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Vendors who maintain a direct relationship with - or are focused specifically on the Genesis Coupe community are listed here and each one will be tagged with an Asshole Rating. Since I'm not Roger Ebert and we're not discussing action movies here, assholes are rated by one to five red thumbs down after their name. The fewer red thumbs down after a vendor's name, the better the vendor is in terms of being good on their word, taking care of customers, being honest & straightforward, etc.
If you don't already know this about the aftermarket parts industry, every distributor/reseller is simply one person who holds a reseller account with one or all of the big three warehousing companies in the US - Pro-Motion, Motivicity, and Vibrant. Those three companies buy aftermarket parts in bulk and warehouse them in geographically convenient locations across the US, and resellers drop-ship much of their business directly from those warehouses to you when you place an order. Some brands/parts/warehouses will not drop ship at all, or to some specific locations, or they may restrict drop shipment by a brand or product. Therefore you must bear in mind this is how the process works, we'll use Injen as an example -
Injen Intake is manufactured, Injen ships it to a Warehouse. Lets say it gets shipped from Injen to Motivicity. Lets now say you order that intake from a reseller, we'll use GC Tuner as the example. GC Tuner places an order with Motivicity, who then packages and ships the product to your home address (or GC Tuner if they don't allow drop ship for that item) and they then invoice GC Tuner for the part. GC Tuner charges you for the part with a markup so they can pay the bills and make a little profit; built into that price is Injen's markup, Motivicity's markup, and any markup if Injen had the product manufactured overseas to cover shipping costs, and further markup if there was other shipping that GC Tuner gets stuck with by Motivicity.
Think about this when you are haggling a vendor; resellers make just about no money selling these products and their margins are razor-thin unless they have been selling for a long time, have a good relationship with their suppliers, with better-than-average pricing based on volume sold. If one reseller offers a better price over another it's because they are either willing to eat a loss in margin or they simply have been in business a long time, and get better pricing from the supplier than another guy does. Resellers are like car salesmen; they all sell you the same product, you choose who you shop with based on how they deal with you and how much you like their pricing. When a reseller says they have something "in-stock" nine times out of ten they all like to make it sound like they actually warehouse physical products. Nine out of ten resellers DO NOT PHYSICALLY STOCK ANY REAL INVENTORY. They may say "yeah its in-stock" but they simply mean the WAREHOUSE they are ordering from has it in stock. Therefore ship times will be LONGER THAN YOU EXPECT if you think the product is coming from THE RESELLER.
If a vendor has a green thumbs up next to their name, they have a reputation in the community for being a solid gold citizen and are a go-to provider for Genesis Coupe drivers with regard to whatever they provide/sell/develop. Check out real community reviews of vendors at http://kdmreviews.com/listings/category/vendors/
| Invision Automotion |
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Reseller/Retailer/General |
While IVA started out as a fantastic company, they've gone astray off the course of trustworthy, reliable customer service over time.
IVA had built a strong customer base by giving parts away at practically cost; but in doing so have lost the point of why it was founded (one of the original founders departed many years ago). IVA will be in contact until your payment is sent, then in most cases, you are on your own. Many cases have surfaced where customers have waited weeks and months for parts, only to discover IVA never placed the orders with the manufacturer, a backorder was at fault which they were never told of, etc etc.
While many are quick to defend invision due to the proprietor's "buddy" mentality giving away nothing but hookups, copious amounts of faulty service/straight up dishonesty have arisen.
The two men who set out years ago to take down Import Shark, SFR, and other well-known fixtures of big business (and atrocious customer service/quality) have now become one man, circling the drain, his "retail company" in all truth demonstrating itself to be literally nothing more than the types of people he set out to "destroy" as a retailer originally.
UPDATE: Closed
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| Import Shark |
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Importer/Body Components Specialist |
Mike Carducci has been importing aftermarket parts from Korea, China and Taiwan for the Korean car aftermarket which probably in all truth actually began as early as 1997 when an intake was first developed for the first Tiburons. IS operates out of the New York/Jersey area and sells worldwide, so you can be assured best possible treatment if you are local.
Beware that many of the body component (kits, skirts, lips, etc) products sold from IS routinely show up delivered to your door as a knockoff of a genuine branded item though they were advertised and sold as genuine branded. In alot of cases IS never even lays hands on the product as it's simply drop shipped to you directly from overseas or a manufacturer in the US that knocks off the imported Asian products. They are sometimes knocked off (copied) in the US because the cost in shipping, time lost in customs and rate of product damage in shipping end up eating up any margin the importer (like IS) might have made before the product is even here and salable.
Mike holds long-standing deep-discount pricing with alot of suppliers because he's been around a long time and done alot of people alot of favors; if he has the part you want for a price you like and you are certain he actually has the part, by all means buy from him. I would strongly advise shopping only brand-name upgrade parts that are not body components only because of the experience dozens of people over the years have had with knockoffs, wrong products, damaged & poor fitting products coming through him. |
| Korean Auto Imports |
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Importer/Re-Distributor |
This place has been hawking imported Korean crap for your Hyundai for years. They import whatever they can for whatever car they can, they even sell GM parts (???). They are the Wal-Mart approach to Korean car parts - sell ALL THE THINGS and hope enough stick to make a profit, repeat until golden brown.
If your product arrives damaged from Korea after you got ripped off on the price because these guys suck at operating a business, thats too damn bad because it's not likely they will care much. Also much of the trim stuff they sell (trunk emblems etc) are knockoffs of knockoffs from Korea, and are likely to die a terrible death in the sunlight due to incredibly poor quality.
Shop with extreme caution; if they are the only place to get something, buy it, and pray. |
| Shark Racing |
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Importer/Retailer/Reseller |
Simply put, one of the longest-lived and best known peddler of just about any Korean car part they can get their hands on, quality or not, with just about zero regard for the customer. If these guys could sell meth to you, they probably would.
Back in the day, a Tiburon driver once questioned the price he paid for his Shark Racing branded strut bar; he filmed himself bending it over his knee by hand on YouTube.
Aside from poor quality parts making up much of what they sell, Shark Racing is a fly-by-night outfit you don't want to give your money, even if the part you're trying to buy is a known good quality piece of gear. Shop elsewhere. |
| ARK Performance |
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Importer/Self-Styled Performance Parts 'developer' |
Originated in the early 2000s by a Korean importer named Ted Lee who at the time worked in partnership with a few other importers to operate a brand called Mussa which is now defunct. Ted literally began ARK Performance by stealing materials, products and for all I know cash from his partners at Mussa, and Mussa guys literally walked into the office at one point to find stuff - and Ted - missing. Shortly thereafter parts began surfacing on the Tiburon market that looked startlingly familiar to them; except they were branded "ARK" and not Mussa.
Today, Ted has the audacity to ship you products with Bible Verses printed down the side of his packaging.
ARK's products are as a general rule, hit-and-miss in terms of quality. This is because ARK does not actually design or develop much of it's product line, many items are either white-labeled products imported from overseas and sold under the brand name here, or they are knockoffs of products from other brands. From time to time they will develop a product and claim fancy engineering R&D was done to make it awesome; in almost every case these embellishments have been disassembled and proven to be nothing more than shiny baubles hung off things like exhausts to make you feel better about spending more money than a competitor on their product.
ARK is also famous for the Hyundai Motor America-Sponsored dark red wide-body kitted V6 showcar of 2011 which they claimed was supercharged etc., though it has lived it's entire life with a generic centrifugal supercharger hanging on the front of the motor, un-belted to the engine and un-tuned - because they can't tune it.
Be wary of shopping with these guys as they are a little shady and also respond very poorly to shipping claims when they ship you a product that wasn't packed properly and gets smashed in transit. |
| PowerAXEL |
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Importer/Exported, 'tuning provider' for Korean Cars |
Operated by a Korean citizen who has been in the business of importing KDM products we want and exporting USDM products they want. This guy has been selling products to unsuspecting Korean car tuners since the turn of the century; previously known to the Tiburon community as Rick@Real Engineering, he took pre-order payments in large amounts for things like Tiburon turbo kits, ECU flash tunes etc., and then ran off to Korea with everyone's money in the early 2000s. Nobody ever saw that money again. He returned to the US with the advent of the Genesis Coupe on the US market, and he now goes by the name Vincent. His real name is Hong Minh.
Arvin Ko, Minh's nephew, operated the US-side business exceptionally well for some time. He was well-liked and went out of his way for customers, at times even when he was operating at a dollar loss. Eventually, after getting walked on by his uncle and basically drummed out due to a lack of a business plan and shady conduct, Arvin left to pursue other opportunities. Even in absence, Arvin has endured legal threats from his uncle as Mr. Vincent struggles to make a safe bed to lie in either in Korea or the United States.
Originally the only supplier of the only usable US-marketed flash tuning solution for the Genesis Coupe, his services & products eventually turned out to be nothing but hacked/cracked/stolen bullshit that even he and his "people" didn't know how to use, but they were happy to charge premium prices for them. They are happy to peddle junk products such as their strut bar which is actually weaker than OEM and barely fits, for example.
At one point this guy brought over a teenage tuner from Korea to flash people's Genesis Coupes - this kid was paid something like $1000/mo in wages to work sometimes 16+ hour days, only to get shipped back to Korea. Not only has this guy abused his employees but he has bald face lied to customers repeatedly and knowingly sold/sells product that is either junk quality or potentially damaging to you or your car.
In late 2012, PowerAXEL collapsed as far as the US is concerned with PowerAXEL's Korean supplier of flash tuning hardware and arguably some software as well - CM Network - who caught Mr. Vincent violating their contract and underselling them in their own backyard. Today, his "tuning products" (which are junk) are sold under the name "Sterlin F1" from time to time so be wary.
DO NOT SHOP WITH THIS COMPANY IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT. |
| FB Hyundai |
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Hyundai Dealership Parts Dept. Reselling OEM & Aftermarket |
The only reason these guys get an Asshole Rating is because this is literally just a Hyundai Dealership's parts department throwing a pipe bomb into the marketplace so their parts crew or dept. manager can make a fast buck and be the general manager's pet.
What makes a dealership parts desk different from any other reseller, is that the profit margin in OEM parts is pretty much fixed and every dealership sells at the exact same price & margin across the board; parts departments at dealerships are typically rated by their Corporate Overseers in terms of units sold rather than profit margin. They are a component of a business, not a business themselves. Therefore Fred Bean Hyundai can use their dealership's buying power and ability to store inventory on hand in bulk to sell at ridiculously low prices that beat nearly anyone else on the reseller market due to the simple fact that they don't have to mark up their products nearly as much since they get rated on units sold.
This torpedoes the resellers in the market who are actually invested in the community and are historically involved in the cars and the tuner lifestyle; you and everyone else reading this knows damn well your Hyundai dealership doesn't give to shits about tuners or their cars, and doesn't want anything to do with them aside from making a profit on them.
For OEM parts they may beat out other dealerships only because they are trying to build a parts business (likely because they can't sell enough cars to save their jobs, as is the case with most dealerships who do this) but if you want to actually support your lifestyle, and the people who really contribute and sweat to make it happen, don't buy from a dealer like this, buy from the resellers who put in the time. |
| SeoulFul Racing |
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Importer/Exported, 'tuning provider' for Korean Cars |
SFR has been around for a very long time in the Tiburon market and inevitably made their way into the Genesis Coupe market the day it showed up. They are vicious adversaries of PowerAXEL, BTRCC and any other Korean importer you might shop with. Jay, the operator, will sell name brand stuff you might typically get from a general retailer and sometimes even claim he's the exclusive and you can't get something he sells anywhere else. Except that you google it and shazam someone else sells it.
Jay resells one of the flavors of hacked/cracked/stolen Hyundai ECU tuning for both motors of the Genesis, though while he likes to tout his accomplishments with his monster power builds - when asked to do one of those builds for a client - he will simply say no, because behind the scenes those builds are all bubblegum and scotch tape. But they look cool.
While quite a few people are happy with the end product they get out of canned SFR tunes for their 2.0T and V6 cars, ordering imported body parts etc. through SFR is a dangerous prospect, as you will invariably get treated like shit (sometimes in public on the forums) by Jay if you press him about resolving your issue. Try to avoid if possible. |
| Diode Dynamics |
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LED & Misc. Lighting Products |
Operated by the somewhat notorious Paul McCain, DD's products are typically of decent enough quality and reasonable price but customer service stories range from hell on Earth to receiving free handjobs with reacharound and a cupcake.
Shopping with Diode Dynamics is alot like shopping at Wal-Mart; buyer beware, you get what you pay for, and don't expect anyone to pay too much attention to you if you've got a problem or need help. |
| Throwdown |
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Reseller/Retailer for all types of aftermarket parts |
Throwdown is a run of the mill distributor; if there is a brand-name performance part you want, they can probably get it for you, and they maintain a relationship with the Genesis Community, so you can be assured you'll get a live person on a forum, on Faceobok or the phone that is likely to pay attention to you and maintain their good reputation.
While they do not have a particularly extensive history with the community there's nothing bad to say about them, and thus far all feedback has been positive; not overjoyed gleeful jumping over rainbows or anything, but good.
A good vendor to shop with in general. |
| Enjuku Racing |
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Racing Development House, in-house Team & Reseller/Retailer |
Enjuku is a whiz-bang outfit that burst onto the scene with a General Motors LS motor swap kit as kind of a "Hello there!" introduction. While this is pretty cool in the sense that they can sell you the parts to blow another $10-14k on your car and swap in a motor you could easily get for less than half that (with car included) in a used Corvette, they are the type of developer/reseller you go to when you are the kind of guy who isn't in this business to modify your car, you're in business to make your car more whack than the next guy in every way you possibly can, and you're expecting to spend every penny you've got.
Good people as far as business dealings are concerned, these guys are specialty mostly and not a generic reseller you would typically go to for your everyday needs, though they can get any brand name parts any other retailer can. |
| BTRCC |
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Korean Importer, tuning provider |
Well-liked in the community and at this point in time the only BK flash-tuning provider with a genuinely good track record, BTRCC is most certainly good at what they do. Despite the fact that their tuning solution is still yet another flavor of the stolen/hacked/cracked Korean software their competitors use, and you still can't tune your own car - they are as good as closed tuning solutions will get for the BK, and thus far have proven themselves reliable and trustworthy to the community in all regards.
Like all Korean resellers seem to make a habit of doing they are in the business of often embellishing and overstating things, such as their billet V6 fuel rail which they bill as "Required for high HP builds" - when in reality the OEM Hyundai returnless rails are puffing along happily up to 500whp+ on multiple cars.
While being blustery and dramatic isn't a crime, it's something that can catch newbies off-guard; as always, get educated before you shop! |
| Beyond Redline |
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Engine Builder, Machine Shop, Racing Development House, Reseller |
Beyond Redline has been on the job for a while, and they are a generally reputable engine builder on multiple types of cars. They have developed a few parts specific to the Genesis Coupe, and they are one of the only providers that offer a known-to-work fully built longblock engine build service.
That being said, while they provide good customer service and generally are good to deal with, when pressed on things like their Genesis Coupe fuel line kit for the 2.0T - they will claim Hyundai's poorly-designed part caused their first 466whp car to burn to the ground (this happens when you don't vent engine bays and stick a Garrett GT30 right next to coolant & electrical lines with no shielding or airflow) and then by implication YOUR CAR MAY BURN TO THE GROUND TOO if you don't buy their product and save yourself from their own cruel fate! In reality their product is not a remedy for the cause of their fire, the product is a method to distract you from the fact they didn't take proper precautions; which happens when you are a race shop competing with other shops to be the first to build a new car to monster horsepower and in the mad rush you skip over a few steps.
As always, while BR is a good place to shop and a great engine builder to go with, be sure you yourself are educated and know what you are doing. |
| UNIQ Performance |
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Reseller/Retailer |
This guy is kind of a tard, I'm not gonna lie. Yet another guy with a credit card and a reseller account with the warehouses abroad, he's awfully late to the game and struggling to find a reason you should shop with him and not some other well-established reseller who isn't a blustery ricer when he argues with people on forums and Facebook.
There's nothing particularly EVIL about this guy but I wouldn't shop with him because A.) He's small potatoes, and B.) He's kind of a dick.
This guy is a prime example of how literally anyone can be bored one night and sit behind their computer at home eating Fritos and think to themselves, "Hey, I could be a cool guy people would really respect on car forums if I sold them cool parts!!" and within a day has an intro-level pricing account open at Pro-Motion, a canned build-your-own-storefront website up that looks like a five year old built it, and is on the forums the next day hawking the same parts everyone else has, and everyone else might actually know something about them too. |
| G&M Performance/Tuner Goods |
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Reseller/Retailer |
A generic reseller & retailer of name brand parts, also has a shop in Texas that has at least in one or two cases developed a couple products that sort of/kind of came to fruition but never caught on because there was not enough demand.
Known to be great to deal with and offering excellent customer service this outfit is solid if a bit disorganized and something of a back-burner effort for the proprietor.
Rest assured if you shop with G&M/TG you will get what you paid for at a great price and quickly, though other retailers are typically alot more available; G&M is not on Facebook, some forums, etc. |
| TurboXS |
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Reseller/Retailer, Developer & Tuner |
TurboXS claims they are the only US outfit to crack the Genesis Coupe 2.0T ECU all on their own and offer their very own tuning solution that nobody else has. Unfortunately this doesn't differentiate them from the Koreans and their hacked/stolen crap software because just like the Koreans you can't buy a tuning rig from TurboXS and write your own tunes - it's closed solution, only from them.
That being said the work that has come out of their shop is typically good, though you'll get a few mixed opinions from a customer every so often. Overall they are a good vendor to deal with; they used to offer turbo kits and tuning for the 2.0T car but with the market being so small and the car being more difficult to work with tuning-wise then initially thought, they are typically today a supplier of downpipes, exhausts, etc. |
| GC Tuner |
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Reseller/Retailer |
A division of SFM Networks which is a retailer brand management outfit that sells via specialized channels to multiple car communities, GC Tuner is a long-time supporter of the Genesis Coupe platform and is headquartered at Vertical Doors, Inc. in Corona, CA. Vertical Doors is another brand owned by GC Tuner's parent, so obviously if vertical doors are on your list, this is the place to shop.
GC Tuner has been nothing but helpful to the community, offering easy customer service, good prices, straightforward shopping, and they've even gone out of their way to involve the community in product development, hosted shows, and so forth.
Definitely a recommended retailer; while California customers will have to pay sales tax shopping with GC Tuner they wouldn't pay shopping out of state, supporting your local business is always something that comes back to only help you in the future. |
| GenRacer |
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Reseller/Retailer |
GenRacer is a Genesis-Specific sales channel for Connecticut Import Performance (CIP) and they are a general purpose retailer/reseller of name brand merchandise for your aftermarket tuning needs. GenRacer is a solid outfit that's been around since the car arrived, and they've done nothing but good for the community. While not a 100% comprehensive supplier of all parts available for the car, they've got just about everything (like most resellers!) you'd want, and their pricing and customer service is top notch.
A recommended retailer to shop with. |
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