Quote:
Originally Posted by mav1178
And that's also the point I have been trying to make... people are so blind to the brand (Tomei Japan) and overlook the fact that most of the parts are from the same factory in Taiwan or China but shipped to a different part of the world.
The reason for this is because when you buy from Taiwan, they invoice in USD which is a stable price cost. When you buy from China, they invoice in RMB but the exchange rate is somewhat stable due to policies by the Chinese government.
When you buy from Japan, they sell in JPY which is very much one of the major currencies that fluctuates based on market conditions. Anywhere from 1USD to 80~120JPY has been seen in the last 10 years.
I only know of two factories (out of 4 or 5) that supply both Tomei Japan and Tomei USA. Both of these factories are in Taiwan, and both of these factories make very high quality part. But if you only think about the split and not who makes the actual product, then you're kind of missing the point...
All of Tomei's head gaskets are made in Taiwan by a company who has been making OE replacement gasket for 30+ years. All of Tomei's exhaust manifolds are made in Taiwan by a factory who ONLY does high quality welding, the piping is sourced elsewhere. I can go in to these two factories tomorrow and buy the same product without a brand name for cheap, but selling them is a different story since everyone wants a brand and not an actual product.
Hint: if you look up Tomei UEL exhaust manifolds for the FA20 (BRZ) and look up who is the closest manifold on the market for about $200 cheaper, you'll quickly find that they come from the same factory I am talking about. Same with head gaskets, there's a brand out there that looks like a copy of Tomei... when in reality they are the original.
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Alright here is my and likely other people's point.
I am going to use Walmart for example.
It is a proven fact and common knowledge Walmart gets tv's made with lower quality components to meet their prices. Those tv's are made in the same factory as the other tv's however, they are given different part numbers to show they are in fact not the same product.
Tomei JP made its name for being a quality parts supplier for JDM cars. Tomei usa sold those parts under the USA name. When the split happened, Tomei usa continues to use Tomei JP's brand name without the backing of a long history of quality. We
do not know if Tomei USA QA is the same as Tomei JP. We
do not know If Tomei USA uses the same materials as Tomei JP.
Tomei usa is basically using the legendary name of Tomei JP to peddle their parts which may or may not be the same quality as Tomei JP.
The worst part is Tomei usa didn't say a word about it. This suggests they are trying to hide the split which would be a shady tactic.
It's one thing if we know it is a blatant knock off that mostly works and may have a small fitment issue the user has to resolve (see isr) however again to represent yourself as something you are not is a shady business practice and one that I choose not to support.