One thing I have learned over 6 months is the hatred toward Ebay Parts especially turbos which, is odd to me. I always read people bashing the Ebay Turbos saying they are garbage, they break, the do not last. All this from people who also post about their DSM is broke down again, that their car is in the garage for repairs more than it is on the road.

I may be new to the DSM scene but, I am not new to cars. What I have learned is that if you are not willing to break stuff, to be doing repairs, trying different combos, willing to change a certain part 5 times to get the right one for your car then maybe you should leave it stock and buy a practical grocery getter.

My own experience with Ebay stuff has been good so far. I bought a knockoff Apex'i N1 Muffler and had custom piping done for a total of $180 versus $800 for the real thing and 4 months/4K miles later and it is still good. It is not raspy or too loud. I also bought an intake for $40 and 6months/6K miles later it is still perfect. So, I bought a Godspeed Ported Big 16G off Ebay. I am going to see how it goes.

Not all of my parts are going to be Ebay Specials but, I have as others found some Ebay Parts that works. Just because it is not name brand and 3x the price as other guys does not mean it is garbage. We all do not have the same funds and some of us just want to see what we can do on a budget. If two people build cars that are within seconds on the track and a few hp on the dyno is the guy who spent $6K more better????

I think we need to stop putting somebody down because they dont buy name brand parts. We all are here for the same reason and that is to build our DSMs better than stock and to ask/answer questions when needed.

Just my two dull copper discs worth very little on the open market.

I agree that some parts do work. I am running and Ebay SS o2 housing on 2 of my dsms and they work perfectly. For the price, they can not be beat.

I am sure the exhaust is the same way, but when you talk about turbos, I would stick with what is proven. You have a component that springs at 1000's of rpms, personally I rather a reputable company make out turbos (then again, a lot of the turbos have failed due to poor craftsmanship). These machined pieces need to be balances. Just because they are clones doesn't mean they will work just as well. I know for a fact that all mitus-turbos use parts that have been measured and scaled for the turbo by the company, these parts are regulated to stay the same and maintain quality. I wish chinese made turbos could vouch for having constantly the same parts(made and crafted the same way.)

With my DSM I use one code, You get what you pay for, I have seen this apply several times to my DSM set ups. I have had ebay BOV leak, and some that down. I don't plan on wasting my time buying one at half price but having to buy 2 of them because one doesn't work. Plus WARRANTIES of parts from a reputable company works out well. They will replace it if it fails, find an ebay vendor selling chinese made parts to do that.

One misconception is that ALL ebay turbos are bad. NO. The one's that people consider "bad" are the ones by the knockoff ebay companys. I have found an EVO3 16G for $218, only thing that was wrong was that a bolt broke off, simple extraction and it's off. And one thing about ebay is that if the part is bad you can send it back for full refund.
I've also bought quite a few things off ebay, such as my "knockoff" apexi turbo timer, all works perfect and only cost me $31 shipped, eccentric camber kit with rear pieces was $36 shipped. My cat-back 3 inch exhaust was $114 shipped (didn't need full turbo back as I have a 13b and it hooked up nicely to the test pipe.) Don't let anyone tell you ebay exhaust are pieces of junk, most are made of good material that won't rust, and it's not like they can hurt your engine.

I forgot to mention my Ebay Type RS blow off valve. Cost me ~$40.
I plan on buying a better diaphragm for it for $40, but $80 sure beats the $100+ on name brand especially with the cost of college X[.

In my personal opinion there are a lot of great deals on ebay such as the manual boost controllers or exhaust systems or intakes. The one thing that is common with the exhausts and intakes is that the hangers are in the wrong spots which is an easy fix, but for somebody who wants a TRUE bolt on with no problems what so ever, could be a problem. Also, with the cheaper intakes a lot of times the couplers are too big or too small or are cheaper quality and can't take the heat. But these are easy fixes and ebay parts can be good bang for the buck.

I believe that one of the biggest probles with ebay parts is not about how long they last or doubting their reliability. Its that good companies are spending time to develop the part that they put out. Then these knockoff companies come out and produce a product similar to the real one. Then the company that spent all this time is loseing money.
I bought my eagle rods and JE pistons off ebay... but I know they are the real thing. I even got my Talon off ebay!
All I ask is that if you buy a knockoff, don't complain about it breaking when you know its a cheaper version.

I think the biggest thing has been the ebay turbo, some parts i just dont trust and not risking the saftey of myself or others on the roads everything i have is oem or brand name. But to each his own.

Let me add that eventually the 16G will be replaced by a Super 20G when I get DSM converted to AWD. I do not race the car but, I do have fun at times. I want to see how an Ebay Turbo can do. It will be March or April before it (16G) gets installed as I do not have a garage and I want to get a few more parts and do a few things all at once. I will keep everyone updated with all parts that go into my build once I get a little more stuff to install and let you all know any problems, likes, dislikes, numbers, etc for the parts, retailers, shops, etc. Hopefully, I can shed some light on combinations, retailers, shops, parts, and anything else relative to the build.

Thats good you dont have to race a car to have parts fail, my buddys ebay 16g failed in a few hundredmiles he was out 250 plus for the turbo install kit, and it fell apart and sucked parts into his engine, lets say his engine is trashed. I tried to warn him but he didnt need yet, he had no mods for his car, dont know why he was in a a rush to have that thing, but. It wasnt worth it in the end for him, he could have gotten a real evo for 300 tops if that.

eBay is cool, but some of us spend a few more bucks because our car's are our hobbies, and we want to get the best part we can afford in there.

Rule of thumb...it a turbo says "turbocharger" prob not a good idea to buy it . Some ebay things are fine, like exhausts and what not, but for turbo's buy legit. And yes you can find real turbos on ebay as well.

I can honestly say though, the only part on my car that I know is off of ebay is my NXS manual boost controller which is a really great part for 20 bucks. My exhaust is an Apexi N1 turbo-back. Still on the stock intake. But I have seen other peoples parts where the couplers were cheap or there were flaws in them but I do like having the quality and reliablity.

I had an ebay FMIC once. It was as effective as a 2.5" pipe with a slight kink in it. I ended up selling it along with my leaky type RS knock off for $75. I used that money towards a used PTE FMIC for $100.

You can say the ebay intercooler was just as good, but the facts remain.

1) My pre TB intake temps dropped by about 70F.
2) Boost remained at 20psi to redline instead of dropping off to 12-14psi.
3) The change shaved .5 seconds off my 1/4 mile time, and gained me around 8 mph.
4) My 1g BOV does not require constant repairs and maintainence like the knockoff.

I got my MBC off ebay. Some intercooler pipe was bought off a friend who got it off ebay. I agree though, just no parts that are criticle to your engine. Like the turbo, make sure you get the quality you deserve for your car.

Pipes mbc, valve covers cheap stuff yes.

I personally would rather be spending my money through supporting vendors, then always wondering if my cheaper ebay parts are going to hold up.

Yesterday a buddy of mine wanted me to add up how much I spent on my car since I have been in Afghanistan. I made a list. So far with help from supporting vendors.... including shipping, I have spent. $1994.84 on parts that are sitting at home waiting to go on! THANKS SUPPORTING VENDORS!

Colt, I love your car. I would never expect it to be what it is.

I am keeping my T25 as it is perfect shape, hell I may even go pick up a 14B and sell my T25. I have a back up plan. As far as sucking stuff into the motor, you have that chance running forced induction no matter what you run. That is why you keep an eye on everything. If you are not periodically checking your car then you are wrong.

My thing is this, if we stayed away from something because of fears of it failing then why do people buy 2G DSMs????? Is there not a Crankwalk issue because of what is believed to be bad bearings, poorly made crank, or a problem with the clutch cylinder. Yet, people buy them. Why???? Because it is not every single 7 Bolt. You run your risks in this hobby. I have seen fresh built 10K motors blow up while being tuned for the first time on the dyno.

You can make arguements against until you die just as anyone can make them in favor of. Unless it is every turbo that is bad then you always have a chance. If it were every turbo, they would be shut down. I am not trying to be the devils advocate, just trying to see things from a different angle.

Honestly, the only thing I am unhappy with that I have purchased for the car was a used Greddy Turbo Timer. Going to get an Blitz one soon.

In regards to the Ebay BOV, it is not the NGR one is it? I was looking to get that one, I have heard the are better than Greddy. Also, my FMIC is going to be the one from Punishment Racing. Anyone with any knowledge on it?

True but his turbine failed ive had 3 turbos oem never failed, 14,000 miles, this is my testimon withthe knock off turbo if that wasnt enough justin here had a great post and pictures of a failure he posted, like i said my experience.

i agree 100% i put a ebay turbo kit on my car, the t3/t4 57 trim with manifold and all, and all we did was get rid of the bolts and hardware (cause those were crap ) bolted it on and it ran SICK!! got that car into the mid 13s here in colorado on only 15psi on that turbo, car had some minor things like a slipping clutch with over 175k miles, exhaust leak so turbo spool wasnt great, could turn the boost past 15psi, but other than that that ebay kit was dope!! looking into to getting the same turbo you are, the godspeed 16g, tell me how that goes!

Like a few people have mentioned, when it comes to R&D something such as your intake pipe or exhaust doesn't take much to be produced. When it comes to something as vital as a turbocharger there is a much greater demand for quality developement, which is what most ebay turbo's lack. Any small shop can make a huge quantity of quality intake pipes, since there's really nothing to making one, however, to make a quality turbo or something of the same sort, in order to make a quality product requires money. This is where many knockoff ebay companies lack, ebay is more to distribute large quantities of things for automotive manufacturers and generally speaking- the greater the quantity, the lower the quality.

I have bought plenty of parts off ebay before- but they've all been mainly things like intake pipes or things of that sort. I'd never buy a knockoff turbo or headgasket etc because the quality usually isn't there.

DeceptivePerfor said:

My own experience with Ebay stuff has been good so far. I bought a knockoff Apex'i N1 Muffler and had custom piping done for a total of $180 versus $800 for the real thing and 4 months/4K miles later and it is still good.

Click to expand...

Curious how you know it's "good"?

How many CFM does it flow, and how does that compare to the real one? What materials are used, and how long should they last in comparison?

How do they sound in comparison?

Getting my point yet?

So, I bought a Godspeed Ported Big 16G off Ebay. I am going to see how it goes.

Click to expand...

Look up how it goes for most members who try china-bay turbos.

I'll save you the effort. Most of them blow within a few thousand miles. You can buy a good condition 16G for $300 which will last for years, or you can buy some chinese knockoff with bearings made from bubblegum for similar money. Think about it.

We all do not have the same funds and some of us just want to see what we can do on a budget. If two people build cars that are within seconds on the track and a few hp on the dyno is the guy who spent $6K more better????

Click to expand...

If you're on a budget, try to find high quality parts with a little use on them, that are still in very good condition. With the amount of people who part out DSMs, change setups, etc, it's not hard to do.

Is spending 6K more on name brand things better? Yes, because it will be reliable and run strong for many years, vs a car that will have constant issues and failures.

I've cut 1 corner since i've owned my car, and it cost me over $2000, and many hours of my time, instead of the extra $500 and a few hours work to do it right.

I think we need to stop putting somebody down because they dont buy name brand parts. We all are here for the same reason and that is to build our DSMs better than stock and to ask/answer questions when needed.

Click to expand...

And you think you're going to build your car better than stock using parts backed by inadequate research made in sweatshops by 10 year olds using recycled beer cans?

If this is your approach to modding, don't blame the car when it becomes plagued with reliability issues. At least you're avoiding Ebay FMICs, there's one good decision.

There are many reasons real parts cost real money. Performance, durability, reliability, longevity, etc. I'll concede that some parts are overpriced, and for a few select items, you can turn to ebay and pinch a few pennies without really losing anything. For the majority of parts, you get what you pay for.

BigBeans said:

Curious how you know it's "good"?

How many CFM does it flow, and how does that compare to the real one? What materials are used, and how long should they last in comparison?

How do they sound in comparison?

Getting my point yet?



Look up how it goes for most members who try china-bay turbos.

I'll save you the effort. Most of them blow within a few thousand miles. You can buy a good condition 16G for $300 which will last for years, or you can buy some chinese knockoff with bearings made from bubblegum for similar money. Think about it.



If you're on a budget, try to find high quality parts with a little use on them, that are still in very good condition. With the amount of people who part out DSMs, change setups, etc, it's not hard to do.

Is spending 6K more on name brand things better? Yes, because it will be reliable and run strong for many years, vs a car that will have constant issues and failures.

I've cut 1 corner since i've owned my car, and it cost me over $2000, and many hours of my time, instead of the extra $500 and a few hours work to do it right.



And you think you're going to build your car better than stock using parts backed by inadequate research made in sweatshops by 10 year olds using recycled beer cans?

If this is your approach to modding, don't blame the car when it becomes plagued with reliability issues. At least you're avoiding Ebay FMICs, there's one good decision.

There are many reasons real parts cost real money. Performance, durability, reliability, longevity, etc. I'll concede that some parts are overpriced, and for a few select items, you can turn to ebay and pinch a few pennies without really losing anything. For the majority of parts, you get what you pay for.

Click to expand...

good to know someone else on this forum hasn't gone completely insane. no offense to op, but you're new to dsms so you don't understand yet. hopefully you'll realize the truth before its to late.

I can promise you one thing, every person on this forum who you would trust to repair your car, will agree that china turbos are garbage. jusmx is kinda like the turbo rebuild guy on this forum and he can tell you horror stories about the shit wrong with those pos turbos.

ok first off when you buy a brand name product vs a no-name product, and you see a 3x price difference it usually has to do with:
1- materials used such as high grade metals vs cheap aluminum or other cheap metals.
2- production costs and labor costs on making 1000 expensive products vs 100,000. cheap replicas in china with underpaid children as laborers.
3- the replica may work equally when new but its unsure how reliable the cheap product may be. only time will tell if inferior materials used caused no malfunction overtime to justify that the other expensive brand was overkill.

4- quality parts, as in welds/machinery/internal parts or mechanical parts are usually significantly inferior VS reconized brand name products. which along comes warranties for those "expensive parts" VS NO warranty on cheapos.

if you wish to use your car as a guinea pig for the sake of science for the DSM community then i suppose somebody has to do it. there also is a section in this website for product reviews for "after the fact" which can be found here: Articles: Parts Feedback & Reviews - DSM Forums

Are you serious? look what you are comparing, steel pipes or aluminum that their work is just let air pass VS a turbo which is a mechanism with bearings seals and a bunch of other stuff. WOW sorry but you FAIL, sorry to tell you this but your eBay turbo its not gonna last and if it do won't be much.

NOTE: DSMers please don't look at this thread as a motivation to buy ebay parts, they are crap. prove me wrong with evidence, Again don't tell me your ebay exhaust have 3000000k miles because it is an exhaust and its just a piece of metal that will live for years.

jusmx we need you here!

Does an Apex'i N1 Muffler have a lifetime warranty?
Does your turbo have a lifetime warranty?
Does Mitsubishi even acknowledge your warranty if you put an aftermarket intake on the car?

Have you been to these sweatshops in China and saw them paying 10yr olds $10 to make Turbos out of beer cans?

Wanna prove a point, get 2 engine dynos with two new motors built by the same person and install both a Evo III 16G and the Godspeed 16G I bought. Run them non stop until one turbo gives out. Then we will have a definitive answer. It says it is a Godspeed Turbo and Godspeed has an actual website so, it may be a real Godspeed Turbo. I looked on here and the guys with the Godspeed Turbos have had good luck. Maybe it is a knock off. When I get it in and have it looked over by my shop we will know more.

As far as my exhaust, the shop that did my exhaust does custom cars so whatever parts they use for the piping. They looked at the Muffler itself and said it looked to be good quality. It is 3" tubing from the cat back. I have no idea how much CFM my exhaust flows. How much does yours flow, not what the manufacturer tells you, how much have you measured?

As far as my approach to modding, do you know what other parts I am buying? Do you know my goals, the shop I am using? Just asking. So, I wanted to see what this turbo would do. What harm is there other than it either turning out to be a fun temporary turbo until I get the Super 20G and AWD swap or a piece of garbage that I replace with a different turbo or just put my stock one back one.

If I was a person who believed in the Ebay Turbos are shit thing, I would say "hey let me know how it works, let me know the goods, bads, likes, dislikes and who you got it from." But, I guess I am just a person who looks at things a little more open minded.