Restored Carbon Fibre bits are absolute crap

[240kconvertible]

I ordered carbon bumpers, trim, front lip and rear bob tail and was so disappointed with the quality of them when I arrived that I sent it all back to otomoto except the front lip (this will get chipped and scratched anyway)

I was unhappy with how thin they all were, the lack of polished areas in visible areas and the trim didn't even line up properly with the boot and bonnet :mad:

The trim has to be glued on, one of the eyebrows was sent without the thread installed inside it. Only one layer of carbon sheeting was used and help up to the light you could see through it, the weave had been stretched in a hell of a lot of places and looked crap.

My advice to everyone is not to buy any carbon parts from Restored, the fibreglass would be fine as you have to paint it yourself.

I'll post pictures shortly.

[Mastadd240K]

Really!

much disapoint

[240kconvertible]

Needless to say I was very upset with the quality, after waiting for over 3 months to get my parts this crap arrived. Beware these items in these photos are still for sale from otomoto.

I don't seem to have any photos of where the weave was stretched to show you

Edited September 22, 2011 by 240kconvertible

[Otomoto]

These parts were made for us by Restored as a special request, they only made two sets, one for me and one extra set for the OP. As virtually a one-off naturally they were hand-laid and not vacuum-moulded or dry carbon. With such fiddly and complex shapes there is always going to be a bit of a stretch somewhere or a bit more resin in a corner.

The parts that the OP returned to us are now fitted to my 240K. They did need a bit of polish here and there but I think they look pretty good (pics attached). The trim piece that arrived without the threads fitted has been replaced by Restored as this was their mistake, so I still have a second set for sale and anyone is welcome to come and inspect them at my store if they are interested.

We gave the OP a full refund on his parts, even though they were ordered specially for him.

It is very disappointing that now he is rubbishing an entire range of Restored carbon products he hasn't even seen.

[240kconvertible]

We all know each other on this forum Ben Ellis, you can use my real name which is Andrew Ellard instead of referring to me as the OP. These parts are not "one off" as stated by Ben and are listed on the Restored.jp website for everyone to buy if they wish.

http://www.restored.jp/gc110morl.html

http://www.restored.jp/gc110bumper.html

It is "very disappointing :finger:" what you have stated and is a total load off bulls%$t that these parts were ordered specially for me and as I recall Ben, it was you who suggested I should buy the trim parts as the bumpers I wanted would look silly without the carbon going the whole way around, I whole heatedly agreed with you and still do but I just can't accept the low quality of the parts that arrived. You and I both know that they still needed a lot of finishing work on them to get them to the state that they should be. I would like you to be honest and admit on this thread that what you have stated is not entirely true. What is obvious to me now is that I probably received one of the test sets or 1st ones made, hence the crap quality although this still doesn't explain the scratches, lack of polished areas and white flecks throughout all the items!!!

I actually asked for you to credit me these parts and instead send me carbon guards and I would fix up the remaining cost, it was you who chose to refund me, maybe this is because you realised that the level of workmanship I require from carbon parts is above what restored can offer, only you can answer this honestly.

After buying a few different items I feel I am in a position to offer advice on the quality of the carbon parts that came out and that advice would be to stay away from them. You may notice I only advised people not to buy the carbon and instead buy the fibreglass as all the issues I had would not matter with fibreglass.

Ben, there are very few people in Australia who would be willing to spend the $$ required to put carbon on their K and I am one of them, you seem to be the only other. You did look after me and as I stated in my email "sorry for the stuff up you went through, I know it wasn't your fault that the quality was bad". I harbor no ill feelings towards you and was about to order a grill from you the other day, the only reason I didn't is that I bought a new main canopy for skydiving instead.

I still want carbon bumpers, trim, bobtail, guards, bonnet and boot for my K but I don't feel safe in ordering the restored items as the quality was crap. If you can assure me that this isn't the case then maybe we can sort something out. If you are a person who is happy with spending money on parts and then having to get them polished yourself when they arrive maybe the restored carbon is for you but I am a person who excepts to get what they paid for and not have to finish them off when they arrive.

No hard feelings Ben, I wish you all the best and everyone on this forum is very happy with you as you are the only person in Australia who is helping us out with these sorts of parts. We've had huge issues getting these parts until you came along and I can speak for everyone here that we thank you for that.

Andrew

[Mastadd240K]

Hey Ben, no one was Rubbishing Otomoto we all love what you guys have been able to achieve at Otomoto and have alot of respect for you.

Consider it a review of Restored Products, something i have been interested for along time i will now will be looking at buying some Fibreglass parts from restored thru you guys.

[Otomoto]

This thread is titled "Restored Carbon Fibre bits are absolute crap". Sounds like rubbishing an entire brand to me.

What I said about these parts was true, when I ordered them in October last year they had never been made before by Restored.

In my post I said "virtually a one-off" not "one-off" because these are extremely specialised parts that would be unlikely to sell more than a couple of sets a year even in Japan. Restored have them on their website now because they own the moulds so they have every right to make more of them in the future.

I did specially order these parts for Andrew because I certainly wouldn't keep parts like this on the shelf normally.

I went out of my way to get parts that are not available anywhere else and lost money in the process. Now the parts I still have in stock a year later are being rubbished so I have even less chance of selling them.

Thankfully I have many other customers who are very happy with products from Restored.

[240kconvertible]

If I was rubbishing the entire brand can you please explain why I suggest to people to buy the fibreglass items?

I only rubbished the carbon and I still stand behind my post. I should have made the title "some of the parts I bought from restored were crap". I will ask for the title to be changed as it is a little misleading. In Restored's defense I am happy enough with the front lip to keep it.

You stated that these parts we're a special request and that only two set were made, one for you and one for me. Do you really expect people to believe that restored only made two sets to begin with and not one for their showroom or cars in Japan? I remember it as being that they were a new item line that has just been made and will be on the website shortly. At no point did you mention to me that these were a special request order only, hence me calling bulls&^t on it Ben.

Anyway, if the parts had arrived and they were without scratches, indents, white flecks, polished correctly and with thread holes attached I would have accepted them. If I were you I would have sent the lot back to Restored and asked for them to be made correctly or at least have them pay for them to be polished. When I order carbon I don't want to then have to pay for them to be finished off correctly.

Are you saying that you are fine sending scratched and unpolished area pieces to customers as my photos show?

Ben, I really do feel sorry for you as you have gone out of your way to bring in items for us (at very little profit too) that no one else will ever be bothered to do and in the end as you have stated only you have lost out in this whole episode. I may take offense to what you have written on this thread but no one can say you are not a fair person.

For the record Ben refunded every cent I paid him on the parts, all I lost out on was some freight.

[240kconvertible]

Please remove and delete this thread.

[KID-K]

interesting reading............