Fake NGK spark plugs

[jrobb316]

I got burned buying some fake NGK spark plugs. They even came in a Honda box (or a fake one). When I called out the seller, he promptly refunded my money. I spent $1000 in parts rebuilding my Honda CRV engine that the pervious owner severely abused and when it was all said and done I wanted to drop a new set of plugs in. I then went on amazon and got a real set, I am not taking a chance with some knock off parts damaging the engine. Here are some pics, the fake one is on the left. I used it for a couple days before I realized it. You can see the lettering is off, the metal color is off, and the washer is off. The other 2 plugs are some spares I keep around for trouble shooting. NGK also has an article on this I found.
http://www.ngk-sparkplugs.jp/english/techinfo/fake/

 

[jrobb316]

Phone won't allow 2 pics in one message. Here is a pic of the washer.

 

[woody 73]

Well that *****...good information thanks for the heads up.

 

[mmack66]

Well, where did you buy the fake ones? eBay? Craigslist? Out of some guys trunk?

 

[rancherbill]

Did you send your info to NGK to help them stop these counterfeits? Is the supplier you bought them from pulling all their stock off the market?

 

[BDT/NWMN]

I see a container load of spark plugs confiscated in the near future??? I enjoy hearing about counterfeit goods being seized and destroyed...

 

[Toolhorder]

The one washer looks like it hasn't been crushed yet and the other ones have been used. That's the only diff. I can tell.

 

[mmack66]

The one washer looks like it hasn't been crushed yet and the other ones have been used. That's the only diff. I can tell.

I don't see any difference either.

 

[Rickss96]

How did you realize something was wrong? Misfire?

 

[Kracin]

The one washer looks like it hasn't been crushed yet and the other ones have been used. That's the only diff. I can tell.

coating is off on the metal portions. and the label isn't centered like it should be

 

[wild cowboy]

has anyone found any other brands of fake plugs? - I use Denso mostly, so particularly concerned about them.

 

[jrobb316]

All 3 were installed. Washer is much fatter and fits loose. These plugs are from an eBay seller, listed as GENUINE right in the listing and in a factory red Honda box with OEM part numbers and everything. They just didn't look right to me, so after installing I did some research. I didn't know there was such a large fake spark plug market. There are even pics out on the web of the fake factory and the real factory. So I ordered a real set on amazon and got those out ASAP.

 

[PureLeaf]

coating is off on the metal portions. and the label isn't centered like it should be

I cant see the difference either. Even looking for the specific points you've mentioned.

 

[wild cowboy]

there is a lot of fake stuff out there, and things you wouldn't think would be worth faking - I use a ton of electrolytic capacitors in my job, capacitors that cost a few cents each! - and I find that 95%+ of electrolytic capacitors on ebay are fakes. - For this reason, I only buy from Digi-key, Mouser, and Newark - the three authorized online dealers for the 4 high end brands (Chemi-con, Nichicon, Rubycon, Panasonic) - even amazon is full of fake capacitors!

 

[phitat]

I didn't even know they make fake spark plugs...

 

[kiatech]

I'd reckon NGK already knows this....http://www.ngk-sparkplugs.jp/english/techinfo/fake/

 

[PureLeaf]

From NGK's Site "To avoid this kind α problem, always insist on genuine NGK brand spark plugs."

Lol I guess you didn't insist upon purchase.

 

[jrobb316]

I didn't know either. That's why I bought the other ones from amazon with amazon as the seller. You can get fakes from others selling on amazon but highly unlikely from amazon themselves. I have seen that with other things like an iphone charging cable. Amazon.com as the sellers will be genuine but if you read the reviews the other sellers have a range of fake ones (often cheaper).

 

[wild cowboy]

I didn't know either. That's why I bought the other ones from amazon with amazon as the seller. You can get fakes from others selling on amazon but highly unlikely from amazon themselves. I have seen that with other things like an iphone charging cable. Amazon.com as the sellers will be genuine but if you read the reviews the other sellers have a range of fake ones (often cheaper).

be careful, even on amazon with amazon itself as the seller!

go to the manufacturer's website, in this case NGK, and see who the authorized sellers are, those are the companies getting them factory-direct, with guaranteed chain of custody!

on something as important and yet cheap as spark plugs and capacitors, I will gladly pay a premium price to buy from authorized sources only!

 

[heffneil]

Could the ones from Amazon be fake? I don't want to scare you but back in the day we bought some toner cartridges from a reputable seller (CDW) and we had a problem so we called Brother who makes the printer and we gave them the serial number and they informed us it was a fake! We bought from the reputable dealer and they were shocked as well. Distribution had a group of fakes and no one knew it! You never really know...

Neil

 

[kiatech]

From NGK's Site "To avoid this kind α problem, always insist on genuine NGK brand spark plugs."

Lol I guess you didn't insist upon purchase.

 

[mmack66]

I've always purchased spark plugs at an auto parts store, which I assume are authorized retailers.

 

[jrobb316]

I'm not worried about the ones I got. They check out in everyway the way they should. I'm sure it's not just NGK that has fakes. Denso probably would to, as they are a high quality OEM brand as well.

 

[GuyllFyre]

Unless I'm making a big order or parts, I just buy my NGK spark plugs from Advance Auto.

 

[eborcim]

How did you realize something was wrong? Misfire?

x2?

Was the whole eBay set alike? Where did they ship from?

Maybe parts manufacturers should start putting codes on their parts that you can scan with your smartphone and check the authenticity on their website.

 

[fivespdcat]

They may or may not be fake, but NGK has factories around the world, so they could be grey market. Where were they made?

 

[mmack66]

I'm not worried about the ones I got. They check out in everyway the way they should. I'm sure it's not just NGK that has fakes. Denso probably would to, as they are a high quality OEM brand as well.

Denso has the same sort of alert about fakes on their site.

 

[Skin]

They may or may not be fake, but NGK has factories around the world, so they could be grey market. Where were they made?

I've never seen NGK plugs made anywhere other than Japan.

 

[8179]

This is just history repeating itself. Its just China doing it to Japan as opposed to Japan doing it to America.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

It seems to me that there would be better money in counterfeiting something other than spark plugs?

 

[organ]

All 3 were installed. Washer is much fatter and fits loose. These plugs are from an eBay seller, listed as GENUINE right in the listing and in a factory red Honda box with OEM part numbers and everything. They just didn't look right to me, so after installing I did some research. I didn't know there was such a large fake spark plug market. There are even pics out on the web of the fake factory and the real factory. So I ordered a real set on amazon and got those out ASAP.

So tell us who the seller is... otherwise this thread is pretty useless.

 

[mikegt4]

Anything that an American (or other country) company has made in China is almost guaranteed to be "faked". The only way to even fight it is to own your own facility in China. If you contract a Chinese company to produce your product what comes out the front door will be duplicated many times over and go out the back door.

Over on RV.net there is some discussion about "counterfeit" brand name tires failing in use. The reputable tire company had tires made in China to their specs but the factory used the molds to produce below spec (cheaper) tires and sold them through legitimate retail channels on the open market. Sometimes the molds were stolen then used to produce fake tires.

I am not a fan of Consumer Reports but this article sums it up pretty well.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/11/counterfeit-car-tires-pose-consumer-risk/index.htm

 

[mmack66]

So tell us who the seller is... otherwise this thread is pretty useless.

I'd think that knowing they were bought on eBay is enough.

 

[jrobb316]

x2?

Was the whole eBay set alike? Where did they ship from?

Maybe parts manufacturers should start putting codes on their parts that you can scan with your smartphone and check the authenticity on their website.

The whole set was the same. Almost every thing on the NGK fake checklist applied to these. But if you didn't handle NGK plugs regularly you would never know. They shipped from FL.

You would think there would be better things to counterfiet but they wouldn't do it unless someone was making money.

 

[hackwelder]

Could the ones from Amazon be fake? I don't want to scare you but back in the day we bought some toner cartridges from a reputable seller (CDW) and we had a problem so we called Brother who makes the printer and we gave them the serial number and they informed us it was a fake! We bought from the reputable dealer and they were shocked as well. Distribution had a group of fakes and no one knew it! You never really know...

Neil

Buying from Amazon is no guarantee of authenticity from what I've read in customer reviews there, have seen plenty where an item was advertised as a genuine Apple, Samsung, etc. accessory or battery but was clearly a fake...sometimes there are a lot of these reviews over an extended period but Amazon does not boot the seller.
I still buy from Amazon but am very leery about some products and check the reviews out carefully.

 

[Herod]

Another dirty-***, rotten, no good, filthy, lying, and deceitful ebay scumbag.

I've run across more bad sellers than good ones on ebay.

Been saying it for years. Ebay *****.

Really......hey you crooked ebay sellers ....is that few bucks you burn people out of worth your self-respect?

 

[SantaAna12]

Grey market? What's that? New stock sold out the back door?

 

[BJ42LX]

You would think there would be better things to counterfeit but they wouldn't do it unless someone was making money.

You're assuming someone set out to make counterfeit plugs from the get-go.

Somewhere there's a second/third tier spark plug manufacturer in China or SEA banging out plugs for no-name second and third world suppliers. He's making $0.03 or $0.04 each selling into his regular network.

Some shady exporter comes along and offers him a profit of $0.20 to $0.30 per plug if he makes a couple runs of plugs that look just like NGK. The process changes are simple so there's little cost invovled. There may or may not be local laws against this - even if they exist there is no oversight or enforcement.

A couple port inspectors get their regular payments and a few thousand plugs are headed for North America and Europe. On this end they get sold below wholesale as overruns or surplus and end up on eBay.

It's a similar situation for many of the knock-off products we see.

 

[BJ42LX]

Grey market? What's that? New stock sold out the back door?

Genuine products sold through distribution channels unintended or unauthorized by the manufacturer.

Grey market cars were popular in the 1980's. Importers would buy vehicles in Europe and import them to the states. This was done because people wanted non-US spec models and were willing to pay for them.

 

[fivespdcat]

Grey market? What's that? New stock sold out the back door?

Grey market goods are ones made for a different market then "smuggled" into a different market. They may or may not be the same as normal goods sold through the standard distribution channel but they are not sold by authorized distributors. Usually, these goods are modified in some way to meet local market conditions such as spec, price, etc.