Re: Koni info (in defense of Koni)

[Audial@aol.com]

ml wrote:

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I've dealt with this before.  Basically, the lifetime guarantee is a
marketing gimmick to support the high prices.  So, if the lifetime promise has
an appeal to you, you will need to consider it very carefully.  If you can't
justify the price of the shock based on performance alone, you should look
somewhere else.
     When I bought this car, part of the rationale used to justify the price I
paid was that the cost of the Konis was included.  The former owner was not
aware of the stipulations.  Based on the veracity of the other information he
gave me about the car, he did not intentionally try to mislead me on this.
     At the moment I am trying to decide whether I should a) pay them to
rebuild the front carts (@ $125 each), b) buy two new ones, or c) change to a
different company that is not as interested in misleading people through
marketing promises.  I am certainly disappointed that what is implied in their
ads, and what they are really willing to do, are so different.

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I think your warning about keeping the original sales recipt is really
valuable, but I also think this is an unfair characterization of Koni and
their policy on fixing their shock absorbers.

I'm not affiliated with Koni, but I have bought two sets of them for various
cars I've owned, and they've performed very well for me.

Koni is not Monroe or Gabriel or even Boge or Bilstein.  They are (even with
their US affiliation) a small manufacturer of shock absorbers.  They probably
don't have very many excess units for any of the cars they build shocks for,
which is why you can call Koni as an individual or a racer and stand a chance
of getting custom valving for your shocks, as some on the List have done,
according to what they've posted.  I'm sure Craftsman has a bunch of 12mm
sockets left over collecting dust when Sears sells all it can; it's not
surprising to me that you can pick one up off of the street broken and take it
back to Sears and get a new one free.

Also, a precision-manufactured, performance shock absorber is not a 12mm
socket.  It has a lot more failure modes but must also be designed for
constant, demanding use.  The fact that Koni even offers a lifetime guarantee
on a component like this, which they know will probably be used by an
enthusiast/racer, under very demanding circumstances, is testament to the
confidence in their product.  How many people who _aren't_ enthusiasts/racers
_know_ the name Koni?  The product itself invites abuse, which the company
realizes and still stands behind.  

Finally, you might have spent some extra money buying the car because it had
Konis on it, which you expected to be replacable without any questions.  But I
have to ask: do you save the receipts for those things that you know are
expensive and somewhat "unnecessary"?  Of course you do.  The previous owner
should have also.  I wouldn't expect anyone to give me _any_ extra money for a
performance modification without one.  If you don't have the receipt for the
modifications you performed on the car, don't expect to reap any residual gain
on the resale price, period.  Otherwise you can say whatever the hell you want
to the prospective buyer,  and they shouldn't believe it for a second.  "Oh,
yeah, dude, it's definitely got an Intended Acceleration Stage II chip and an
extrude-hone exhaust manifold on it!"  Also, don't expect to insure them.  If
you spend the money to upgrade your suspension with performance products
instead of going down to the local Midas and taking your chances, then you
should respect your own intelligence enough to save the original receipt and
be able to call upon it when you decide to sell the car.

I don't think Koni's lifetime warranty is a marketing gimmick; they have to
protect themselves, as should anyone who spends hard-earned cash on a high-
performance product.

Just my .02

Best Wishes,
Alex