Silvia Club of NSW

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PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 12:16 am 
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T03 Hybrid

Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 10:39 pm
Posts: 182
Location: Canberra/Sydney Australia
Car: 180sx Type X
So I've been looking for some replacement brake rotors which I just wanted to be plug & play - spoke to my mechanic and he has fitted Project Mu ones with minimal fuss (might just need to be redrilled to 4 stud) but it was fine.

Sussed it out - Project Mu only make 3 types of rotors:

SCR Pure Plus - OEM replacement
SCR - a little better than OEM replacement, slotted
SCR Pro - 2 piece

Now I was informed not to purchase the 2-piece ones as the hat was made of aluminium and mechanic was reluctant to drill into that. I didn't want the OEM replacement because I like to give my car a circuit bashing every now and then and my rotors are quite worn and brakes feel kind spongy after a long day - so a small upgrade wasn't a bad idea.

I got a quote for these rotors from a Japanese dealer and they were significantly cheaper, however required a lead delivery time of 9-10 weeks by sea. I needed the rotors like, in 4 weeks (which I thought was a reasonable time to expect a delivery to arrive, and have previously received within this timeframe).

So I am convinced after a mate kept bragging on about a particular Melbourne-based supplier of parts, he bought these SCR slotted rotors from the exact same car as mine for XXX price. It wasn't all that long ago, in fact I think the yen was worse before so I called them up to see what they could do.

So this guy answers my call, and I make it clear I want SCR rotors, not the OEM replacement. Doesn't have any other words - just SCR. He goes "oh I might have that in stock" so goes checks, opens the box and sure enough a 4-stud set of rotors for my car, for roughly the price range my friend paid for his.

Rotors arrive. They don't look anything like the picture. In fact they don't look like anything I've ever seen in conducting research on Project Mu rotors. They looked like this: http://www.vividracing.com/catalog/proj ... 19008.html

Upon further research, it turns out these are actually the Pure Plus 6 - the OEM replacement. The word SCR isn't even anywhere on the box, or invoice he sent me.

I queried this and their response:

"With the SCR, I don't have any in stock at the moment, I can only order from Japan and takes about 3-5 weeks. Price is $XXX delivered.

With the Pure Plus SD624 I Supplied to you, which is not the OEM Quality, Project Mu makes this special Rotor for European Market and mainly supplied for those BMW M3 and GTR's etc in UK and German etc. I was lucky to get a few sets for Silvias, Skylines, WRX and EVO etc from my Japanese Project Mu Export department by about half year ago. Retaled details can be view > http://www.google.com.au/#hl=en&q=Proje ... 0be25f1996
This Rotor has been tested in the Nurburging Track and been really sucessed."

Note that this new price quoted, was about $200 more than what I paid.

I took these rotors to my mechanic who responded with a dumbfounded look, was told he knew and had never seen these rotors and they weren't even drilled properly (they are like half drilled, not all the way through). He has fitted SCR ones so can only comment on those, but suggests if these were not what I ordered than to ask them to deliver the ones I did.

I was genuinely bamboozled - had I miscommunicated my order to this douchebag? I checked my email thread and surely enough, prior to making a payment I stated, in writing, I was paying for Project Mu SCR Rotor slotted front pair to suit 180sx RPS13 SR20DET.

I mean, I could go to consumer affairs and escalate this, but time is running short. So I called up Shelbyville douchebag and told him he had sent the wrong rotors. He failed to see that PurePlus6 is not the same as SCR. SCR would have to be ordered from Japan and would take 3-5 weeks.

At this point I was already steaming mad, and just wanted a solution and the right rotors sent to me because I had already wasted a week entertaining this. I asked my friend to look for his invoice so I can could send it in to prove that they had charged this same price for SCR but of course this is priority negative zero so I've had to find other ways of resolving this issue coz I need rotors!

I hate to put this out there, but I think they were taking me for a ride because it was a female voice and they probably thought if the metal disc had some green painted on it and some slots here and there the difference wouldn't be known. I was also doing them a favour buying their old stock at the same price they are selling the higher-model rotors which would have to be ordered in.

Unless there is a plausible reason to keep these monstrocities (I do believe this whole story about them being tested on nurburgring is abit of a fairytale coz the link I was sent is dud and there is no mention of testing or European market anywhere unless I am blind and can't see it)
I have made a commitment to get rid of these rotors - I don't think they're appropriate for the purposes I initially intended and I just want my money back because its not going back to them to potentially fuck up another order.

Just fucking grinds my gears that I paid my money, clarified in writing what the hell I was buying, made it as clear as I possibly could on the phone, and people still send me the wrong fucking part, try to rip me off and waste my time.

What makes me even more pissed off is that 4 weeks lead-in time is not enough to get some rotors and fit them to a fucking car - I'm not even modifying my existing brakes - they are literally just plug & play.

In principle I should fight this till the end, but in practise, I am really running out of time and just want some fucking Project Mu rotors at not double-the-price they're asking in Japan, so I can just satisfy my burning desire to get some adrenalin pumping at Wakefield.

Is that too much to ask?

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PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:03 am 
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Nice rant, don't see too many like that any more.

You are right, they aren't an scr rotor, they are a pure plus so material used is of a lower spec. Don't worry about the dimples so much, more the material the rotor's are made from.

I would return them and order the right ones through streeter. If you are desperate for them then get them air freighted over but the cost will be pretty high.

As an alternative, see what the difference between air freight and sea freight is, If it's more than 100 then hedge your bets, put in the order for sea freight and be prepared to chuck on some RDA's temporarily if they don't arrive in time.

It's at least good you have a mechanic who is happy to drill rotors.

And yeah, pmu australia's 80% mark up on landed price is a joke.

HC+ pads wholesale price in japan is around 14500 yen so say $180ish cost price. Shipping, duty and gst adds about $30/set when bought in bulk, yet local price is $345....

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PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 1:34 pm 
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TO4

Joined: Sun May 14, 2006 6:37 pm
Posts: 230
Car: s15
I just ordered rear HC+ for my s15 from streeter.
They should cost about $255 delivered.


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:53 pm 
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T03 Hybrid

Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2007 10:39 pm
Posts: 182
Location: Canberra/Sydney Australia
Car: 180sx Type X
Dave, Ru55kj - thanks for your replies! I felt like I was alone in this uphill battle because there was nothing I could so in my situation - at the mercy of bloody car parts!

Just ordered some pads and SCR rotors off Jesse, I do hope they come in time! Happy to pay the air freight if it means I don't have to deal with bullshit incompetence.

Thank you for clarifying the difference between pureplus & SCR - I did some prelim reading on the Project Mu website and it does start SCR is suitable for circuit use whereas the pureplus is merely an upgrade for street use.

The Melbourne people are trying to pass the cost of posting the rotors back to them to me - he suggested that I take them to the post office because his courier doesnt pick up from other locations - Australia Post - ARE YOU KIDDING? They'll charge a fortune to take forever to deliver and then break them, then I definitely won't get my money back! (I wouldnt try to resell brake rotors which have gone through Australia Post).

So the saga goes... grrrr

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