Expensive Parts at Japanoid

[Percy]

This is an email I recently sent to Japanoid in regards to their pricing of their parts. Obviously I think that they are expensive what do you think? Unfortunately I do not have any mechanical knowledge. This means that I have to shop carefully for garages, I want good parts with good prices.

"I was shocked to hear the price that you charged my wife yesterday for the brake job. You quoted me approximately $500 in April when I was spoke to you about the brakes and you told me the rotors were rusty. Yesterday my wife received a quote for approximately $430 then when she arrived to pick up the van she was presented with a bill for $634.20. Two hundred dollars more is ridiculous, she was told “oh sorry did not know that you had a space gear and the parts are that much more expensive”. I understand that the parts are more expensive for a space gear however are you really that much more expensive than your competitors. Last night with a minimum of searching I found “Japanese rotors for the L400 from Max Overdrive for $160 for the pair” . You are charging $120 per rotor, that is ridiculous. You charged $55 for the front brake pads when Max Overdrive is charging $44. We are already going out of our way to maintain a relationship with Japanoid however if you truly insist on charging this much more for your parts we will have to take our business elsewhere. I am hopeful that you will match the price of the parts and refund us some money. Otherwise I am sorry to say we will not be doing business with your company again."

I phoned the next day after sending this email and spoke to a gentleman there (I will not share his name). He said that he had forwarded the email to his parts guy, and then he made some disparaging remarks about one of his competitors, which I felt was in poor taste. Needless to say it has been over two weeks, so they obviously do not plan to match prices. I just wanted to let others know that the price of some of the parts at Japanoid is 50% more than their competitors.

[Percy]

Just after I post this I read about a big thank you for CVI, I believe that Japanoid is going to lose customers unless they decide to get their prices more in line with their competitors.

[fexlboi]

Japanoid is the last place I would go to get stuff done on my van. All the stories I have heard from other owners so far incl. their high prices kept me far far away.

[dennis_lambert]

I have some parts on my brand new site if your looking for options.
Check it out!!
Keep in mind Its still sort of under construction....

http://nomadjdmautopartsca.ipage.com/index.html

[RichD]

I have no personal experience with Japanoid. My first impression of them is based mainly on their web presence and anectdotal comments from other drivers. They seem to be quality-oriented, and more of a boutique operation. There is a legitimate place for this approach in the market, and you'll see it in several other industries. A well known example is the Apple Store which is hugely successful. You pay more at a boutique, but you get a certain kind of specialized product from it, too. If this is not your cup of tea, then you can try some more conventional - CVI is a good example of a small, high value operation with no pretense. That's the kind of place I like to deal with, and you might too.

I've been in the services business my whole career, and I think that people can easily get their nose out of joint with commodity services like auto mechanics, because the perceived value is not as high as it should be. When you try to run a business selling time, you run into this problem every day.


I recently did my own brakes, same parts as your truck - I bought the parts and did the labor with the kind help of Golf Cart and a not so lazy Green Fox. The cost was very close to what you have quoted above from Japanoid. It doesn't sound like an outrageous example of customer abuse to me.

EDIT: I bought my parts at Lordco. I probably paid too much!

[Chewy]

I've dealt with them on a few occasions where getting a part in a timely fashion was more important than the price. Rich hit the nail on the head. The parts guy I dealt with was easy to talk to, and honest, but getting to talk to him took nearly a month of hammering their phone lines and a heavy peppering on the email end as well. For their sake I'm chalking it up to not only boutique business, but also a very asian business model which isn't dishonest, but isn't what your average North American is used to.

[LeeHammy]

Names not mentioned... Well this is to inform people..its a forum.. Why hold back. Shogo is the "gentleman" you spoke with, nice guy for the first 5 min, but then if you don't spend spend spend he looses patience. Here is my run in....

Me: "Hi is Dean still here?"
Shogo: "no he stepped out, what do you want?"
Me: "I just had a question for him"
Shogo: "well why didn't you ask him when he was here?"
Me: "because I didn't think of the question at the time smart ass, is there a problem here?"
Shogo: "well you come around ask questions and then just leave"
Me: "actually I've spent $400 on parts here in the past week and was just about to drop another $1500 on parts and labour, so by being a customer I think I'll ask all the *#@!ing questions I want....or maybe I can take my business else where?
Shogo: ......................

And this is how I came to do business with CVI. :)
To his credit Shogo is just a used cars salesman so I wouldn't expect any knowledge from him in customer service but he is your typical spend money and don't ask questions kind of guy. I feel sorry for Dean for being in business with this guy.

[Firesong]

I feel for you in regards to parts.
Some give great service and others don't have patience.

On another note Dennis_Lambert
Can you please stop entering all these threads with the
thought of trying to sell to people. We know you have a business
and thats good. But don't always be trying to sell sell sell in
every thread you post. Put something up in the sales
area for dealers etc.

Firesong

[joedelica]

Bought my first and last Deli through them; took my servicing for the vehicle some where else due to the high costs.
Of course it's expensive, look at the staff they have to pay for, as well as the operation of the space.
I have no problem with premium pricing for premium product and service, but they miss the mark.

Joe

[dennis_lambert]

I feel for you in regards to parts.
Some give great service and others don't have patience.

On another note Dennis_Lambert
Can you please stop entering all these threads with the
thought of trying to sell to people. We know you have a business
and thats good. But don't always be trying to sell sell sell in
every thread you post. Put something up in the sales
area for dealers etc.

Firesong

Thanks alot, Why don't you PM me instead of trying to Publicly embarrass me with you concerens?
I thought the topic was purchasing parts so I am trying to help out!
With all due respect I feel I don't only post with the intent to sell sell sell!!
I believe in trying to help out the community and in my opinion replacment parts is a big part of it!
Having said that I will respect you advise.... I just don't Appreciate how you deliver it.

[RichD]

Thanks alot, Why don't you PM me instead of trying to Publicly embarrass me with you concerens?

I thought the topic was purchasing parts

Or flag off-topic.
Its in general discussion but should have been bumped to the dealer review section. The OP is clearly not looking for parts.

With all due respect I feel I don't only post with the intent to sell sell sell!!

Agreed! But Dennis, in this case you didn't add to the thread.
Why don't you just advertise with a banner in your sig? We like the soft sell approach.

[Ol'Lefty]

I feel for you in regards to parts.
Some give great service and others don't have patience.

On another note Dennis_Lambert
Can you please stop entering all these threads with the
thought of trying to sell to people. We know you have a business
and thats good. But don't always be trying to sell sell sell in
every thread you post. Put something up in the sales
area for dealers etc.

Firesong

I wouldn't have found Dennis if he hadn't come to me. I had just got my delica, was heading out for a trip the next weekend, and he sent me a pm. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have been able to get the parts needed before I left. He actually delivered them to me so I had them for before my trip instead of shipping them and had me missed having them.
I understand that for the experienced ones here it may be annoying to see the site being advertised, because you have your sources and places you go to. but for us new to the world of delicas, he's a great help!
He's actually meeting me soon to test his glow plug controller in my machine to see if mine is toast. How's that for taking care of your customers?! Highly recommend if you're looking for a new supplier other than japanoid.
Thanks Dennis!

[FalcoColumbarius]

Fella's... This thread really belongs in Dealer Feed Back, rather than General Discussion.

[RichD]

Fella's... This thread really belongs in Dealer Feed Back, rather than General Discussion.

So move it?

[FalcoColumbarius]

Fella's... This thread really belongs in Dealer Feed Back, rather than General Discussion.

So move it?

Umm... so I did? I just point these things out so I progressively have less work to do 'cause every one else is doing their job and I can spend more time with my beloved Gōngzhǔ... smiles.

Falco.