admathi

I don't often post on this forum, but like many of you, I read a lot of stuff on here. I've read several threads about how terrible Hawk's Third Gen is. Their headers are too expensive, then they're too cheaply made, blah blah blah. I just wanted to post an unbiased opinion.

I bought a dash from them off ebay last week for $250, I told them I'd drive up to pick it up because it's about 2.5 hrs from my house. I called the customer service line and talked to a very polite lady (named B.J. I think). I asked if they buy f-body parts or just sold them and she said to throw them in the truck and bring them. They might not buy everything, but they'd at least look.

I pulled up, asked a very polite and professional employee where to park. He said right where I was is good. Then I went in, the 2 ladies at the counter were super nice and very helpful. Then the guy in charge of ebay sales came and found my dash for me. He was nothing but polite, up-beat, and professional. Then I showed them the list of stuff I had. He sent Bruce, the big boss in to close the deal.

I brought them tons of stuff, they decided what they wanted and offered me a very, very fair price. Instead, I asked to trade them for some LS swap headers. Bruce cut me an awesome deal. He explained that they weren't the SSW headers, but they're the more economical version. I know that there has been some controversy about these headers, I don't care, they are better that the OBX headers I have for my grand prix, and those have been great for like 5 years.

I was probably on the compound about an hour and 20 mins. The phones were ringing off the hook. Bruce and all the others were working their butts off helping tons of customers online and on the phone. I came in contact with about 8 different employees, all of whom asked if I'd been taken care of. I also met Bruce's son, Tyler. He was a polite, well-mannered young man, the type all parents would be proud of. I'm the first to say that simply doing business with someone isn't a fair way to judge someone's character, but you can tell a lot about someone by the way their kids act and the way they run a business.

Anyway, I got the stuff out of the truck and Bruce saw that I didn't have the headlight mounting brackets that go with the headlights. I told him I didn't know he needed those too. He said that's ok, just send those to him when I can. That's the old school way of doing business. Trusting the customers to do what's right. I'll have them in the mail tomorrow.

You can't make everyone happy when you're running a business. If people on here want to hate on a guy who raises his kid the right way, works hard everyday to do what's right, carries tons of products no one else has, and contributes tons on knowledge and service to the third gen community, that's fine. But I don't believe them and I hope most people on here don't either. Where would we be without Hawk's? In the SC 3800 community, I wish we had a resource like them.

Basically, don't believe all the haters on the internet about anything, and especially about Hawk's Third Gen. They were awesome. End of rant.

UnderCover89TBI

iTrader: (25)

see and you been a member since 2011 with only 2 posts and you saw the need to post and and took your time to post this. great post. not all stories are horror stories remember people.

86z28ls1

iTrader: (2)

I also have had good luck and service with Hawks

robg91z

iTrader: (1)

Ive only ordered twice from them and one there was no problem i ordered from there actually website, on the second one i ordered from there ebay page and it was cool cuz they actually emailed me saying that my part hasnt been shipped out due to them not having the part in stock but they were getting it in a few days, so ididnt mind waiting a few more days. And at the end they emailed me again saying that they already shipped out the part the very next day so i was pretty surprised cuz theres some companys that wont even inform u on things like that. So no problem for me at the moment

Slush92RS

iTrader: (6)

So do they advertise these "cheaper" LS swap headers on their site??? i'm on a budget myself and cant afford the $1100 headers right now!!!!!

green92

Hawks have always been great to me awesome folks. I drool when I go up there and see all the goodies they have then cry when I leave cause my pockets aren't deep enough.

admathi

Green92, You should definitely go and visit. It's freaking amazing. Bruce said they part out 5 cars a week. I couldn't tell you how many f-bodies there are around that place, but it's a bunch. It was cool to see.

Slush92RS, here's the link: http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/pr...Collector.html

kurtis72

NO, that should be a crime...

W.E.G.

Did you find out anything about the newest building that was under construction recently?

I drove by Hawks when I was in the area visiting family recently. I passed a sweet third-gen Trans-Am going the opposite direction as I was trying to find the place.

At first, all I saw was 15 or 20 cars that looked like "part-out" candidates in the side yard of a smallish house. I was thinking, "Jeeze, the owner of this place really puts a good face on a shoe-box operation." Then, as I was about to make a rueful departure, I spotted the REST OF THE OPERATION at the top of the hill and around the corner. Big shop, warehouse-looking building, third-gen parts stacked all over the place, whole cars (mostly third-gens) parked doorhandle-to-doorhandle.

It was a Sunday, and knowing how North Carolinians generally hold Sunday a lot closer than Northern Virginians, I decided to just keep going - especially since I was driving a Camry and not a Camaro.

Next time I'm there - hopefully with the Camaro - I'm showing up early on a weekday, and I'm bringing donuts, and taking pics if they'll let me.

That place is like the ultimate third-gen Camaro/Firebird gear-head playground.

Plus it makes me feel like I'm not completely out of my mind for owning a car that probably needs at least one of every part they have.

W.E.G.

You're kidding right?

You would rather those cars go to the crusher?

Hawks is doing us a great service by saving the good bits from oblivion.

kmcn47

you know they will sell you a whole car right? there website lists several, i imagine the ones thay have to part out come from junkyards in the first place, others theyprobably find in the for sale adds on cragslist and so on

florida_gators

iTrader: (2)

You're going way too far with this statement. Some people had bad experiences. Others had good ones. To say that those with bad experiences on this website shouldn't be believed (and imply they are lying) simply because you had a different one is rather rude...and ignorant.

Gregs_GSXR

so this is what I dont get...the link you posted is for polished stainless headers with a 3" collector.

then on their site they have the stainless headers with a 2.5" collector http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/pr...Collector.html

so are the "budget" just made from a hawks employee and not stainless works ? I dont see where why its cheaper to go with a bigger collector if they are both made of stainless one polished one not :shrug:

admathi

If I understood correctly, the "budget" headers are from a different type of stainless than the SSW headers are. They're still stainless, but they're made by a different company. I'm not sure if they're thinner or if they're just a lower quality stainless. A lot of people on the forums were complaining about the $800+, so I Hawk's went to another company and had them make a more budget friendly version. I have a set of OBX headers on a supercharged grand prix, and they felt and looked a lot like the budget headers. I don't know the specs of either set, but if you hold OBX headers and then you hold hooker headers, you can tell that the OBX ones are not as heavy. They basically just feel cheaper, but I've never had a problem with them and I was very happy with the "budget" headers.

fyrebird68

iTrader: (1)

It's a shame that most people aren't motivated to post about a vendor unless their experience was a bad one.

I have dealt with them a few times and it's been a good experience. Not soul-mate, kumbaya, hand-holding perfect, but good.