my first HIN experience, what a disappointment

[2000whiteGTS]

I went to the Hot Import Nights event here in Seattle the other night. My first one and my last one. After reading through all these magazines over the course of the last year I was pretty excited to go see some cool cars and stuff. But it was all local cars from around here. I was expecting more cars like I see in the magazines. The only good thing was there were lots of fine girls, although all too young for me. There were only 3 celicas there, most of them were Hondas of course. It seems like all you need to do to your car around here to put it in a show is put some rims on it, a body kit, and maybe a cai and call it good. I was so disappointed that hardly anyone there had any custom work done to their interiors. If you don't count the racing seats that almost every car had, almost all of them were totally stock inside. Even the 3 celicas. I wanted to see lots of cool installs in stereos and speakers, but nothing. I brought my camera and didn't even take 1 picture. Maybe I am one of the few in this area that thinks their interior is as important, if not more so, than the exterior. That or I need to move.

[Mistrimeat]

Thats why I stopped going to them last year. Its the same tired game at every show...same cars, same people, same punk kids running around ruining it for everyone...I'll just keep my $20.00 and look at cars on the net for free.

[jotan82]

:stupid:

when i look at pix from the shows, it's the same d@mn cars!!! what's the point of paying $25+ to see them again!

[MarkyMark]

the tickets are expensive, and you just wind up seeing the same garbage hondas and acuras that you do in the dunkin donuts parking lot. Oh, and that same yellow Lambo, woo hoo.

[PUcKyMoN]

i agree! if you goto just about every car show in your state like i do then you get sick of seeing all the same cars and all the same people arguing over who should've won what trophy. internet and magazine coverage make car shows look so much kewler. the only reason i still keep going to the shows is to support friends and i get in free. can't complain about that.

[static]

Just about how I felt about our last HIN, which was my first..

[Da Kine Guy]

You'll be hard pressed to find some real quality custom work at most of those shows. Even if you do find some, try asking the owner about it. Nine times outta ten the owner won't know how anything was done to his/her car, they just handed it off and signed the check.

The BEST stuff can be found at car club gatherings. You'll not only see the cars but also be able to talk to the people who actually built them up. Supra/DSM/3000GT/300ZX meets are great places to find a lot of custom stuff designed and built by the owner of the car. If you show interest you also might get the chance to actually ride in one as well which is something you'll never get to do at an HIN event.

[po9i]

i guess it also depends on the import scene in your area, im pretty sure the HINs in california is much bigger and has cars you prolly haven't seen on the street before

[SexyCelica]

I've missed about 3 of them so far and each one I heard wasn't that good, but I still would want to go just to see how it is

[2002GT_Celica]

Yeah, I went to my first HIN show a couple months back when it came to Orlando...but I found it to be sorely overpriced...unless of course you want to pay that kind of money to collect pamphlets and leaflets from scandily clad women. That's just not my cup of tea.

That's why I have given up on any desire to enter my car into HIN anytime in the future and I am just selling it and working on my del Sol. I'd much rather pay $15 dollars every once in a while and take my car to the track, spending my money on an engine swap and and engine mods rather than pour thousands into my Celica to make it a "show car" that I will end up taking to shows like HIN and not enjoying. I know that may get me flamed by some people here...but that's just how I am I guess...I don't care if you do get to do special stuff backstage when you enter your car in the show.

[2000whiteGTS]

Cool, was afraid I was going to be the only one who felt that way. I thought it was pretty cool that there was a club of Subaru's there, think it was Impreza.net club or something. Even though I don't think Subaru's look nice, they were the only ones there that looked like they were part of a group, they even parked all their cars together. The rest of the cars were all mixed up and none were very impressive. I still don't have the pictures developed yet for the things I have done to my car, but someday I will get them loaded up and show them to you, but not much you haven't already seen on other cars.

[PUcKyMoN]

if you get the chance goto SPEEDLIFE! we just had our first speedlife in florida in orlando last weekend. the same exact cars from every major show in florida showed up so no biggy there. but what made it different from HIN or import expression was that the lights were on so you could actually see the cars, entertainment on stage, LOTS OF GIVEAWAYS, LOTS of VENDORS setup, and only $14 as opposed to the normal $25. it wasnt a GREAT show, but definately better than HIN and ImEx.

[djTOY_2000]

Originally posted by 2000whiteGTS
I went to the Hot Import Nights event here in Seattle the other night. My first one and my last one. After reading through all these magazines over the course of the last year I was pretty excited to go see some cool cars and stuff. But it was all local cars from around here. I was expecting more cars like I see in the magazines. The only good thing was there were lots of fine girls, although all too young for me. There were only 3 celicas there, most of them were Hondas of course. It seems like all you need to do to your car around here to put it in a show is put some rims on it, a body kit, and maybe a cai and call it good. I was so disappointed that hardly anyone there had any custom work done to their interiors. If you don't count the racing seats that almost every car had, almost all of them were totally stock inside. Even the 3 celicas. I wanted to see lots of cool installs in stereos and speakers, but nothing. I brought my camera and didn't even take 1 picture. Maybe I am one of the few in this area that thinks their interior is as important, if not more so, than the exterior. That or I need to move.

by any chance are you talking about my celica being one of the three that were at the show, or did you miss it ??

i hope you missed mine because from the way you just put it, in my opinion you are dissing on every car that was there......

if i can recall, there were 4 celicas there (white,silver,silver w/ red/chrome graphics, and my orange one) and if you saw Rudy's celica (crunched rear-end) you would see that he has complete custom interior - that being that he has CORBEAU seats that have been rehopolstered as well as the seats in the rear were re-wrapped to match. He also has one trick but clean stereo setup in his trunk, but i don't think he was able to open the hatch due to him getting rear-ended a day or two before........

what about the red civic from teamMENACE with the lambo door conversion - he has some very nice and trick interior, let alone basically every car from that crew was completely custom !!

i just don't think you opened your eyes wide enough to really see what was out there - i mean, what more do you want ??

sure.... i have seen many of those cars time and time again at all these northwest shows, but i did see several cars i hadn't seen before


also..... what do you mean by bolt a kit on and throw some rims on it ??

sure, there were many cars out there that were like this.... but in general there many more cars there that were completely custom (headlight/taillight conversions, paint, molding,ext.ext.)

i mean, i hope you are not referring my celica to be on of these "not so custom" cars because, well.... there are only few things left on my celica that are still stock. my celica not only has been completely custom painted, but the kit has been completely molded, shaved.... i've got custom rims, sparco interior, this, that, ext. ext.

[redcellyinfl]

Originally posted by djTOY_2000


by any chance are you talking about my celica being one of the three that were at the show, or did you miss it ??

i hope you missed mine because from the way you just put it, in my opinion you are dissing on every car that was there......

if i can recall, there were 4 celicas there (white,silver,silver w/ red/chrome graphics, and my orange one) and if you saw Rudy's celica (crunched rear-end) you would see that he has complete custom interior - that being that he has CORBEAU seats that have been rehopolstered as well as the seats in the rear were re-wrapped to match. He also has one trick but clean stereo setup in his trunk, but i don't think he was able to open the hatch due to him getting rear-ended a day or two before........

what about the red civic from teamMENACE with the lambo door conversion - he has some very nice and trick interior, let alone basically every car from that crew was completely custom !!

i just don't think you opened your eyes wide enough to really see what was out there - i mean, what more do you want ??

sure.... i have seen many of those cars time and time again at all these northwest shows, but i did see several cars i hadn't seen before


also..... what do you mean by bolt a kit on and throw some rims on it ??

sure, there were many cars out there that were like this.... but in general there many more cars there that were completely custom (headlight/taillight conversions, paint, molding,ext.ext.)

i mean, i hope you are not referring my celica to be on of these "not so custom" cars because, well.... there are only few things left on my celica that are still stock. my celica not only has been completely custom painted, but the kit has been completely molded, shaved.... i've got custom rims, sparco interior, this, that, ext. ext.


ah quit lying we know ur car is stock! ;)

[xover22]

I have to say that I had a pretty good time at HIN seattle. It was my third time going to the event and I have enjoyed it each time. I agree that the 25 dollar entrance fee is a bit high. I also saw many of the same cars as before, but I saw several cars that I had not seen previously.

[RichGT]

maybe beause you didnt come to a CALI HIN. CALI is where all the cars are at. also, people on the east coast..:headbang:

[2000whiteGTS]

I remember the orange one, it was nice, and a silver one with no spoiler. But in general what I saw was a bunch of cars that looked as if they had hardly anything done to them and were in a nation wide event. It seems to me that there should have been a little higher standards for a show such as this and the people running it should have had something more to do with the cars that got in. It was no different than going down to the gas station in the mall parking lot on a Saturday night, except that doesn't cost 25 plus 10 to park. I mean no offense to anyone who may have had their car there, you'd probably laugh at mine because mine is totally stock outside other than my shaved and relocated antenna. There was an Integra I believe that had it's interior done in white leather that looked nice. But I saw many cars that had been painted inside that looked like they used a sloppy brush. There were a lot of nice exterior paint jobs, but I am not interested in flashy outside, I want to see the nice interiors and stereo, that's why I went. If it were my show to run I would make a little higher standard of what gets in other than every guy who has a big exhaust and racing seats. People can laugh at my car, but then I'm not the one trying to be in a show either. Like I said, I mean no offense to anyone who may have been there, I just think the show should be a little higher quality I guess, if that makes sense. But luckily it's not my show to run I suppose.

[aZnTrD2k]

Yea, move to Cali, you'll have fun at car shows there:thumbup:

SPecially SEMA and International Auto Salon;)

[LBCelica2KI]

Originally posted by aZnTrD2k
Yea, move to Cali, you'll have fun at car shows there:thumbup:

SPecially SEMA and International Auto Salon;)

Yea those are pretty much the ones I look forward to every year and they give better stuff away. The others after going to one you pretty much see the same.

[EuGeNiLe GTS]

maybe its just your area.. cause ive been to norcal and socal HINs.. and there are a lot of nice "show" cars.. esp in socal.. some of the stuff u see in the magazines..

that or maybe u just had too high of expectations.. :shrugs:

[2002GT_Celica]

Originally posted by djTOY_2000


by any chance are you talking about my celica being one of the three that were at the show, or did you miss it ??

i hope you missed mine because from the way you just put it, in my opinion you are dissing on every car that was there......

if i can recall, there were 4 celicas there (white,silver,silver w/ red/chrome graphics, and my orange one) and if you saw Rudy's celica (crunched rear-end) you would see that he has complete custom interior - that being that he has CORBEAU seats that have been rehopolstered as well as the seats in the rear were re-wrapped to match. He also has one trick but clean stereo setup in his trunk, but i don't think he was able to open the hatch due to him getting rear-ended a day or two before........

what about the red civic from teamMENACE with the lambo door conversion - he has some very nice and trick interior, let alone basically every car from that crew was completely custom !!

i just don't think you opened your eyes wide enough to really see what was out there - i mean, what more do you want ??

sure.... i have seen many of those cars time and time again at all these northwest shows, but i did see several cars i hadn't seen before


also..... what do you mean by bolt a kit on and throw some rims on it ??

sure, there were many cars out there that were like this.... but in general there many more cars there that were completely custom (headlight/taillight conversions, paint, molding,ext.ext.)

i mean, i hope you are not referring my celica to be on of these "not so custom" cars because, well.... there are only few things left on my celica that are still stock. my celica not only has been completely custom painted, but the kit has been completely molded, shaved.... i've got custom rims, sparco interior, this, that, ext. ext.

And if he was dissing your Celica...why would it matter that much to you? Possibly because you have dumped thousands and thousands of dollars into your car? People like you are actually kind of sad, you dump obscene amounts of money into a car, put it on show and get all pissed off if someone so much as suggests that they don't like your car.

I won't comment on your car because you won't like what I say...but really, you need to stop taking things so seriously.

[djTOY_2000]

i wasn't taking the remarks he made seriously, nor do i care about what one has to say about my celica because well... it is my car and I am the one having fun with it even though i know i spent way too much on it !!

in general, i was just saying that i felt he had too high of expectations for the show and that there were a lot of nice cars there that should be more appreciated

if you have anything to say about my celica, go for it - it brings humor to my days !!!

[JaCelica2k]

Originally posted by djTOY_2000


by any chance are you talking about my celica being one of the three that were at the show, or did you miss it ??

...yada...........yada.................yada....... ..

i mean, i hope you are not referring my celica to be on of these "not so custom" cars because, well.... there are only few things left on my celica that are still stock. my celica not only has been completely custom painted, but the kit has been completely molded, shaved.... i've got custom rims, sparco interior, this, that, ext. ext.



I have heard how much you have poured into your celi and I am very surprised it cost you that much to make the celi so ugly. :D

[djTOY_2000]

if that's what you feel or think, then so be it.....

[JaCelica2k]

Originally posted by djTOY_2000
if that's what you feel or think, then so be it.....

:thumbup: hey it's not my money. :)

[djTOY_2000]

......nor was it exactly mine :fawk:

[2000whiteGTS]

Like I said, I meant no offense to anyone's car that might have been there. I suppose my expectations were a little high because as I have stated I went there to see cool stereo installs and custom interiors. I couldn't care less about paint and huge silver spoliers because to me it is too flashy, I like the subdued look. But anyway, I flipped through a bunch of my past issues of car magazines and you guys are right, SEMA is the way to go. Now I just need to find out when, or if I comes to the Seattle area.

[djTOY_2000]

SEMA is in Las Vegas - Nov. 3rd-7th

i am gonna be there and so is my celica

[LBCelica2KI]

Originally posted by 2000whiteGTS
I flipped through a bunch of my past issues of car magazines and you guys are right, SEMA is the way to go. Now I just need to find out when, or if I comes to the Seattle area.

Sorry SEMAs big show is in Vegas and the Import Auto Salon is only in LA

[bckustoms]

I enjoy the show each year not bc of the collection of mostly hack near stock cars but that one or two cars that make the show worth it but by far the best part is just running around clowning with my buddies and of course the hotel parties on the 12th floor lobby--personally I go to the shows in chicago and I see some nice work and I would think that the southeast and southwest shows would be the best bc thats where alot of the shops are that do clean custom work--I guess what I am trying to say is just try to have more fun at the show and why you are at it just get trashed and pick up some ladies from the show just before its over.