BEWARE of STILLEN

[ryukyublack]

Hey guys, be CAREFUL with STILLEN! I live nearby and took my 2009 G37 with only 500 miles to get the long tube intake and cat back exhaust installed. After I drove for 10 days, a vibration started and took car back. They removed the exhaust, put my original back in, and told me they would credit my card for refund. They still have the exhaust system...! Not only did they not give me my money back, they aren't returning calls. This place sucks, and I'm now going to have to deal with this mess. WHAT A BUNCH OF AH0le$...

[LuckyLuke]

Did you go to store? instead calling them?

[suby01]

hi first post on the forum just to say stillen sucks?hm alrite.

[G_whizz]

This is your first post and you bash a well known manufacturer..

I'm calling shens and think your trolling..unless you have more to back this up..

[fiveliterbeater]

i started shopping at Stillen back in the mid to late nineties and they used to be my favorite place to fix my car up; employees were nice and i even got to meet Steve Millen (for 3 secs).

over the years though, the guy i used to deal with moved away and everyone that works there is either too busy to talk or doesn't have time for you unless you're gonna spend 10k or more; or just simply puts you on hold forever.

luckily for you and me, there are way better companies out there that offer better customer service than Stillen, better prices and will answer all your questions. Jim Wolf, UpRev....

[Sentientbydesign]

hi first post on the forum just to say stillen sucks?hm alrite.

This is your first post and you bash a well known manufacturer..

I'm calling shens and think your trolling..unless you have more to back this up..

Truth hurts?

I know of quite a few people who won't buy or deal with them anymore. Myself included. Overpriced. Under-engineered. Not a good combo.

[joe603]

but their cust. service is usually good. Tell them you're a NICO member and that you're unhappy with the product.

I've never had a problem with them.

[G_whizz]

Truth hurts?

I know of quite a few people who won't buy or deal with them anymore. Myself included. Overpriced. Under-engineered. Not a good combo.

He's pointing the finger at them regarding mechanical problems because of their product. And it's his first post.. a little light doesn't go off for you Nate??

[zozoka1212]

It may take few days to deposit it to your credit card or debit card.

[Sentientbydesign]

He's pointing the finger at them regarding mechanical problems because of their product. And it's his first post.. a little light doesn't go off for you Nate??

Had it been another vendor, I'd probably have a little "dim" light flash. Stillen is another question.

I'm not saying that all of their parts are garbage, but I've spoken to enough people and had enough experience to know that I won't do business with them.

[kmckis1029]

my stillen experience was great... but i ordered online... but the customer service rep still kept in touch via email... might be one bad apple... but thats all it takes these days...

[Poyzinous]

Sounds like trolling to me...I dont know any people with with stillen troubles. I think they have a great product.

[suby01]

Truth hurts?

I know of quite a few people who won't buy or deal with them anymore. Myself included. Overpriced. Under-engineered. Not a good combo.

what is supposed to hurt? never did i agree nor disagree with his post. just like whiz said, OP just joined up the NICO forum to tell us that ? like zozo would say EH not impressed.

[Sentientbydesign]

Stillen has a bunch of overpriced, under performing garbage. That truth which hurts.

I don't doubt that their exhaust for the G is one of the best performers, but stuff like their hood struts for the Altima and their grounding kits. FAIL. I've read about a lot of complaints about their bumpers not fitting well either.

[tollboothwilley]

i've bought several things from stillen and haven't had any issues or problems with them or their customer service. They are great as far as I'm concerned.

I agree, they are overpriced, but I think they do a lot of research into what they do.

[kyle@stillen]

OP- Your refund has been processed and should be showing back on your account in the next few days, this process can sometimes take a couple of days.

[audtatious]

One reason I like Stillen.......NICO customer support

[G_whizz]

One reason I like Stillen.......NICO customer support

And FTR...I LOVE my Stillen exhaust!

[kyle@stillen]

Stillen has a bunch of overpriced, under performing garbage. That truth which hurts.

I don't doubt that their exhaust for the G is one of the best performers, but stuff like their hood struts for the Altima and their grounding kits. FAIL. I've read about a lot of complaints about their bumpers not fitting well either.

So let me get this straight...You agree that our exhaust system is one of the best performers and I think everyone will agree that our Gen. 3 intakes are the best intakes on the market for the VQHR motors. These are two items which are not cheap and we know that, but neither is the quality. As you have clearly stated, they are the best performing. Yet our grounding wire kit ($89.95) and our hood strut kit ($103.00) which offer no performance improvements at all are overpriced and garbage? I know exactly what you are going to say about the hood strut. The struts are fine the way they are mounted. The initial question came up about the orientation of the shaft but per the manufacturer it is perfectly fine to mount them upside down. And judging by the fact that you make your own grounding wire kit...I'd say your thoughts on our grounding wire system are kind of biased doncha think?

In regards to our front fascia's not fitting correctly, again I am going to assume that you are referring to the Altima coupe fascia which has a factory support brace on the back side. If that factory support brace is not removed from the factory fascia and re-installed on the STILLEN fascia, then yes, there will be a sagging issue. This was cleared up over a year ago and we've not heard of any issues since that time.

Sentient- You have made numerous derogatory remarks about STILLEN and the quality of our products by saying things along the lines of "STILLEN stuff is garbage, way overpriced and poor quality......but, yea it makes the most power."

In other threads you have said that we should notify customer's that our Gen. 3 intakes require cutting of the factory core support and that our instructions nor our website showed that. However I quickly responded to your post with a link to our website and another link to our instructions where we clearly show that cutting is required and the instructions clearly illustrate how to cut the core support. Then you blamed your customer for not reading it clearly enough. Even though you had not done the research of your own prior to making your derogatory post.

Everyone is more than welcome to review my post history and see that I never come out and directly approach anyone like this but this is not the first time that I have seen Sentient (one of our competitor's) rubbish us and/or our products. I have invited Sentient to come down to our shop and I will be more than happy to give him a complete tour of our facility (this invitation is open to everyone) and show just how extensively we test and what we go through during our research and development.

[Sentientbydesign]

The issue with the hood struts has nothing to do with them being mounted upside down as this provides little difference in operation. The issue is that the struts are too long and TYPICALLY hyper extend the hood past it's maximum opening point by a 2 or so inches. They also require you to cut the structural integrity of the uppper headlight mount by about 50%. Not cool.

I've also had to "fix" grounding kits that members have purchased from Stillen as they usually say that no noticeable effects were witnessed, but surprisingly, magic happened with mine

I live about 5 mins from your location, I am just not interested in touring as I don't see the point.

I appologize for making Stillen to seem like the most horrid manufacturer out there as that's really not my point. I just hate hearing people use the name Stillen as if it was some religious figure with perfect products ALWAYS worthy of the high price.

This will be the last thread that I voice my opinion as it seems undesired.

[fiveliterbeater]

I have invited Sentient to come down to our shop and I will be more than happy to give him a complete tour of our facility (this invitation is open to everyone) and show just how extensively we test and what we go through during our research and development.

so now that this thread managed to get the attention of a Stillen rep; let me ask you this Kyle: how come Stillen makes virtually nothing for the M's? (M45 at least).

no cams, no headers, no supercharger, no upgraded TB, no pulleys, no body kits....

i mean, you guys used to make all kinds of upgrades to the old Dinosaur Q45 equipped with the VH, i'd expect nothing less on a VK that is actually a VQ with 2 more cylinders.

I am very disappointed in Stillen for not making Infiniti's current flagship car (Q45 R.I.P.) into a better machine to be recognized/respected on the streets and at the track.

please send that message to your research and development department!

[zozoka1212]

This thread was a failure at the start. But I knew it was just a processing time as I mentioned earlier.

EH

[Team STILLEN]

so now that this thread managed to get the attention of a Stillen rep; let me ask you this Kyle: how come Stillen makes virtually nothing for the M's? (M45 at least).

no cams, no headers, no supercharger, no upgraded TB, no pulleys, no body kits....

i mean, you guys used to make all kinds of upgrades to the old Dinosaur Q45 equipped with the VH, i'd expect nothing less on a VK that is actually a VQ with 2 more cylinders.

I am very disappointed in Stillen for not making Infiniti's current flagship car (Q45 R.I.P.) into a better machine to be recognized/respected on the streets and at the track.

please send that message to your research and development department!

Honestly.. it's just due to lack of interest from the enthusiast community, and the immense R&D cost to develop products, and be able to recoop that investment with product sales.

We do have product for the early M35's.. created a different exhaust for both the M35 and M45, and do have some products, AP Racing big brake kits, some performance items.. even the pulley you mention. If it's a newer one, it may share a pulley and we just haven't checked to see if it does in fact work. I can look into that as well. I could be wrong, I'm in marketing, but I'm pretty sure the supercharger was applicable to the M35 in the single throttle body as well..

The body kits we do are constructed of urethane, which needs the creation of a mold, and is a very expensive product. There needs to be sales of product to balance that out, and bring the pricing into a palatable range, and honestly we haven't gotten the requests, and other vehicles have taken the focus due to their modding preference from the community, such as the new 370Z.

I love the M's, and I know guys at STILLEN do, but sometimes it's just not possible to do the investment necessary to produce every item for a vehicle.

[Poyzinous]

You are awesome stillen guys. You're a successful company so you must be doing a lot right. By the way, at the dealer I've worked at, I've referred many people to stillen. Can I get a free exhaust?

[AZhitman]

Stillen has a bunch of overpriced, under performing garbage. That truth which hurts.

We have a rule here - If you don't have first-hand experience, zip it.

You of all people should know better than to call something "underperforming".

I'm not defending them because they're a sponsor, I'm telling you that you're being an assclown (and that you're out of line).

[AZhitman]

The issue is that the struts are too long and TYPICALLY hyper extend the hood past it's maximum opening point by a 2 or so inches.

Good.

Nissan hasn't built a hood prop rod that's long enough in 20 years.

Great for you short people, but those of us who are tall always wind up bumping our head.

"Typically"? It either DOES or it doesn't. Unless they're all different lengths.

And if it's not damaging the hinges, it's not "hyperextended". You're making things up.

Hell, I drill a new hole for ALL my prop rods so they hold the hood open wider.

I've also had to "fix" grounding kits that members have purchased from Stillen as they usually say that no noticeable effects were witnessed, but surprisingly, magic happened with mine

You and the grounding kits AGAIN?

Remind me again why I ever agreed to let you sell these on my forums?

I have 2 teenage daughters who generate less drama than your goddam handful of wire.

"Magic"? Whatever.

I live about 5 mins from your location, I am just not interested in touring as I don't see the point.

That's dumb.

A real car guy would jump at the chance to tour a facility that's been involved in Nissan motorsports since the very early 90's.

I've done the tour twice. Impressive, if you know what you're looking at....

Wait... Remind me again, how many cars you've owned? Modified? Built? Raced?

Seems to me the number is quite low.

I just hate hearing people use the name Stillen as if it was some religious figure with perfect products ALWAYS worthy of the high price.

Why? Does it hurt you that bad?

Have a Midol or two. Or put your fingers in your ears.

I hate seeing people spend $70 on a gay A&F t-shirt. But I don't let it affect my day. Cripes, WHO CARES?

This will be the last thread that I voice my opinion as it seems unqualified.

Fixed that for you.

This will be the last thread that I voice my opinion as it seems undesired.

Also correct.

Back to the OP's issue - It appears to have been resolved.

Sorry the rest of you had to witness the untangling of someone's hopelessly-knotted uterus.

[adidas2go]

The issue with the hood struts has nothing to do with them being mounted upside down as this provides little difference in operation. The issue is that the struts are too long and TYPICALLY hyper extend the hood past it's maximum opening point by a 2 or so inches. They also require you to cut the structural integrity of the uppper headlight mount by about 50%. Not cool.

Let me tell you what's up. I was the first person on this planet to install those hood struts on the altima coupe about 2 years ago. To this DAY, they have never faltered or given me any kind of trouble. Not once have I had to remove them, adjust them, or reconcile a problem caused by them.

Cut the structural integrity of the headlights? Really? There's no structural integrity in a damn headlight housing dude. Its a honeycomb mold that's unnecessary in the first place. Not only is it not a necessity, its absolutely not a structural member of the front end. More importantly, its about a 1 inch by 1 inch square you cut out, far from your fictional number of 50% of the housing

Now, as far as the front fascia goes on the altima coupe, again, I was the very first person to install this product. I used a little bit of the instructions, but more or less I noticed that swapping the metal upper brace from the old bumper to the new one, was going to give it the most support. So I let them know, and it was added in the instructions. Some people had difficulty following them, which is why they have problems. In a production facility like STILLEN's, errors are few and far between.

I've also had to "fix" grounding kits that members have purchased from STILLEN as they usually say that no noticeable effects were witnessed, but surprisingly, magic happened with mine

Noticeable affects? I had your kit, you hooked it up to my car. The only affects I had were the drive by wire system acting up and igniting lots of faulty lights on my indicator system. Not impressive.

Listen, I'm an electrical in flight technician in the military's most effective mobile radar system. I work on AC and DC power systems that produce enough power to light the fillings up in your mouth from 500 miles away. Don't come barking about what grounding systems do for electronics, cause if there is anyone on this forum who knows, It's me. Useless argument. I use the same gauge wire you do, to carry the current from a 115V 3 phase AC generator, to power MY ENTIRE AIRCRAFT! Do you see now how overkill it is for a grounding wire? Enough already.

This will be the last thread that I voice my opinion as it seems undesired.

Your posts are derogatory inquisitions, they aren't statements. Trying to fault someone elses' products with unsubstantial facts is ludicrous, embarrassing, and unimpressive. You're not doing anything in threads like these but making yourself look like a** hat.

[fiveliterbeater]

I love the M's, and I know guys at STILLEN do, but sometimes it's just not possible to do the investment necessary to produce every item for a vehicle.

...not the answer i was hoping for but at least someone got back to me. thanx for being honest; guess my M will never be the beast that it should be....

[audtatious]

The M is not what I would consider a modified car platform. Only a small percentage of owners are actually doing anything other than driving it. It's a great car but simply does not have the interested parties that would make it profitable for aftermarket companies here.

Been there before with other cars I've owned so I feel your pain.

[smockers83]

His grounding kit is a near carbon copy of another kit that was engineered by an electrical engineer. He says he researched it and all.