Carid Spoiler crappy fitment replaced original oem spoiler

TPrelude-370z

Hey guys, PICTURES BELOW

some of you will recognize me from the spoiler dilemmas I had brought upon myself. I finally decided to bite the bullet and order a replacement sport wing from carid that comes pre painted. When removing the old spoiler there is a distinct outline in the paint where the spoiler used to be. Almost like a tracing but in missing paint.


This is what brings me to my problem. The spoiler from car id does not fit even close to the oem and leaves the outline paint imperfections clearly visible. You can see from the pictures that the spoiler is significantly shorter than the original it is replacing. This leaves a large gap on the left side (at least 1"), and the right side paint outline is still not even covered. The bottom and underside of the spoiler fit just right without showing any imperfection. There is no leeway to adjust the wing up or down, side to side as this just throws it off even more.



You can also see the fitment at the top portion of the wing that sits in the decklid does not fit right as well which exposes more outline imperfections. I have emailed carid with my explanation and pics. Do I have a viable case? It does not mention the specs are different or do not replace oem spoiler because the dimensions are different yet they make a distinct remark that it will not fit the roadster.

Please check out the pics and let me know what my next move should be.

As always, thanks a lot for your help.

christian370z

Well, to be honest that amount of difference in the fitment can come down to the installation. Since it uses double sided tape, the spoiler placement can become slightly different when you adhere the spoiler during installation. That white stuff looks like wax residue and should come off with a cleaner wax, then you will never notice where the old spoiler used to be.

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TPrelude-370z

thanks for the reply. Believe me, it is paint, no question. We all know how fragile the paint is on the z and the tape was incredibly strong. Even with a heat gun it was very difficult to remove. It could probably support a 100lb dumbbell over your head (you get the idea).

I wish it was just down to the fitment, but it is not. It is a bit tougher to see with the smaller pictures, but in person it is very obvious. Figure there is so much space between the old mounting point and the new one on the left hand side. You can see the exact outline of the tape and the paint defects.

I moved it over to the right as much as possible to mitigate the appearance of the worst area on the right hand side trying to cover it up. I could not move it over any further to the right or it would be severely lopsided and have more space on the left than there already is.

I was not even asking for a perfect fit, just reasonable enough to match the outline. In person you would see exactly what I mean. I am believing for carid to make this right.

Thanks,
Steve

MattP725

Personally I would sell it to a member with a base Z (no stock wing to cover) and get a wider wing to replace. The rear hatch would be expensive to repaint, I hate touch up paint, and buying another stock spoiler to me is now too much of a gamble.

AWX Z34

Only way to resolve your dilema is to re-paint the hatch or find a replacement spoiler that will cover the outline of the original markings but, you're gonna have to settle with a totally different style looking wing. What happened to your orginal wing?

Apoc370z

You really dont wanna know...

vividracing

That much gap could be installation, or just the fact that every fiberglass piece is different. Always.

OP is actually The Hulk, by the way. That's what happened to his old spoiler.

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RCZ

How does the wing look otherwise? I have to buy one to replace my Carbon Nismo.

scottIN

It's hard to tell from the pics, but is it like the OEM rubbed on the hatch paint and damaged it? If so, and if it's not too deep, you might be able to polish it out to at least make it less noticable. Another option would be to try something like Dr. Color Chip if you actually have paint missing.

Mr&Mrs

I had to get my hatch re painted from the damage someone done removing my stock wing. It was around 300 dollars to blend it in. Looks perfect now.

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azn370z

I can't believe it went from a small paint chip to this..... I recommend you just buy the s tune spoiler, it comes prepainted.

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TPrelude-370z

again, thank you for continuing to be helpful instead of ripping me apart. The funny thing is, I always find myself in situations like this. With my Turbo Prelude, and now the Z. It does bring us closer together in the long run though.

Anyway, the paint is completely removed in the pictured outlines of the oem spoiler so there is no amount of wetsanding or magic to be done minus repainting or covering it up.

I promise you it is not the fitment. If you dissect the pictures, you will realize that I have moved the spoiler a bit further to the right to try and cover up the obvious defect. If I could have, I would have moved it a tiny bit more to cover up the damage, but then the other side would be blatantly lopsided and obvious. Consider there is more than a half between the original mounting point of the oem wing, and the new one (it can be clearly seen in the outline).

There is no way to refit this, it is just too short. I got an offer from the manufacturer of sending it back for a refund including shipping, or 75$ to fix the paint issues. I asked for 200$ to fix the paint. I desperately want to be done with this, take the money, have the paint fixed and call it a day.

It is too expensive to purchase the actual oem wing that fits properly, and I don't want to risk purchasing another aftermarket wing with the same issue. I contacted "the spoiler company" and theirs was the same length as the one on there now. He has another one in fiberglass that he is checking the dimensions to see if it is the proper fit (He mentioned he is pretty sure it is, really stand up guy).

When I pulled off the oem wing, I test fitted it right back on after seeing the paint damage and it covers the outline perfectly without any damage showing so I know the size is off. If someone will measure their oem spoiler from upper corner to upper corner and give me the results, I can verify for sure.

I will be contacting them back with a counter offer of 125$ refund which should come close to covering the spot repair expense (I know a good place that did great spot paint on my lude before I sold it).

How much does the s tune spoiler cost painted? I was interested and planned on getting this in the future, but I do like the sport wing as well. I have not seen the s tune in person, plus who knows if that would cover up all the paint defect.

For those of you that have been along for the entire ride, I know this is crazy. This whole debacle started out as a couple small (but noticeable) paint chip marks from my watch ripping the paint off (like the second day I got it). Then spiraled into touch up painting the small defects which turned into a larger and larger area of touch up due to trying to perfect the spot.

This then turned into me painting the wing satin black to match the rear diffuser (since the paint was already damaged, it was an opportunity to see if I liked the look). I was not sold on the black wing so I purchased a couple rattle cans from sherwin williams with the stock paint code and some quality clear coat. Again, I did a great job but while trying to perfect a couple small runs, I managed to ruin that paint job as well.

This lead to severe frustration in which without thought, I pulled off the wing and destroyed it bare handed. I instantly knew it was not a bright move but I knew that I could purchase the spoiler cheap from so many vendors (assumed it would fit exactly as stock), I wasn't worried about destroying it. I figured it would cost about the same to have it repainted or more than just purchasing a replacement.

As you can see, this is what has left me in the spot I am in now. Quite the saga, and I hope it is entertaining you guys. I mentioned this before but I will say it again. In my experience with car modding, touchups, painting, etc... I learned that everything is fixable, small defects are not such a big deal, and sometimes its better to leave well enough alone.

I will continue to keep you guys updated. Feel free to toss in any other thoughts.

Thank you

TPrelude-370z

otherwise the wing looks great. The paint is beautiful. I would have never known if I was not replacing the oem one.

TongMan

Just quit messing with your cars. You appear to have bad luck when it comes to modding cars.

TPrelude-370z

that would be a correct statement. I will especially stay away from any paint whatsoever.