shops life story and everything. but doesn't talk about selling parts. It boils down to a smog certification shop.

I don't know about in california but here in louisiana its easy to get a dealers liscence and apply for a tax ID #. Anyone can do it.

If I wanted and had the capitol i could start selling parts for fits here. However I specialize in Audio and Video. Because there is virtually no fit market in louisiana. But being a retail business person myself I look at this whole thing from that perspective.

What junktea has done is just dumb. He has essentially gone a pissed in another dealers kool-aide. All he has been doing is bashing this product. Ask anyone who deals with AJR and you would understand that they stand behind this product or any product they sell.

I was just pretty much taken about by what he did on my FS thread but after talking to him he said he wasn't going to continue doing that. But this thread turned into exactly that. just a bashing of AJR.

First off he claims to be a dealer and does not have vendor status on here. So why would you take of word of a person with no status over a long trusted vendor. Like other people said this is just like on Honda-tech of old. my stuff is better than your stuff buy my stuff. simple pissing contest. And for a professional standpoint how many vendors on here have pictures of small girls as their avatars? Isn't that just a little silly. I'm just trying to help everyone here see the big picture. Instead of reading what he posts and being lead around like horses with blinders on.

And i'm done with this thread. Sorry for my long post. and more than likely bad grammar or punctuation. I'm a little aggravated at this situation.

Edit: ALOT aggravated (according to some)

 

I've dealt with Ben since I bought my GD3. Everything he has provided me has been spot on and never has he tried to trick me into something that is not what it is. He always tells it like it is. Unfortunately, things like this tarnish the reputation of an excellent vendor here on the forum. No where did Ben explicitly state that J's was going to make a special edition J's Racing AJR Edition exhaust. He did however say he asked them to build their AJR/T1R version of a similar exhaust. It's like batteries, Duracell and Energizer manufacture batteries for other brands out there, not just themselves. It's the same situation. Addressing the letter from J's, if you read it clearly, it states that "[they] have not authorized or sanctioned any shop or company to make their original version from our titanium exhaust" which would mean a simple re-badge of their existing J's Racing design. AJ stated that they had their own specifications which is not an original version from J's original titanium exhaust. Furthermore, it states that "[they] have not made any special titanium exhaust version based on a third party request" which means there isn't a special J's Racing AJR Version. It doesn't preclude that there is a possibility of a AJR version similar to that of the original J's but built to their own spec.

And as for people who say the welds, etc. look crappy, have you even seen any of their T1R products up close? You'll find that their own T1R products are very well built and are in no way cheap. If you are basing this on those tiny images, then you need to rethink what you've said until you've seen their products up close. As for the colour of the exhaust itself, you guys do know that titanium isn't purple/blue when it is made right? That's simply adding heat to it to oxidize the surface for the effect. Lots of metals including aluminum and even stainless to a degree will exhibit this discolouration when heat is added (headers etc.).

Anyways, that's my rant for a while, it's easy to breeze through posts etc., but you definitely need to read between the lines to get the full story. I don't know what happened between AJ and J's, but this is a company that sent over a USDM Fit for fitment of J's parts to NA Fits. I don't think AJ would screw around and sell fake stuff when they are that committed at the time to this company. Either way, what's done is done, I don't think a smear campaign is required, so before anyone comes to a radical conclusion, sit down and review what kind of products AJ or any vendor for that matter. A lot of members here have purchased parts from AJ that are very happy with what they got including myself. I hope others who have been elated with the service and help they have gotten from Ben and anyone else at AJ will stand behind their products as I am today.

 

Just measure the tip diameter as per J's Racing press release to find out if your exhaust is fake or not jeez. It doesn't matter who's in bed with who