High Cost of Honda VTEC Parts

[ahchi]

Hi Guys, just to share some opinion for Honda VTEC performance parts pricing. It's known that all the while Honda parts is expensive and especially VTEC parts due to its performance, but sometimes don't you think that we make the VTEC too LEGENDARY (although it's really well perform, but it's the performance vs price ratio reasonable) we have to pay so much money to buy VTEC parts.

Attach is some parts that are selling by somebody with the price mentioned :

" VTEC Engine & Performance

01) Gearbox LSD 4.785 B18C-R RM4200.00
02) B18C-R manifold C/w racing injector RM1800.00
03) B18C-R CAM & valve completed RM 1500.00
04) TODA F.W. c/w racing clutch RM1300.00
05) Super Dynamic 4-1 only 3months RM1000.00
06) EK4 FGK Exhaust S-type c/w piping 2.2" RM 700.00
05) NGK plug cable c/w plug RM300.00
06) EG cable RM500.00 "

Imagine that this might all come from a same halfcut (which Japanese scrap the car and treat it as scrapped metal to sell to us) but it end up worth more than RM10K when it sell seperately. I believe there'll be some people willing to buy it with this price, but befor ethat do you think it's really worth to use that sum of money to buy a used and worn parts??? Do you think sometimes we should "WAKE UP" from the legend of VTEC?

Anyway, these all are my personnel mumbles to the reality happen around us.

 

[hattech-v]

yaloo.. now i just realize how expensive vtec parts...
sigh... my pocket will getting empty from day to day if wanna upgrade...

 

[shiroitenshi]

To tell you the truth, I don't think it's really that expensive, if you compare with people who buy new cars at 100K+

You need to remember that we live in a country where an new, average imported sedan is 100K thereabouts.. still think it's expensive? People wonder all the time why I buy a second hand car, when I could buy new.. simple reason, I can do a lot of things with 100K on an old car than buying new (think veilside bodykits and super bling bling rims, shaved door systems, great ice, etc. etc.)

Another reason is that you're quoting parts from zth. Frankly I think the prices quoted here are quite expensive since some of the parts are limited, and most (not all) these people are no more than brokers for another party.

Furthermore, you're only told it's a second hand part, while it could be a third hand, or fourth hand part, and you don't really know.

Buying direct from the owner is best, and if you are in a group where there are higher income earners modding hondas, you can bet good prices when they opt for an upgrade. I bought most of my parts that way actually. Of course, if you're wanting to be on the bleeding edge.. money talks the loudest.

 

[udengfahlawi]

hattech why u worry?...u got many pockets what?...

anyway, to the buyer side, it's expensive...to the seller side, it's a chance to make xtra money...so different people hv different interest....what is it that u proposing actually?...boikot honda?...

 

[camp]

"Buying direct from the owner is best, and if you are in a group where there are higher income earners modding hondas, you can bet good prices when they opt for an upgrade. I bought most of my parts that way actually. Of course, if you're wanting to be on the bleeding edge.. money talks the loudest." quote by shiroitenshi

can you introduce me to your fren to, so that i be lucky as you, kekekekekeke

 

[shiroitenshi]

Sure.. I'm in the process of trying to sell some of their parts. It's easier for them to spend on new parts if there's a steady supply of people buying up their older parts, so they can lighten the purchase cost of new parts. My car is almost done, so they're really looking for a new enthusiast to join the group and buy up some of their parts.

Currently, a couple of them are doing sleeved B20B, in addition to another who's already on B20B, so I'm expecting a lot of engine parts to come. (which is when I will have a field day picking out the parts I want)

Another is still undecided on the cosmetic parts, so nothing yet, or I might be looking at ori EK99 parts for sale (not interested, I'm an EG person.. lol!)

However, everything is in Kelantan, and even if you're interested, I'm just not having the time right now. I'm planning to set up some website so I can update the inventory easily though. Even though the parts list would likely be less than 10 items. ROFL!

Currently though, I'm only catering to only east coast and northern region enthusiasts. There aren't many, I can tell you that. (not many that use ori parts, that is, cap ayam brand users are countless!)

Furthermore, as a fellow car modder, I think you'd want to have a look at the parts in person rather than a picture or two. Internet sales are risky, and I know that for a fact.

 

[ahchi]

hattech why u worry?...u got many pockets what?...

anyway, to the buyer side, it's expensive...to the seller side, it's a chance to make xtra money...so different people hv different interest....what is it that u proposing actually?...boikot honda?...

Sure I'm not saying to boycott Honda since I myself also driving a Honda mah :_:
It's just I feel that the market price of Honda is "goreng" so hot and I would like to raise a concern that shall we (as a user) "wake up" a bit and don't blindly buy something which the part quality vs price ratio is so high!!! Undeniable it's a performance part, but don't forget it's a >5 or even 10 year old performance part and every part has it's own lifespan especially the more it perform the more it wear off.

shiroitenshi, sure I agree with you since I myself also not willing to exchange my old SM4 and I rather spend few thousand to change a halfcut. By what i mean is if you compare to use around RM2k to buy just a VTEC manifold for example, I believe with this kind of money you can almost get a decent Toyota or Daihatsu HALFCUT, lol it's a HALFCUT with performance only 10-20% less then a VTEC.

For example, I have a friend who bought a 10 year old Civik EK, RM50K. I ask him why 50K so much(for me is too high although it's the market price)? He say because it's Honda mah? Then, the car is still "kluk kluk" sound from it's driveshaft, "ngek ngek" sound at the rear suspension. So, it's really a performace car, but it was a 10 years performance car.

Anyway, no offence to anybody. Just to share some opinions.

 

[amdfaisal]

shiroitenshi,

any people from east coast doing major mods and ditching good quality parts for CF4?

and SiR-T engine plus exhaust system are what i'm looking for heheh

 

[shiroitenshi]

Sorry.. mostly civics here. EG or EK only. There are accord guys, but they aren't usually performance oriented.. at all :Not_Impressed: There was one guy that ran six sets of HIDs on his accord (forgot what gen).. (to each his own, maybe he get kicks out of 'outshining' the competition)

A few JDM freaks here.. (you knowlah, those people that.. "EVERYTHING MUST COME FROM JAPAN, USDM is crap!") but otherwise, not many accord players. These are the people where all parts are sure to be made in Japan.

There's also a couple of performance freaks (i.e doesn't care JDM or USDM, as long as the fitment and functions are okay) These are the guys with aem, crower, etc. etc. non-JDM performance parts.

You could say that these two groups don't really mix, but for TT, anything goes!

But if you want special hard to source parts for accord, maybe one of my friends (he has a workshop) can help. Of course, he's also from kelantan, so if you live near here, or have a kampung here, then you can go meet him in person. Otherwise, I think he's pretty lazy to go out of his way, since he get's a lot of wannabe people querying him for prices, then claim it's too expensive, buy cap ayam brand, then complain to my him about poor fitment, lack of quality, etc. etc..

I think if you're an east coast person, you probably know his shop, where there are always a bunch of civics, with the occasional skyline, evo, rx7, mini, etc. etc.

For me, his eye for detail/quality is good enough.. even I'm not as nitpicky as he is! LOL!

 

[shiroitenshi]

shiroitenshi, sure I agree with you since I myself also not willing to exchange my old SM4 and I rather spend few thousand to change a halfcut. By what i mean is if you compare to use around RM2k to buy just a VTEC manifold for example, I believe with this kind of money you can almost get a decent Toyota or Daihatsu HALFCUT, lol it's a HALFCUT with performance only 10-20% less then a VTEC.

For example, I have a friend who bought a 10 year old Civik EK, RM50K. I ask him why 50K so much(for me is too high although it's the market price)? He say because it's Honda mah? Then, the car is still "kluk kluk" sound from it's driveshaft, "ngek ngek" sound at the rear suspension. So, it's really a performace car, but it was a 10 years performance car.

Anyway, no offence to anybody. Just to share some opinions.

Achi, yes, I do agree with too that some vtec parts are inflated in price. Naturally, it's more prudent to wait around for a part to come cheap when someone wants a quick sell, usually after they bought a new part, and doesn't really want to keep the item. I think the last EK9 bonnet went for only RM250 or so here, since the owner wanted a quick sell (I think it was hung in the morning, and by afternoon, it was sold already! Naturally, this is a rare occurance!).

Most of the people holding on to the part and selling it at a premium mostly are getting a hard sell, since sometimes, the part isn't even off the car yet, so in a way, they're really selling it half heartedly. My advice? Don't buy! these people will eventually sell the part cheaply (not dirt cheap though) when they really need the money.

The recent demand on EK is maddening! 2nd hand EK prices still quite steep, probably because it's running for 96-99, so there's a lot of people converting the earlier versions to the later versions (so they look like they're driving a 7 year old car, not a 10 year old car). (kidding! don't kill me EK owners!)

Still... if you want to mod for performance, I think EG is where the actions at, since the EF is sort of aging already. Sharing a lot of parts with the latter production DC2 also means that parts will be available for quite a while yet.

As for why honda parts are more expensive than others?
The manufacturing and finish of the parts on the earlier gen honda (EF, EG, EK) (including their performance versions, the type-R are very good.)

Considering the age, doesn't it amaze you how the engine parts don't wear out much or decay?

Sometimes you can even see an EB (okaylah.. models later than EB osolah) crusing the highways at a decent clip, which is really great, considering the age of the car.

Another is that there really is a high limit to how powerful a honda engine can get depending on mods. Comparatively, you'll hit a wall pretty quickly when modding a toyota or daihatsu engine <- need a lot more work and money as horsepower climbs. Some of these converts (+performance mods) actually have reliability issues, compared to honda, which you probably hear less about (I admit they do occur, though)

 

[Oderf]

ha..ha...to me its fine...we can buy ctr cams at about 1.3k then after sometime can still sell it at the same price or even more....that's cool!

 

[orc3368]

people are only hiking up the prices... and i can't really blame those shopsellers cos the raceparts are cheap or moderate in prices but the air freight are really killing ( i know coz i'm working in pos) and they mark up the price by 40% (maybe) and will only give 5-8% of discounts only...
but to blame is the people that gets 2nd hand spare parts and sell it off in really high prices..
but to to offence anyone..i really think that peninsular prices are really high for example i bought my EF sunroof(one whole roof) only for rm350 over here but i see in the marketplace forum that guy sell for rm900... if including installations ok laaa...(by the way i'm selling off my supercharger with alternator..p.m me for prices)

 

[udengfahlawi]

i think it's a basic economic theory of supply and demand...when there is a high demand for a limited supply of sumthin', the price hike up ler...it's then up to the buyer ler, whether he/she can meet the offered price, or wait for the seller to become desparate and reduce the price (but risk losing the item to someone else in the process), or seek for alternative (aftermarket instead of OEM)....everybody wants a win-win situation, but that's hard to achieve in the real world...

 

[ahchi]

i think it's a basic economic theory of supply and demand...when there is a high demand for a limited supply of sumthin', the price hike up ler...it's then up to the buyer ler, whether he/she can meet the offered price, or wait for the seller to become desparate and reduce the price (but risk losing the item to someone else in the process), or seek for alternative (aftermarket instead of OEM)....everybody wants a win-win situation, but that's hard to achieve in the real world...

Yes, you are right. That's the reason why I have this topic to express that we should "WAKE UP". Don't always let the seller to control the price, set a bottom line to yourself when buying one thing whether the price is worth or not and not always let the seller to set the bottom line for you.
However, you know, Malaysian attitude sometimes is so "kiasu"...:Not_Impressed:

 

[amdfaisal]

sometimes the item u want is so rare that u have this feeling that if u don't buy it today u will never have it again ever... like this ad i saw for NSX 17" rims... selling price RM5k... wow... those rims are rare orait... i want them but my wallet seems to be holding my money for sthg else... heheh maybe can settle for taiwan rims... cheaper.

anyway... price for accord parts is not as expensive as EK... supply and demand la

 

[madrick]

Sorry to disturb your thread aaa, since so many honda sifu here, just want to know how to make vtec engage faster e.g at 4000rpm? and how much will it cost?

 

[madrick]

Sorry to disturb your thread aaa, since so many honda sifu here, just want to know how to make vtec engage faster e.g at 4000rpm? and how much will it cost?

 

[hattech-v]

get a vtec controller... u can alter vtec point to 1krpm...
how much it cost fr 300-1000

 

[orc3368]

madrick.... why do you want to engage ur 'vitek' so early.... it's so nice it opens at 5500 rpm. some rules you can change but some you have to keep it naturally

 

[carnage]

i believe, honda parts in term of pricing hv been manipulated by
ppl/association dominating the supplies. u buy a b16a distributor at
chop shop cost u at least RM350, if u buy sm4 dist (so as 2 stuff the
internals into ur b16a dist casing) cost u as low as RM150 (normally RM200-250).
2 be frank, i find it weird... these sellers know that 4 b16a parts, theres plenty
ppl willing 2 buy at their (seller's) price sooner or later...

my sad experience, a couple mths ago i went 2 a well known honda spare part
shop 2 buy timing belt... instead of the japanese original, the shopper
ask me 2 get a cheaper belt, japan made (he said), and no brand- coz he
ran out of stock he said. after i said no & thank him, his bangla worker suddenly
shout "oh, ada lagi satu... last one".... how? if i dont insist i would've ended up
using an 'ayam' brand belt! imagine having f**ked valves!