A friendly warning: Extreme Dimensions sucks
01-23-2007, 05:45 AM
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A friendly warning: Extreme Dimensions sucks
I thought I'd share this with you all - both for informational purposes and a good laugh. Here is my story:
November: I visit the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, where I come across the Extreme Dimesions booth (the widebody MkV GTI reeled me in). I visited with a representative for about a half hour, and during that time I looked over some "raw parts" there for demonstration. The parts looked great for being fiberglass. I asked the guy suspiciously "So when I order something from you guys, I can expect this quality?"
He assures me that everything they sell goes through a ten-point inspecion before leaving the factory and it's the best-fitting stuff on the market.
I'm impressed, but still skeptical and a little curious.
Early December: A customer asks me if I'll install an e-bay bodykit on his '96 Integra for him. I promptly tell him "hell no" and convince him to instead give an ED kit a try. He agrees, I set up an account and make my first order.
"You'll save a lot more money on prep work by spending a little more on this kit from a reputable company" I told him....
Mid December: Box arrives containing all the parts, along with a letter detailing again how closely the parts are inspected prior to shipping. The 10-point inspection guys must have been off on the day these shipped... every part had at least one crack (rear bumper had 5!), and chips all over.
Against my better judgement, and in the interest of speeding the process along for the customer, I began repairs and priming.
Late December: Car arrives at shop and we test fit the parts... at least we attempt to. Check this out:
At this point we taped one side to the car and used a ratcheting crago strap to pull the other side down and back. It was too tweaked to push down and hold by hand!
Then this huge ripple formed in the center of the bumper...
So a relief slice was made, heat was applied to it to lay it down a bit.
At this point the bumper was on the car, but it was still very craptacular, as you can see here...
Early January: The owner of the car is pretty upset - not at me nessesarily, but at Extreme Dimensions. I'm now charging 1/2 price for the work on this car, sometimes staying at the shop until 9 pm working free-of-charge to make him happy.
I contact my sales rep at ED to inform him of my displeasure. He assures me that the kit should not be this way, and asks for pics to be e-mailed, so I send him these pics three times, none of which seem to make it to his mailbox, so I send the e-mail and pics to the company president. Work continues on the kit while I wait for a reply from ED.
Heat lamps, fiberglass patches, body filler, primer... 40 hours in kit fitment alone at this point. Below you can see the ratcheting strap pulling the bumper corners in the needed 4 1/2 inches, and the weight pulling the cut area down into shape. It stayed in this position for three days.
The side skirts both had a 1 3/4" gap at the back, so they were heated and clamped into position as well.
Rear bumper is the best fitting piece, but needs the most crack repair and filler work.
Mid January: ED rep contacts me and says "We're going to replace the front bumper and side skirts! Stop working on them!" Unfortunately, the parts are all in final primer by this time and ready for paint. I have 40+ hours in fitment, body work, and repairs.
The rep says no problem, they will credit me for my troubles and asks me again and again if I'm sure I don't want a new bumper and skirts free-of-charge. I turn down the parts, but accept a credit. "Okay," he says, "I'll forward this to our customer service division and they'll call you in 48 hours to set something up".
"Customer service" rep calls me four days later. The parts are on stands in the booth, being cleaned and tacked for paint when he calls. He tells me they're prepared to send me another bumper and skirts. When I tell him they're ready for paint and I don't want new parts, he gets flustered with me. I informed him that I was entitled to a credit, and that it needed to be sufficient enough to cover 50 hours of reduced-rate bodywork.
The guy calls me back about 3 minutes later and offers me $50 credit. That's $1 per hour I have in fitting this POS alone. I laugh at the offer and tell him if that's the case, go ahead and send me the new bumper and skirts. He then says "Well, we're prepared to offer you the $50 credit, but the offer for the new parts no longer stands".
We got into it a little bit at this point. I ended up telling him to go ahead and credit me the money, but not to plan on me ever using it. I told him "I can buy a similar kit from Wings West for a couple hundred bucks more and it goes right on! Why should I buy from you again?!"
Now: The parts are painted and ready for install.
But do you know what the best part about all this is? Look closely at the center scoop in the pic below... primarily the up-turned lip in the center. Does that look centered to you?
It's all 1 1/2" to the left. Glad I didn't take that new bumper, it would've looked just like this one. Nice mold, guys.
Sorry for the novel, I just wanted you all to see first-hand how these squirrels operate. Looking out for fellow enthusiasts!
November: I visit the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, where I come across the Extreme Dimesions booth (the widebody MkV GTI reeled me in). I visited with a representative for about a half hour, and during that time I looked over some "raw parts" there for demonstration. The parts looked great for being fiberglass. I asked the guy suspiciously "So when I order something from you guys, I can expect this quality?"
He assures me that everything they sell goes through a ten-point inspecion before leaving the factory and it's the best-fitting stuff on the market.
I'm impressed, but still skeptical and a little curious.
Early December: A customer asks me if I'll install an e-bay bodykit on his '96 Integra for him. I promptly tell him "hell no" and convince him to instead give an ED kit a try. He agrees, I set up an account and make my first order.
"You'll save a lot more money on prep work by spending a little more on this kit from a reputable company" I told him....
Mid December: Box arrives containing all the parts, along with a letter detailing again how closely the parts are inspected prior to shipping. The 10-point inspection guys must have been off on the day these shipped... every part had at least one crack (rear bumper had 5!), and chips all over.
Against my better judgement, and in the interest of speeding the process along for the customer, I began repairs and priming.
Late December: Car arrives at shop and we test fit the parts... at least we attempt to. Check this out:
At this point we taped one side to the car and used a ratcheting crago strap to pull the other side down and back. It was too tweaked to push down and hold by hand!
Then this huge ripple formed in the center of the bumper...
So a relief slice was made, heat was applied to it to lay it down a bit.
At this point the bumper was on the car, but it was still very craptacular, as you can see here...
Early January: The owner of the car is pretty upset - not at me nessesarily, but at Extreme Dimensions. I'm now charging 1/2 price for the work on this car, sometimes staying at the shop until 9 pm working free-of-charge to make him happy.
I contact my sales rep at ED to inform him of my displeasure. He assures me that the kit should not be this way, and asks for pics to be e-mailed, so I send him these pics three times, none of which seem to make it to his mailbox, so I send the e-mail and pics to the company president. Work continues on the kit while I wait for a reply from ED.
Heat lamps, fiberglass patches, body filler, primer... 40 hours in kit fitment alone at this point. Below you can see the ratcheting strap pulling the bumper corners in the needed 4 1/2 inches, and the weight pulling the cut area down into shape. It stayed in this position for three days.
The side skirts both had a 1 3/4" gap at the back, so they were heated and clamped into position as well.
Rear bumper is the best fitting piece, but needs the most crack repair and filler work.
Mid January: ED rep contacts me and says "We're going to replace the front bumper and side skirts! Stop working on them!" Unfortunately, the parts are all in final primer by this time and ready for paint. I have 40+ hours in fitment, body work, and repairs.
The rep says no problem, they will credit me for my troubles and asks me again and again if I'm sure I don't want a new bumper and skirts free-of-charge. I turn down the parts, but accept a credit. "Okay," he says, "I'll forward this to our customer service division and they'll call you in 48 hours to set something up".
"Customer service" rep calls me four days later. The parts are on stands in the booth, being cleaned and tacked for paint when he calls. He tells me they're prepared to send me another bumper and skirts. When I tell him they're ready for paint and I don't want new parts, he gets flustered with me. I informed him that I was entitled to a credit, and that it needed to be sufficient enough to cover 50 hours of reduced-rate bodywork.
The guy calls me back about 3 minutes later and offers me $50 credit. That's $1 per hour I have in fitting this POS alone. I laugh at the offer and tell him if that's the case, go ahead and send me the new bumper and skirts. He then says "Well, we're prepared to offer you the $50 credit, but the offer for the new parts no longer stands".
We got into it a little bit at this point. I ended up telling him to go ahead and credit me the money, but not to plan on me ever using it. I told him "I can buy a similar kit from Wings West for a couple hundred bucks more and it goes right on! Why should I buy from you again?!"
Now: The parts are painted and ready for install.
But do you know what the best part about all this is? Look closely at the center scoop in the pic below... primarily the up-turned lip in the center. Does that look centered to you?
It's all 1 1/2" to the left. Glad I didn't take that new bumper, it would've looked just like this one. Nice mold, guys.
Sorry for the novel, I just wanted you all to see first-hand how these squirrels operate. Looking out for fellow enthusiasts!
01-23-2007, 06:38 AM
#2
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i went through the same thing with the ED body drift body kit when i had my cavalier! the only thing that fit was the front bumper! the side skirts were to long or to short and the rear bumper was severely warped at the top! i had to spend extra $$$ to have it reshaped and sprayed with a hardening compound because the quality of their work was so poor! that experience has completely put me off on every buying another bodykit again!!!
01-23-2007, 08:15 AM
#3
Apathy Kills
Thanks for sharing your experience.
IMO, these fitment issue are reason enough to not invest in any bodykit..
h:
Moved to Appearance / Cosmetic: Showroom.
IMO, these fitment issue are reason enough to not invest in any bodykit..
h:Moved to Appearance / Cosmetic: Showroom.
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01-23-2007, 09:27 AM
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Though it sucks that you had to go through that experience with ED, I must commend you on the work and the extra steps you took to make the customer happy. I wish that you were local as there are too many paint and body shops here that overcharge and do shoddy work.
01-23-2007, 10:48 AM
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wow, that is crazy, sorry for the shitty experience! but at least u have the skill to make it decent! for that i give u thumbs up!!
I Know for a fact u will never use those tards again!
I Know for a fact u will never use those tards again!
01-23-2007, 07:23 PM
#7
Custom Paint and Body
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Thanks a lot for the kind words guys! 
Here's the Integra as of today, the skirts and rear bumper aren't on yet...
Is it just me, or does it kinda have a "Supra look" goin' on?
Here's the Integra as of today, the skirts and rear bumper aren't on yet...
Is it just me, or does it kinda have a "Supra look" goin' on?
01-23-2007, 07:36 PM
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Yeah i can see a bit of supra in it, i think its the headlight port things and the enlongated front, nice job though
01-24-2007, 08:34 PM
#10
Still here... sorta...
ED never has impressed me. I'm sorry you had to deal with what you did. Commendations on your eithics, though. I'd send my car to you if I had an intention of using a body kit... but I don't. :hs: