Yep, it's been like that for as long as I can remember, too. It used to be the pimpmobile naked-lady and "flying swan with colored plastic wings" hood ornaments, now it's this "riceboy" garbage. If you've been in one of the large auto parts chain stores such as Pep Boys lately, you probably know that they have an aisle full of those decals and other assorted "sport-compact" rubbish.
I still deal with the old independant parts dealers whenever I can. You know, the guys with a rack of greasy books on the sales counter - the only computer is the 486 in the back office that they use for billing. If the shop has bare concrete floors and an old housecat sleeping on the shelf next to the STP Oil Treatment, so much the better. :-)
What kind of Flowmaster system costs 'thousands of dollars'?