hey well, it seems FI says we havent told them about the defects on their Carbon Fiber hoods
and ok I admit I wasnt the first one to run and tell em of the problems
I'll list the problems on my hood

It has a pimple towards the front left middle of the hood with a long dimple next to it

mine rubs against the inner left fender of my car when it is raised

my hood latch rattles alot, the diblerglass broke around it because it didtn fit properly

there is a gap between the hood and the fender... pretty annoying and when i wash the car, water will get on the belts

also the bolts attaching the hood dont line up properly... one og the bolts is stuck at an angle cuza that I need to drill new holes

hmm if i think abuot it more i'm sure i'll come up with more defects

now everyone who just bought the hood in the GD I knwo there isnt a single one of you guys HAPPY with the hood and who have one without defects... so please continue this thread!

 

mine has a spot on the hood kinda in the middle where it looks like its dirty all the time, kinda like they buffed through the clear coat?

 

thats where they tried to sand the pimple down that i have on mine

 

Sorry to be off topic a bit, but can I still put the windshield washer nozzles on the carbon fiber hood? When I my hood pins, I'll have to drill into the hood, so might as well do the washer nozzles too.

 

that ****es me off.....makes it look dirty all the time...

 

I sent them about 25 digital pictures of the defects the day I got my hood and they sent me a 2nd one. At that time I assumed it was an isolated problem, but when I got my 2nd hood I knew I was wrong. So they can't say they've not been notified of the defects.

 

Oh cuma, I was hoping you were going to keep it clean (no pins, no squirters).

 

I want to, but I feel uneasy about the hood. I don't want it to have a chance of coming loose in the future, that's why I ordered hood pins. As far as the washer nozzles, I thought I don't need it at first, but where I live, the windshield gets dirty often.

 

Now is there a differant route to keeping the hood down above 85Mph. I mean instead of hood struts would it be good to custom fit two door clossing struts that put a little pressure downwards instead of upwards. I do a constant 75MPH on the highway will it be safe without pins

 

We can compile a list and send it over to the Better Business Buearu. It prolly doesnt do much but at least Fiberimages can know that we're serious about this and they cant take advantage of us like that.

 

I hear you. Not to change the subject even more but I am about to get my car repainted. I have decided to pass on the CF hood as $500 is a lot to spend to shave 30 lbs and because of all the problems you guys are having but I do plan to shave my squirters (body color wasn't good enough - lol). I was going to try to re-located them upside-down under the hood. I wonder if you could do something like that?

 

My CF hood has a dull spot on the passanger side.
My hood does not fit right, raised up about 1/4" on the center of hood above fender on either side.
The hood latch is iffy, without hood-pins, it'll probably pop open at 60mph+
I was lied to everytime I called. Although Josh was nice. "your hood will be there in 2 weeks tops"
"Mike, let me call you back, have to check the status of your hood..." says Josh at FI (said this about 5x) They never call you back.
Took 6 weeks for the hood to get here!
I didn't bother to call them back with the defects, cuz I was so tired of dealing with them, and I didn't want to send it back and wait another 6 weeks! For $625 I expected much higher quality.
The lady that works there, she talked to me with an attitude.
edited...

 

I have a bit more fender gap now then I did with the stock hood. Also, the hood seems to "bow" up in the middle even without hood struts. see:
Ptato, what color are you painting your car?

 

hey guys can you not ***** this thread? ont to be a **** but I'm tryin to keep this on topic so we can send it to FI

thanks! (maybe you'd be so kinda as to delete the OT posts? )

 

I just entered into a group deal with Fiber Images and all the employees have been nothing but helpful. Connie, the lady the works there, has given me all the information that I have asked of her and she was never too busy to answer my question. Definitely not a *****... As far as the hoods go, I know many people who have Fiber Images hoods and they came out near perfect. For those of you who have defective hoods, I'm sure that if you had told Fiber Images of the situation immediately, they could have made ammends. Waiting for two or three months to go by and then complaining is usually not a good idea if you want something fixed. I don't know what world you guys are living in, but I have a few one-off parts that were made out of carbon fiber by companies that manufacture body work for F1 race cars and these parts aren't perfect either. It is damn near impossible to recreate a part identical to OEM. After spending a $1000 on this custom wing, I can tell you that there are a few spots that could have come out better, but then you would have to understand the nature of the material that these people are working with.

David C.

 

I'm sure Carbon Fiber is difficult to deal with, but I've recently seen 3 other cars with CF hoods. S2000, Subaru WRX, and an older Scooby. first off, the edges were round and the clear coat seemed to be much higher quality, felt thicker...and NO DULL SPOTS, and the fit was perfect right to the edges. it was all sold through my friend's shop in Indianapolis, but they do not make any for Maximas, but my point is, they shouldn't have sent out the hood, if you can spot these defects before it gets to the customers.

 

Hmmm, I wonder how much Fiber Images is paying "David C." ...

 

I've had my hood for many months... and at Stillen Day this weekend I compared my hood to one of the Sentra guys and beyond all the fitment issues (I'm not SOO concerned about them) The Sentra guy pointed out a few cracks or stress marks by the hood latch visible through the CF... now he said that is something to worry about, I'm not sure how worried I should be. The hairline cracks are few but they are all around the area where the latch is... I'll have someone who has more experience than I look at it and tell me whats up and whether or not I should worry

Now with all my complaining abut the the fitment, this does have me slightly worried, I really didnt care so much about the fitment issues

 

maybe he works for them?

 

If you aren't, then you should be...

David C.

 

Hello, try to read the entire thread. I've got 2 of their hoods, one sitting in my garage, one on my car. They hoods are identical, aside from the shipping damage incurred because FI doesn't pack their hoods worth crap. An OEM hood comes in a box about 3x as thick as the hood itself, FI decided to pack their MORE EXPENSIVE and MORE FRAGILE hood in a box about 1/2 the thickness of an OEM hood box. They didn't cause the shipping damage, but they could have certainly prevented it by using a larger box.

Onto the hood defects. I want to point out to you, yet again, EVERY SINGLE FI HOOD for the 4th gen Maxima has these defects. If every hood has the exact same defects, their mold is FLAWED, its not a case of "well no non-OEM part is perfect" its a case of their mold for maxima hoods is fcked up. Every hood does not come even CLOSE to flush on the passenger front corner, every hood has a raised area which FI tried to sand down AFTER the coating (whether it be clear coat or gel-coat) was applied, and trust me they weren't successfull, in either smoothing out the defect or refinishing the area they sanded. The edges have chips and cracks along them, and finally the latches suck ***, they don't even line up with the stock latch, they are offset a bit to the driver's side.

If these are not problems with FI's manufacturing process, then I don't know what is.

Connie was helpful when I called, a little short with me but told me what I needed to know. Honestly, if FI ships defective hoods all the time, and she's the one getting yelled at by angry customers because their hoods suck, I can't blame her for sometimes getting tired of it. It may not be right, but that's probably the case.