Super Duper JDM Shop

[HIGH END EAST]

Between the east and west coast, the car scenes are two total different levels of tuning. What it looks like to me is the west coast take's the import scene seriously and everyone pays big bucks for big parts. As for the east, we are slowly progressing but i still see posers left and right. So im wondering, would people on the east coast be willing to pay top dollar for top parts? I hope this gives no offense to anybody, from the big ballers to the bang for the buck tuners. We are all tuners and cars are cars. The reason for this thread is a friend of mine from the west is contemplating on opening a shop on the east coast. He already owns a shop in the west, called High End Performance. They carry high brand japanese parts that are usually hard for the average tuner to get a hold of. They carry the parts in shop 24/7, and they have the cars to show it. Heres some of their machines.... I want to get some feedback as tuners, from both sides. Whether you buy parts for the name, and r& d and craftsmanship or if your just a bang for your buck as long as it gets the job done type of tuner.
Is this something the East Coast market would support, especially if they gave back to the community by throwing events and supporting the industry; i.e. helping setup and organize drift events, be involved with redline and gtlive with thier time attack events, hold shows etc....








Here is the shop facility on the west coast:







So my question is, would you guys like a shop like this? Capable of building cars like that on the east coast?

I would gladly appreciate opinions on this, were still in the works of going in with this...Thnx


-Mark

[S13Leprechaun]

well we have a shop here in sd, and they have super expensive rare shit, and some unkown brand stuff for cheaper... theres people that want both.. so the best thing to do would be to provide both for customers... cause when it comes to strut bars and shit like that, ot me if it gets the job done im fine... i dont need or want to buy a $200 cusco front strut bar when i can get one for $20 or $30 that will be fine thats a no-namer.. idk... just my 2 cents.

[eastcoastS14]

ha hell yeah.....just open it in boston imports over here are seriously suffering

[brndck]

high end builds sick cars. every car i've seen from them, whether it was in a magazine or at a show, is damn near flawless. and nothing is left unmodified. they would be a godsend to any area where people are looking to obtain rare/expensive stuff. just hope the market on the east coast would be enough to justify opening a location there. the only thing i dislike about em is that, maybe i'm wrong, but do any of their cars see track time? or are they just all show. not that theres anything wrong with just all show, just not my fave.

[roel03]

I live in FL and we would love a shop like that. We have some performance shops like Enjuku but nothing compared to that.

[HIGH END EAST]

the cars that are built there are flawless, and yes they are sick, as for track time i believe they are getting to run some events next season. I know for a fact if it were to happen you guys would see some of their east coast cars run because thats what the east coast does.

The west loves the show circuit but the east builds cars to run; i.e. like my 240sx (buddy club) that i ran at VIR last week....

But we all have an idea of what we all want, us 240 guys know what happens when we hit the track, we break shyt. Whether we are awesome or not shyt breaks, so we try to get the best bang for the buck.

Where as the guys that are time attacking dont break stuff as much so maybe they'll buy something that has had tons of r&d done to ensure the parts work properly.

the show guys want the bling fact. The part may not even work but if its super rare and expensive thats what they want.

A shop that understands this and knows what the market wants and will support, will do good in my opinion. I think the biggest problem with shops these days is they aren't actually participating and don't get down to the tuner's level and don't understand what they want.

So if this can be accomplished on the East and a shop could provide a happy median for all aspects, do you guys (the grass roots tuners) think it would be something that would help you guys accomplish what you want to do, and do you think it would be a hit with the tuners themselves?

So far it looks like the east is lacking something of this nature and does need something like this.

[GSXRJJordan]

The serious issue here is would the shop make money. Global shipping/commerce means anyone can get anything from anywhere, it just comes down to convenience - once a shop somewhere in the US has a part that you want, you can buy it from them with a minimum of hassle.

A shop makes its money by moving product, and performing labor. If they're planning on just opening a warehouse/showroom like in the pics, I would say it's not worth it; they'd be stealing potential business from the West Coast shop and introducing tons (basically double) overhead. If they want to do full buildups/etc (the real money has always been in delivering a 'turn-key' product), then I would think it would be worth it - but there are other competitors out on the Eastern Seaboard to think about.

It's a tough call either way, and there's no way to tell until you actually do it whether it will pay off. C'est la vie.

[Bushido]

"flawless" and "sick" cars? i see none in this thread. I see cars trying to emulate japanese style, but not pulling it off 100%.

[HIGH END EAST]

Thats exactly why i posted this, keep the opinions coming.

What if the shop offered everything from custom widebody work, like the cars you see up top, where a designer would fly out and build that jgtc dream car.

To building an all out race car,

All the way down to offering a detailing package for the cars after that nasty east coast winter, with the snow and salt ruining cars.....

What if you were able to get everything done at a shop, and parts were competitvely priced.

From installs to detailing your car to being able to pick and choose your parts and have them in a timely matter...

-Mark

[steve shadows]

sure but the 240 community is poor and getting poorer

[S13Leprechaun]

^^this is true... especially us out here in cali.. i cant even afford a double cheesburger.

[ThatGuy]

A "High End" shop trying to cater to 240sx drivers?







Oh wait.

You were serious?

Stick to building Magazine Cars. There aren't many of that caliber on Zilvia, and likely won't be.

[silnismo]

The perfect location, I THINK should be around the tri state area nj/ny/pa.

We have absolutly nothing, all the parts on my car are bought online and parts i can't install are usually left to my local nissan dealership.(yes, they do aftermarket parts)

And if you wanted to do events, theres englishtown, nj. Also a road course recently opened there as well.

The only problem i can see is that their are about equally as much imports as domestics around my area.

my .02 $

[ROIDMONKEY]

FLORIDA FLORIDA so i stop ordering crap from u people up in CA BASTARDS
there is nothing down here period , and dont u people say ENJUKO or Enjuke or DUKE whatever the name is . caus ethey have notin ever when i call to order or something

[JDMsosofreshS13]

hell ya i would love a shop like that here near the jersey new york area.there are shops around here already..but a shop that carries all the big name companies.youd get alot of feedback here in the jersey area.as well as new york area.were only progressing slowly because of the weather here on the east coast.but that doesnt mean we dont have garages.

[TipStylez]

you want money, open a shop in the east coast that aims for VIP and DUB styled cars.

The nissan community aint that baller, even if they drive a 350z, most owners still aim for DIY or the cheapest best bang for the buck parts. Just once in awhile you have the owners that is willing to spend big bucks for a flashy part.

And most tuners are cheap civic or 240 drivers. hahaha

[ae13bravo]

I was in Lafayette ,Indiana in the summer (I know its not the east coast but I thought it might help out). While was there i had never seen so many american cars on the streets. There were some imports but not as many as in Cali. Well point is that there was a lot of posers and not many serious tuners. My buddy recently moved out there and has a VR4 Galant thats well built(beats a Z06 on the streets). Only two cars gave him a good chase. A wrx wich beat him and a turbo Civic wich kept up until mid third gear. We stopped and talked to them about local shops (there were none worth naming according to them) and they said they practically had to go to really far (like chicago,IL) or online to get the good stuff. Funniest thing I seen there was a civic hatch with a wrx front end. Hope this helped.

[yokotas13]

Im gonna say No
People SAY they will pay for the shit, but when it comes down to it 90% of the nissan game will always go back to stance, megan, kts, k sport

that 10% isnt enough to keep your business up
now if you were knowledgable in VIP, then you could make some cash. Its a flourishing trend in the US, growing with the likes of drifting in terms of speed of growth.

But yeah, you woudlnt make it unless you catered to the 350z/g35/rx7/evo/sti crowd

[deadpirate]

high end performance caters to everyone. any and all makes and models of import cars. nissan/infiniti, subaru, honda/acura, toyota/lexus/scion. they cater to everything. not just 240sx owners

[sideview_180sx]

how come I see none of those cars running on the track???

[slider2828]

I actually do marketing for an import car company and we were looking at a similar situation. I think it is a very tough call because most parts would come from Japan, assuming that is what you are showing here, its an added cost to truck over to east coast. Secondly, although shop location and rent might off set that, there is still time to market. Building and fabrication is a needle in a hay stack, you aren't catering to 90% of the market. 90% of the market is doing bolt-ons and exhaus installs. Where 58% are looking at DIY stuff and the other 32 is just wash and wax and rims and stuff. Unless you have a huge marketing budget to go after all the potential race car companies, its going to be tough to do a high end build. You should ask Luke at SDP the same question.

Its a good dream to do it, but to build something to high end is more like a huge marketing factory backed sort of thing. What really pays the bills are brake jobs oil changes, timing belts, etc. Then your way into the local scene. That is my .02 cents, secondly, doing some research besides forums might help and the best way to get real market data and not opinions is to look at magazine data from Primedia. Just FYI, primedia owns more than 90% of the car magazines in the US including superstreet, modified, compact sports car, turbo, etc..... They have all the relevant data for markets you usualy need. Now asking them the right way to get that information is up to you.

[skylindrftr]

since when is seibon high end...

[iwishiwas-all*]

miami hasnt got anything like this since dare i say "Final Stage" closed.
in orlando enjuku racing makes a pretty decent killing, but they carry more run of the mill parts.

In all honesty, unless you can price your parts fairly comparable to that on the west coast and sell RELEVANT parts, i.e. no jic titanium exhaust for a celica gts, then you can make some money.

Location is everything on the east, no pigs-knuckle arkansas ultimate tuning shop. ( no offense to anyone in arkansas, its just business.) oh and it would be good to have some sort of bay to do repairs or installs on parts mabe oil changes like a super autobacs, because your not going to sell carbon backed bride seats 24/7 here thats 4 sure and im sure ull need some other income.
Miami beach anybody hahha?

[*Kung Fu Grip*]

I live in Tampa,Fl and I could name a couple shops that do it big down here in the south,The drifting scene is getting bigger so the west better watch out..

[yellow2000SR]

Originally Posted by silnismo

The perfect location, I THINK should be around the tri state area nj/ny/pa.

I agree. AND, this same 1st post is over on TriStateTuners.

I don't have the money now, but it would be great to have a local shop that is that serious here in Pa. Im in the York/Harrisburg area and would love to go to a serious chop just to hang out and meet others interested in the same thing besides Nissan / Ford guys (I have a Ford also).




Around 4 years from now, I should be in the final stages of a business plan for a shop. I'm going to most likely keep it located in the York/Harrisburg Pennsylvania area.

I'm planning to do Fabrication, Wheels / Tires / Suspension, Performance work, and possibly body/paint work. But this is in the future we are talking. I'm 19 and still learning and want to get a few years of in-the-field experience before I get to serious. I'm finishing up schooling at WyoTech here in December. I've taken Trim/Upholstery, Collisoin/Refinishing, Applied Service Managment (Accounting, Management, Business class), and am currently in Chassis Fabrication.

[ZenkitonS14]

LOL, catchin up to killa cali's gonna be TOUGH

[98koukile]

There are a few shops in CT that cater to high end tuning... xx tuning just had an Sti featured in modified mag, not to mention a tuning shop whos name escapes me has a modified GTR33 as there trophy piece. Subaru's and Evo's run the higher end tuning market, Honda's are usually nickel and dimed, Nissans are 50/50. It would be a good idea but the tri state or FL are probably gunna be your biggest money markets

[*Kung Fu Grip*]

Originally Posted by ZenkitonS14

LOL, catchin up to killa cali's gonna be TOUGH

we'll from what I see bill shermen with Enjuku Racing is doing badass right now in 9th overall.

[Saltman]

I just finished looking at the new Super Street and saw your buddies FD featured with all the best parts on it. I remember his 350z too. Since I moved back from CA, I was thinking of doing something similar myself - opening a tuner shop specializing in selling the REAL DEAL JDM stuff for serious tuners. Only problem is my location. Here in Bama, I would probably lose alot of money due to the small scene and lack of interest in such parts. FL or ATL would be a good spot and they have a really good scene. But honestly, I think a shop in Vegas would bring in alot of revenue too since most of those folks have to go to Cali to get such parts and they like to spend the dough on high end parts. The East is coming around, but it's still a year or so behind.

[sr20boostn20]

i live in ny, yes just about everyone around here that builds cars is looking for the cheapest way to be the fastest and the cheapest way to be the flyest everyone has rotas, on my ny forum theres at least 1 new thread a day about how to save money, or how to junkyard turbo your single cam in your hatch.

theres also a bunch of shops in the long island nyc area that cater to what ever you want,

to everyone that said theres nothing theres

fizz www.fizzautosports.com/ they'll build you want ever you want, suby, supra, 240. they stock jdm wheels and other hard to find jdm goodies, but you pay for it, way over priced

wings www.wingsperformance.com they are mr.240 of ny they have a large 240 following. id say they get most if not all of the nissan business around. they also stock front end conversions, they also stock some jdm parts, and can get you what ever you want from japan. also overpriced

nrg tech www.nrgtechracing.com mostly honda stuff, they have a dyno and a good tuner, and will build you whatever you want as long as you want it fast. good people good prices

no limit motorsport nolimitmotorsport.com they are an online mail order based sulffok long island. they stock whats needed and can get just about what ever you want.

the only places to race that i know of are englishtown nj, they do parking lot drift events some auto cross, and drag racing, then theres atco nj which is a drag strip to my knowledge, and island dragway nj also a drag strip.

all im saying is i dont think theres much out here in the way of tracks that arent drag strips or circle tracks.

but if you want to come out here, DO IT, theres always money to be made.
ill buy parts of no one else does. but theres defiantly a growing market out here, hell greddy opend up a warehouse in nj.

if you build it they will come.

good luck to you