I hate writing a post that recommends that you do not purchase parts from one of s2ki's sponsors, but at the same time I also don't want to see someone else go through the crap that I've gone through over the past few months. If you read this post and still choose to purchase Toda parts from speeeding, then at least you will be fully informed of the risk you are taking. I wish I had been fortunate enough to have this same information in advance. Anyway, here goes:

http://www.todaracing.com/about/dealers.html

That is a link to a list of Authorized TODA dealers. You'll notice that Blue Fin Racing is not listed there. That means that Blue Fin Racing (i.e., speeeding) is not an Authorized TODA dealer. What speeeding sells is considered "Gray Market". What he does is not illegal, however it is not good for authorized TODA dealers and in some cases (such as my own) it is not good for the end consumer.
Here's my story:

When I decided to buy a set of Toda cams & valvesprings, I did a little shopping and found one or two places that were selling them for full retail (which in my opinion seemed a bit spendy). Since it seems like everything in the automotive industry is negotiable (how many people pay full retail for a new car?), I decided to shop around and see if I could get a better deal. When I asked about the cams on the board, someone advised me to PM speeeding. I found that he was associated with Blue Fin Racing, and was a board sponsor, so I felt like it would be safe to purchase from him, and he made me a deal that was considerably cheaper than the retail price. At this point, I purchased the cams from him and sent my PayPal payment to an address listed as Blue Fin Racing and I thought everything was swell.

The cams arrived and looked nice, even though the instructions were in Japanese. That seemed a bit odd, because I bought these in the US, and I knew that I had seen a copy of instructions that were in English. But I let it go. The cams and valvesprings were installed, and everything went smoothly. Then I hit the dyno. I lost lots of power on the low-end and didn't gain anything on the high end. See this thread for details. At this point, I was angry, so my first thought was to contact Toda for technical support. I found their web page and sent them an e-mail. One of their very first questions was "Where did you buy the cams?" That seemed odd, but I told them where I bought them. It seemed they were all too familiar with speeeding (Matt Kim) and told me that he was not an authorized dealer and that they could not offer any technical support because, for all they knew, the cams were forgeries. Unfortunately, Mr. Kim had failed to mention that he was not an authorized dealer during our entire transaction, and I had never thought to ask. Granted, I could have discovered that on my own if I had visited Toda's dealer web page, but I was acting on good faith, since he was a board sponsor. At this point, I was furious, and went back to speeeding for assistance. He then proceeds to say "Sorry, I can't do anything for you", and proceeds to show me his own dyno which shows similar losses. I guess I'm supposed to feel better because he sold me parts that he already knew could cause a loss in power. I don't recall the full conversation, but at some point he points out that this was a "personal sale" and he was just trying to do a fellow s2ki'er a favor. So now suddenly, it's a "personal sale", even though the PayPal address that my payment was sent to is listed as "Blue Fin Racing" (presumably a business).

Fortunately, my installer was more helpful than Mr. Kim, and found the problem and resolved it. At this point, the cams made gains that were more consistent with Toda's claims, so I was content for a while.

Unfortunately, after my last track day, I heard a ticking noise from my engine, so I decided to check the valve adjustment. When I got the valve cover off, much to my dismay, I found that the Toda cams were in very bad shape (I'll post a more detailed thread about this in UTH eventually, but at this point, we still don't know what caused the damage, so I don't want to be too premature). At this point, I went back to Toda USA and first asked them to help me identify these cams as authentic, which they did to my satisfaction. Then I asked them if they would replace the cams. They stated that they would like to help me out, but since the cams were not purchased from an authorized Toda dealer, they could not do anything. So, at that point, I went back to speeeding and asked him if he could do anything for me. Again, he claimed that this was a "personal sale" and that there was nothing he could do. So, now I'm just screwed out of more than $1000, and my only recourse is to type this stupid post.

So, in summary: If you want to purchase Toda products, and you want to have access to their technical support and warranty... do not purchase from speeeding, aka Blue Fin Racing, aka Matt Kim.

My statement only applies to Toda products. I do not know if he is an authorized dealer of other products, and I do not know if he would honor/support those products appropriately. I offer this disclaimer only because he is a board sponsor, and in my heart I still want to believe that this board is only made of good people.

Matt is aware that I am making this post, and I have no problem with him making any comments that he deems appropriate. I have tried to be as honest and un-emotional as possible, but it's a little hard when you've wasted as much $$$ as I did.

I hope this post helps someone, and prevents them from dealing with the same heartache that I've had to deal with.

Keywords: Toda cams Toda camshafts Toda Toda Toda

 

what was the problem when you reported no hp gain?

 

Valve adjustment issue. I believe the valves were adjusted properly when the cams were first installed, but between the time that they were installed and the time that I got it dyno'd there was enough carbon built up that it changed the clearance by a few thousandths of an inch, which was enough to affect power output.

 

Very level headed post. It's a lesson that everyone needs to learn at some point. I'm sorry that it cost you ~$1000

 

damn man! i have been folowing your ride for a while now and that really sucks. good looking out for fellow s2k members. Good luck with everything bro-MARCUS

 

IF they claim to be an authroized dealer, and are not, i think they should be removed as sponsors.

 

so what happens when you buy brand new authentic toda cams from another member who doesn't have receipts for it? if they fail for whatever reason, i assume toda won't replace them either correct?

edit: i guess my point is if they are authentic toda products, they should offer some type of support for it.

 

i dont see any s2ki sponsor on that list. doesnt bulletproof sell toda also?

 

As an S2ki member who has purchased a Toda product (header) from an authorized Toda dealer, in retrospect I wish I would have purchased it through 'grey market' sources. A member on this board has had issues with the bracket on the header cracking and Toda USA has refused to provide any sort of warranty based exchange.

Please see the following thread:
http://forums.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.p...ght=toda+header

It seems Toda USA has treated you no differently that they would treat someone who has purchased their product through their authorized channels.

If you read the fine print on King Motorsport's website (Toda authorized distributor), they only explicitly warranty Mugen products. So it seems the premium you pay for purchasing Mugen products from King is worth the peace of mind.

However in contrast, there seems to be no associated addition benefit to purchasing Toda products through Toda USA's distributors. Perhaps the outcome of your situation would have been the same regardless of the path through which you purchased the product.

Could it be your lack of satisfaction with the product is really at the root of your negative recommendation?

 

thanks for write up. i am sure that i will never do any business with Blue Fin racing.

They are sponsers and shops that will bend their backs for their customers and for those shops i will be loyal to.