The Venus Auto Story, A visit to Venus Options

[Kwanza26]

Well, some of you may already know, my cousin rear-ended me yesterday. Minor hit on me (paint scrapes and a few gashes), but my cousin's DA6 (90-93 Integra) was messed up pretty bad. So what do we do... we go and buy 'upgrades'...

We arrive at Venus, to a few of the mechanics just sittin around doing jack. There 2 asian dudes, and a latino dude tearing apart a Mitsubishi Galant. We walk in and tell them we're looking for JDM one piece headlights for a DA6. They say, "I think we have a few left... hey, were those DA lights sold?" The guy made it seem like they had no headlights. Anyways, they bring out some yellow-ass faded looking one piece JDM headlights. They looked like crap. We look at them, and then start wandering the warehouse. There were TONS of JDM parts. SR20 redtops up the yingyang, a bunch of H22's and B18/16's... TONS. So we wander a bit, and the mechanics go on their lunch break. We start diggin through some boxes and come across, around 20 to 30 JDM one piece headlights. Supposedly, they had a "few" sets... heh. We find a nice clean and clear pair, and set them aside. My cousin goes to call the mechanics back, and they just say, "we're on our lunch break... just find what you need." We were like..."WTF!" SO we start diggin through I don't know how many piles of bumpers, and finally come across a decent looking DA6 bumper. Next, we needed a hood. We mention it, hoping they'd help us out, considering the warehouse/shop is pretty big, but the mechanic guy just points to the hoods and says there. Ha! We start diggin again. EVERY single on of those hoods were dented or mangled in one way or another. These were obviously sourced from Japanese salvage yards. We finally find this yellow hood with shaved washer nozzles and a shaved 'H'... we were like... cool. We start hauling our stuff out, and the guys come out and say, "so you find everything ya need?" We were like, "yeah... how much." The guys takes a quick glance at the hood and says, "50 for the hood, 50 for the bumper, and 100 for the headlights." SWEET! So we get our parts and go outside, to start repairs/replacement on my cousin's DA6. They guys occasionally came out and checked on our progress. We banged it out in about an hour, and we were done, except for the bumper, which was missing side latches. One of the asian mechanics came out and says, "wow, you guys got done quick." My cousin was like, "yeah, certified..." The guy goes over to the bumper and starts explaining about the missing peices and goes in and actually finds us the clips, free-of-charge. Cool. We also go back and find H4 sockets for the headlights, plugs for the built-in fogs, and various screws for the bumper, all free-of charge... the guys didn't care. They had soooo much junk... they didn't care...;] Anyways, after that was all done, they said we could wash our hands in their bathroom, and they even offered us Icecream! Wow... what a deal!

Overall, Venus Auto needs some serious people skills and some study time in business ethics. However, they were human, and overall, very nice people. It was a ton of fun looking at all of the JDM Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Mistu parts. The Trueno emblem on the AE101 hood is beautiful... ;] They also had a very clean ST215 front cut. I forget the price, but it was Auto 4WD and looked hella clean. Probably very low miles as well. They had like, 3-4 ST185 clips, an AE101 Silvertop clip (for 1000.00 out the door), an AE92 clip, 2 MR-2 4AGZE clips, and a few 1JZGTE Supra clips, along with tons of complete longblocks. It was great. I even noticed 2 pairs of JDM ST202 tailslights...however, not the clear corner ones, but the completely amber ones. Pretty sweet. My question regarding the clear corner taillight was met with a blank stare. Hehe... interesting day.

If you're wondering, My cousin and I are asian, Hmong to be exact. I speak some rough cantonese so communication was fair. Their service, well, just digging through their shiat was fun...;]

[bojangles_8686]

Thats friggin awesome man! Only if there was a place like that around here

Why didnt you get some parts for your 6gc?

[Digndoug]

thats what i was gunna say, i would love that if there was a place like that in md... humm, i just getting stick with crazy-ray's well thats fun, but its most american crap, imports get rapped by all the mexicans, and euro's get rapped by any one um smart, resale on euro car parts is nutts...

you by chance know how much there wanting for 3s-gte font clips, im guessing thats the 185 or somthin, the 2nd gen?? an whats with a whole silver top, what eles ewould you need with that??

[sphinx]

I never had anything bad to say about Venus. When i went up there to pick up my clip, they were cool people. They let me wonder arround and just look arround. It's amazing all the stuff they have there.

And what shocked me, is that they let me and my buddy wonder arround when they were already closed. I mean, I went to pick up my clip on a saturday, but got there like at 6:30 - 7:00 pm. and they close at 5. So they were real cool about us being late to pick up the clip, and still treated us like some of their buds.

People talk "smack" about Venus, but i think it's a great place. And as for the clips, i have nothing bad to say about them, cause my motor came out to be PERFECT.

my 2 cents.

[kuya1284]

That was my EXACT same experience. I've mentioned this in a previous thread...

Over the phone, it may be difficult to communicate with them. But they are NICE people. Sometimes, it's hard to speak to imigrants who don't speaks English VERY WELL. But as long as you communicate with simple and understandable words, they're very easy to work with.

I got some free stuff from them as well.

As for my JDM tail lights, I think the ones they sold me is the only pair that they ever sold, and ever plan on selling. =)

[Kwanza26]

[ToYCeLi8]

Thats pretty much what i went thru when i went to Venus also. I was STAR (ENGINE) STRUCK when i go there. I wanted to live there. It sounds like the same people work there when i last went there. You guys are right about the people skills, my first time there some white guy was getting smart with my friend and my friend checked sick! The latino guy told the white guy to go stand in the corner while they work but they are cool people. The latino guy hooked me up with a pair of JDM side markers. They let me walk around and climb up on the stacked up clips. The communication isn't that well like Ray said but i liked my experience. i had fun. I'll do business with them again.

David

[neoklis]

It sounds like heaven to me. Only in my wildest dreams there is a place like that in my country, piles of parts and they let you wander and check everything out. Just note that if we want anything in my country we have to order it from abroad and it will cost 3 times as much due to shipping and import duties. And our salaries is 1/4 of what you get in the states. e.g i am a CPA with MBA degree in finance and Investments and i get less than $2k a month. I used to get more than that when i was studying in the states and answer phones at a bank as a part time job.

[LatinKraze]

Does Venus have a web site? Can i get their address? I wish i lived in cali still.

[Kwanza26]

[LatinKraze]

Thanks Bro. Communication for me = No Problem.........100% Mexican!!

[kuya1284]

[Mynzeyes]

i liked Jarco, INC. when i went to pick up my clip. .

[FallenHero]

[snadman]

According to the website, they have some JDM tails on there right now.