Ebay find $165 snorkels?! wtf (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
May 6, 2004
Threads
447
Messages
1,515
Location
Southeastern PA
only 109 now but 65 to ship. Cant tell if its the real deal or not?
Seller is in Malaysia. Cheap knock offs from there have been discussed before. If you enlarge the pix, the third one is a drawing that pretty well shows the name Safari, but not for sure. Probably low grade plastic with less UV protection and physical strength. Buyer beware. John
 
Seller has good feedback, not much selling experience though.

I wouldn't worry much since paypal has a good case resolution if not received or lost.

I've seen their adds on these snorkles on ebay for a while now, they do look good and the $$$ is right.

They look almost identical to my IronMan setup, except that I see in the parts that they include 3 rivets for the bracket that goes up by the door. Other than that the hardware look pretty much the same.

That's about $100 less than the Ironman Snorkle and that includes shipping!

About the material... well...
They do market it as NOT being ABS plastic... and I don't see any complaints (feedback) from other buyers... its a krapshoot...
 
Same seller also has: (some other items we might use) :meh:

RAISED SNORKEL HEAD 3.5" AIR RAM JEEP TOYOTA NISSAN | eBay
!BuPSRWQBmk~$(KGrHqMOKiEEvMRIJbYeBL+ePz0)i!~~_12.JPG


Replacement 4x4 4wd Snorkel Ram Head 85mm, 3-1/2 inch | eBay
$(KGrHqYOKokE1z4,ujvjBNfwbWvBO!~~_12.JPG



TOYOTA LANDCRUISE 6 Lug WHEEL SPACER ADAPTER 1.50" 4pcs | eBay
$(KGrHqR,!g4E1fbh-Q3VBNgciHcUr!~~_12.JPG
 
I have no experience with the quality of these knock-off snorkels but Safari did put out some info about it:
http://www.dont-get-burnt.com/

Can also be found in the other threads about the imitation snorks.
 
Last edited:
Someone on the board was buying one a few months back, IIRC. I never did see a followup about it though.
 
The picture I linked is from the "dont get burnt" website, then clicking the link to view the properties of the plastic used - shows pretty clearly the 3 distinct mint-marks (2 knock-offs & Safari on bottom). Scroll down 1/2 way & it's the 1st full size pic in the link:

The top one in the picture has the same mold markings as the snorkel used in the ebay ads' 3rd from last & the last picture - and they look like the genuine shots of the kit you'll get as opposed to the file photos the seller copy/pasted showing Safari brand stuff on the demo 80's & the install photo with the Safari logo in the oval.

Don't get burnt's compare photo of the dart test - focus on the top one's mold markings:

Don't Get Burnt - Low Quality Snorkel Copies

If you compare that to the 2 shots that best look like the real deal from Mr. Ebay seller (3rd from last & last) - blow it up to 200% & it'll help - it seems what you are getting you can bet it's the one in the test done & if you go back & read the results on it, you could decide if the price merited the testing results for the one ending in the "-03" silver paintpen code written on it for testing.

HTH -
 
mickeyt said:
Why can't a dealership sell these to anyone or can they?

Why would a dealership want to sell a non oem, unknown quality snorkel when that could sell an oem or Safari product? I've never seen a toyota dealership selling cheap knockoffs of anything. :confused:
 
my .02

well, where are the snorkels made in general? China? Malaysia? nothing keeps a foreigner based company from selling what they make w/ out the original manufacturer/Brand name a lot of the time... I am willing to bet money that they are durable... you're paying for the safari name for the most part on there snorkel & they can charge a higher price for being mainly the only one out there... all it is is molded plastic (good plastic @ that)... Your $1200 trek mountain bike is made in china or similar place too! The employees found out what they go for, made some up, left off the safari name most likely (easy to do) & are selling them cheap... cheap enough to make them a profit... this is my guess anyways... If I did not have a safari one already, I would try it for sure... I say ten people throw in $17.50 each & buy one... let's test mule it... if ti works great! if not... it's only $17.50...that's a taco bell meal for a lot of us...
 
my mountain bike is handmade in the U S A, i try to support us with my money, any ways why would u need to save a hundred bucks on a part that is suppose to keep your pricey landcruiser safe when going in the water? if u get it good luck hope u dont get burned, just my op
 
well...

I think you may be missing my point... I was making a comparison to most things in life in round-about way... anywho, most s*** you (meaning people in general) own is made elsewhere, and a lot is from china... not everything made there is s***. It when it comes to many things we all may have @ home, we are paying for a name... and besides, I have have had PLENTY of garbage s*** made in the USA as well... and it had a "known" name... OK, this is getting "political", fawk it... it was a neat find I thought... that is all... and yes when it comes to saving money... it's worth a 2nd look sometimes... I'll leave it @ that...
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom