nvu Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Was browsing youtube and came across videos about this. Didn't realize counterfeit ngk plugs were a thing. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=counterfeit+ngk+spark+plugs There's a lot to process but hope it helps someone in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 and this is why I buy my parts from reputable retailers - local when possible, not fly-by-night ebay sellers. anyone buying spark plugs on ebay kinda deserves what they get, imho. You may think that is mean, but seriously, i have NEVER even thought about buying something as basic as spark plugs on ebay - or amazon for that matter. I get them from local retailers - either the farm & home store, or auto parts store. Things that I can't get locally i buy from known reputable online sources. eBay, Amazon, AliExpress, and others, are flooded with crooks, fakes, and junk. I will not buy parts for my Subaru there, unless I absolutely have no other choice (and that is REALLY rare). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampage Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 Thanks for the post. I had no idea that was going on. NGK and Bosch. I already started spreading the word. At least there are several ways to identify them in and out of the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somick Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 For your information .Fake Denso plugs.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 Seriously people - DO NOT BUY SPARK PLUGS ON AMAZON OR EBAY!!! or any of those other multi seller sites. Get them from an auto parts store in your local neighborhood. Then you wont have to worry about whether or not they are genuine or fake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 I totally didn’t know this was a thing! Mind you, why would you want to buy spark plugs online? They’re reasonably priced in store and it’s much more convenient than buying online!! Anyone actually been caught out that are willing to share? Cheers Bennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 (edited) Yup , they got me. I just opened this and have asked the seller for a full refund and their RMA #. Its Chinese garbage in total copy “Subaru” script. Had they shown the label and it’s “Genuine Rarts” I think I would have caught that. Yes , Genuine Rarts Edited September 21, 2021 by moosens Media trim 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 No NTN or NSK , just crap. The belt looks ok but we all know it likely isn’t. Belt print looks perfect , I think , and says Subaru Parts. But the label on the bag it came in says Subaru Rarts. And all the boxes were bagged and those bags had Made In China on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 autoclub_17a Thats the scumbag i was I was a sucker for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Holy spoob, I wasn’t expecting them to be ripping off genuine parts! Mind you, I buy genuine parts online - only from partsouq though. They’ve not been an issue with any of my dealings with them. Cheers Bennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carfreak85 Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 3 hours ago, moosens said: autoclub_17a Thats the scumbag i was I was a sucker for. Report that seller to eBay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvu Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share Posted January 7, 2020 6 hours ago, moosens said: Yup , they got me. I just opened this and have asked the seller for a full refund and their RMA #. Oh wow, now something new to worry about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 Waiting on replies from seller and eBay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 (edited) Ok here we go again. Yes , from eBay , shoot me. From what I felt was a reliable source - Subaru Parts Direct located in Bellingham WA Edited September 21, 2021 by moosens Media trim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 Can’t upload another but one side shows EAC as in the video on YouT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forester2002s Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 I'm not expert, but isn't classic Japanese script very similar to Chinese script? I.E. could this be a Japanese product? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 2 hours ago, forester2002s said: I'm not expert, but isn't classic Japanese script very similar to Chinese script? I.E. could this be a Japanese product? that is kind of like saying all (insert ethnic reference here) people look the same.. there are similarities, but there are also many differences. and i doubt very much that the item pictured above is actually Japanese. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 (edited) Hey Paul Right click on your photo and select "search google for image". Obviously your pic shows up but all other references to similar images (text) are Japanese related. You might still be OK but there's no guarantee that Chinese can't print using Japanese text and you'd never catch them as easily as with your original "Genuine Rarts" image above. Edited January 10, 2020 by brus brother Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 I’m on an I phone 6 so no right click option. But hey , I’m bumping up to an 8 as soon as I make time to set it up. Maybe I’ll be able to select those options at that time. My thought was simply that I’ve bought these same plugs from the same dealer and now they show up with whatever oriental print on them I never had seen before. And the color of the metal is darker than usual like the video showed. Anyone else recently but spark plugs from a known dealer and can post pics ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 I phone 6... geesh, I'm on a Smith Corona typewriter ;-) but here is a LINK that describes how those with white fruit phones can do a reverse Google image search. Fingers crossed that you didn't get farked again. I missed the reference to the youtube video issue of color difference of the plugs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 (edited) Ok maybe I jumped the gun on the spark plugs and have let paranoia take over. Here’s an older stock I had on my shelf. Didn’t realize they had that oriental print on them back then too. Ok now somebody match up that print and explain it. Lol Edited September 21, 2021 by moosens Media trim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el_freddo Posted January 11, 2020 Share Posted January 11, 2020 There’s a smart phone app you can get that translates foreign language text into English. I don’t know what it’s called, I’ve seen the MCM boys use it when they import cars from Japan. Cheers Bennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brus brother Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 (edited) That second line of text appears the same in both images. Question remains if the "new" plugs show any other telltale signs of those noted as counterfeit. Also I made a jpg of the text in the first image and without mentioning anything did a reverse image search on Google and the response came back with reference to NGK. LINK On that same search page there is a customer service number you could always contact. You could just say you found them on a shelf and want to identify them. Edited January 12, 2020 by brus brother Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampage Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 I went to two local auto parts stores and they brought out four each of three different part numbers of NGK IR plugs and we looked at them. All of them had the 4 digits stamped on the hex. Most but not all had the letters centered vertically on the lower part of the porcelain. The boxes of certain part numbers did not have the Russian printing, other part numbers did. So far it looks like the only real giveaway will be the 4 digits missing on the hex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosens Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 I want the 70’s again !!!! 1974 was pretty cool. I’ll take that year and start from there. It’ll give me a few years of normalcy before the 80’s turn my stomach. Waaaaggghhh !!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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