Nissan 370Z Forum - View Single Post - STILLEN 370Z Supercharger System

worldfamousz · 10-18-2010, 12:54 PM

I've been reading up on these kits on this string of threads for a little while, thought I might post my past experience regarding my 350Z supercharger kit with Stillen...

First off allow me to say that I think Stillen always has the best intentions and truthfully some good products. some not so good. But that's with anyone.

When I supercharged my 350Z years ago, I was working for Performance Nissan and I was getting a lot of support on my kit since I was selling quite a few kits through the dealership for a few years. as time went on and I moved on from that dealership, my customer support started to drop off with my issues that came up regarding the blower. In the end when I was working for Riverside Infiniti, although we were stillen retailers, we were not big movers of the blowers and it seemed that my support had fallen off alot.

Now stillen's service dept has always been good to me when I had the car in, they always did very good quality work and didn't rush anything which is commendable.

But the problem that I have overall with the blower kit and how stillen markets it is this:
They release a kit that they say is turn key ready to go. But then issues such as belt squeal or tunes end up popping up with a bunch of end consumers. Stillen then re-designs certain things and updates them for sale in newer kits. But for those stuck with the original kits who have these issues, stillen CHARGES you for the upgrades and updates.

For me, I had constant belt squeal issues and went through belts a lot. Then Stillen released a new idler pulley design. I needed it to fix my issue and they charged me for it and the install. Then they came out with a 6-rib blower pulley and shaft upgrade to help with the upper belt wearing out prematurely, and that upgrade was a few hundred $$ for just the parts. I never did do that upgrade. Then they came out with a different fuel/timing controller instead of their old split second box, and when I was running into issues with my timing box, they charged me I think (I mayb e wrong )approx $900 installed.... All this just to keep their kit working correctly on my car. Albeit we did go to a custom stage 4 upgrade and the tune was custom, but anytime I needed to replace up update a faulty part on the kit, they never helped out.
IMO, if you make a faulty part, it's up to you to rectify the situation not charge more.
There's a difference between simply "upgrading" to a better design of something and needing to replace a bad part with an updated one. If I simply wanted to upgrade to a newer piece, I'll gladly pay for it, that's my choice. But if I'm constantly having issues etc I expect the company to fix it, not charge me...

This is the experience that I've heard from a LOT of consumers of the Stillen kits and products. Now, not speaking ill of the Stillen brand, that's not my intent, but just stating my experiences.

10-18-2010, 12:54 PM	#2111 (permalink)
worldfamousz Base Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: so cal Posts: 52 Drives: mazdaspeed3 Rep Power: 14	I've been reading up on these kits on this string of threads for a little while, thought I might post my past experience regarding my 350Z supercharger kit with Stillen... First off allow me to say that I think Stillen always has the best intentions and truthfully some good products. some not so good. But that's with anyone. When I supercharged my 350Z years ago, I was working for Performance Nissan and I was getting a lot of support on my kit since I was selling quite a few kits through the dealership for a few years. as time went on and I moved on from that dealership, my customer support started to drop off with my issues that came up regarding the blower. In the end when I was working for Riverside Infiniti, although we were stillen retailers, we were not big movers of the blowers and it seemed that my support had fallen off alot. Now stillen's service dept has always been good to me when I had the car in, they always did very good quality work and didn't rush anything which is commendable. But the problem that I have overall with the blower kit and how stillen markets it is this: They release a kit that they say is turn key ready to go. But then issues such as belt squeal or tunes end up popping up with a bunch of end consumers. Stillen then re-designs certain things and updates them for sale in newer kits. But for those stuck with the original kits who have these issues, stillen CHARGES you for the upgrades and updates. For me, I had constant belt squeal issues and went through belts a lot. Then Stillen released a new idler pulley design. I needed it to fix my issue and they charged me for it and the install. Then they came out with a 6-rib blower pulley and shaft upgrade to help with the upper belt wearing out prematurely, and that upgrade was a few hundred $$ for just the parts. I never did do that upgrade. Then they came out with a different fuel/timing controller instead of their old split second box, and when I was running into issues with my timing box, they charged me I think (I mayb e wrong )approx $900 installed.... All this just to keep their kit working correctly on my car. Albeit we did go to a custom stage 4 upgrade and the tune was custom, but anytime I needed to replace up update a faulty part on the kit, they never helped out. IMO, if you make a faulty part, it's up to you to rectify the situation not charge more. There's a difference between simply "upgrading" to a better design of something and needing to replace a bad part with an updated one. If I simply wanted to upgrade to a newer piece, I'll gladly pay for it, that's my choice. But if I'm constantly having issues etc I expect the company to fix it, not charge me... This is the experience that I've heard from a LOT of consumers of the Stillen kits and products. Now, not speaking ill of the Stillen brand, that's not my intent, but just stating my experiences.