Ebay KOYO radiator C1917 Go-Part Counterfit ??? 94 LC

[AGGRESSIVEMACHINIST]

I purchased a C1917 KOYO radiator on ebay from gopart last week. Members seem to be having good luck with them. I received a radiator for 246.00 plus shipping in a KOYO box. After removing and inspecting the radiator the core seemed to be aluminum and a two row. I tried to contact gopart many times last week and this week by all three of their contact options. Email, live chat, and phone with no success. I contacted (Kevin) at KOYO in Southern California this morning and they wanted pictures of the unit and box. They soon called back and informed me that I had received a counterfit item from a company gopart that they don't even sell to or have any vender information on. The first information they shared was that C in the C1917 is for a copper core. The core copper and should be painted black. My unit was aluminum and no paint. The weight of the unit was also a lot lighter than it should have been. My unit is still in the so called KOYO box and KOYO told me that the packaging was also incorrect. I'm now trying to get a refund. Just a heads up for everyone. The stock 94 LC is a three row copper or brass core. The KOYO replacemet is C1917 two row unit with black painted copper core.

 

[pinoytoys]

Bummer. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[mmm635]

I purchased a C1917 KOYO radiator on ebay from gopart last week. Members seem to be having good luck with them. I received a radiator for 246.00 plus shipping in a KOYO box. After removing and inspecting the radiator the core seemed to be aluminum and a two row. I tried to contact gopart many times last week and this week by all three of their contact options. Email, live chat, and phone with no success. I contacted (Kevin) at KOYO in Southern California this morning and they wanted pictures of the unit and box. They soon called back and informed me that I had received a counterfit item from a company gopart that they don't even sell to or have any vender information on. The first information they shared was that C in the C1917 is for a copper core. The core copper and should be painted black. My unit was aluminum and no paint. The weight of the unit was also a lot lighter than it should have been. My unit is still in the so called KOYO box and KOYO told me that the packaging was also incorrect. I'm now trying to get a refund. Just a heads up for everyone. The stock 94 LC is a three row copper or brass core. The KOYO replacemet is C1917 two row unit with black painted copper core.

Not really clear about something...is the C1917 Model number on the Koyo box itself that you recieved? They could have easily just sent you an A1918 by mistake which happens to be the 2-core aluminum version.

I ordered my C1917 3 core (painted black) directly from Go-parts and I did not have any problems.

 

[packetstormin]

I too ordered my C1917 3 core from go-parts on ebay and it came in correct. Bolted up real nice and easy. My box is a koyo and it says C1917 .

Not really clear about something...is the C1917 Model number on the Koyo box itself that you recieved? They could have easily just sent you an A1918 by mistake which happens to be the 2-core aluminum version.

I ordered my C1917 3 core (painted black) directly from Go-parts and I did not have any problems.

 

[AGGRESSIVEMACHINIST]

I don't understand. When I contact KOYO directly they tell me that the replacement C1917 is a copper core two row radiator and I'm now being told by members that their C1917 are three rows. My box was labeled 1917 and the product was a junk radiator. Not a KOYO quality radiator. Weight should have been 30.6 pound. The unit I received was only about 15 pounds. That could explain it being aluminum core rather than copper but the quality was low. KOYO new immediatly that the unit wasn't their unit. I sent them 18 pictures. They could also tell by the packaging. Hopefully it will all work out. I think that they send these out and most people can't tell the difference and install them. That is why KOYO only offers a 18 month warranty and goparts offers a lifetime warranty on the part. How can the distributer only offer a 18 month warranty and the go parts offer us a lifetime warranty. I think they do this by selling a fake product at a high price. Also I can't get back in touch with them. I filed a claim with ebay now I have to wait 7 days.
Thanks to all
Chris

 

[powderpig]

All the C1917 I have received or I have had my customers buy have been 3 row copper core. all have been from different sources. But all have been Koyo's

 

[greentruck]

Things happen in the warehouse or at the plant where the radiators are manufactured. And sometimes consumers have been known to return the wrong part in the correct box. In any case, the wrong part goes into a box labeled for right part (I assume the radiator itself is not mislabeled as the part you expected, but even that can happen, too.)

As for warranties, they can be different even when the part is exactly the same. Vendors assume there are going to be a certain amount of failures and factor that into their prices. You might pay more one place, but also get a longer warranty. In some cases, you might pay the same or even less for the exact same part, but different vendors have different pricing and warranty policies.

This can be totally unrelated to product quality. For instance, some folks give you a lifetime warranty, but the product is cheap and they're more than happy to keep sending you the same funky stuff if you don't mind eating the labor each time. Good parts can have short warranties, just because some folks don't want to deal with handling many returns. Sometimes this can mean crappy parts, but sometimes they're as good or better than a part with a lifetime warranty.

Yes, I agree that their customer service seems lacking. A good vendor should be able to effectively reached without a lot of hassle. However, this is a problem generally not connected to product quality for brick and mortar vendors, but the internet seems to encourage poor customer service on the part of some. Best to move on and find parts from a reliable vendor next time, but I'd keep at this.

You have a perfectly legitimate gripe and they should make you whole without it costing you anything but the hassle of reboxing and taking the time to get it sent.

Just my experience as a former parts guy for a large commercial fleet garage.

 

[AGGRESSIVEMACHINIST]

Thanks for all the input. I've learned a lot from this radiator problem. I have now found that the KOYO C1917 is a copper core 3 row radiator and weights 30.6 pounds out of the box from KOYO. KOYO has given me false information as well as gopart. KOYO started by telling me the C1917 was a copper 2 row unit this is false. I now have a genuine KOYO C1917 unit in my possesion. It has 3 rows copper core and weights 30.6 pounds. I'm also receiving a refund from goparts shipping included. The true non counterfit radiator weights 30.6 pounds from KOYO out of the box. I've found three other incidents of false KOYO C1917s from gopart now. They seem to allways just do a refund rather than send the true KOYO product. They will be out of that part number even though there are 6 auction listings with a quanity of 10 each on ebay through their store. They have quite a buisness selling counterfit product. They are very hard to contact as well. If you buy from them check your weights and quality of craftsmanship. The weight trully tells the truth. A buyer in Sacrmento told me he to found a counterfit KOYO from the gopart website. He had the knowledge to check the radiators weight and he new it wasn't KOYO quality. His radiator was labled 1917 KOYO heavy duty in a false box with taped on signage. It was a three row all metal but only weighted 26.5 pounds. He was in Sacramento and returned it to there so called warehouse for a refund. He said the same day he emailed them back on ebay and they said they could ship and had lots in stock. I never new how much counterfit automotive product was available on ebay. I'm swithching my money saving mind state and purchasing more local direct. I'm going to start supporting our local sellers first and then turn to ebay. Or use ebay as a tool or pricemark. CDan first in the future and also stay true to O.E.M .
Again thanks to all for your help.
Chris

 

[greentruck]

Very interesting. Unless goparts sells nothing but knock-off parts, it's a really dumb idea to keep hoping that people won't find this out, presuming they got stuck with faked stuff by their supplier.

And if they are intentionally doing business this way, well that's a matter for KOYO's lawyers to address -- perhaps even the legal authorities.

If it was me, I'd copy and document everything into a package to send to KOYO. That should give goparts a wake-up call.

It's one thing to copy parts and sell them on the cheap.

It takes things to a whole 'nother level to copy parts, then appropriate someone else's intellectual property and mark them as such to defraud the consumer. Whatever the price was, they defraudecd you by representing the part as genuine.

Heck, if they knowingly did it across state lines, it could be federal wire fraud.:whoops:

Not a lawyer, just saying...

 

[AGGRESSIVEMACHINIST]

I still don't have a refund. They now are starting to say they may have more units in two weeks. They still have 6 listings on ebay with multiple qty. available on each listing. Seems strange to still have them available one place and not available another.
I think they are a fraud company and that is why I posted this.

 

[mmm635]

I don't understand. When I contact KOYO directly they tell me that the replacement C1917 is a copper core two row radiator and I'm now being told by members that their C1917 are three rows. My box was labeled 1917 and the product was a junk radiator. Not a KOYO quality radiator. Weight should have been 30.6 pound. The unit I received was only about 15 pounds. That could explain it being aluminum core rather than copper but the quality was low. KOYO new immediatly that the unit wasn't their unit. I sent them 18 pictures. They could also tell by the packaging. Hopefully it will all work out. I think that they send these out and most people can't tell the difference and install them. That is why KOYO only offers a 18 month warranty and goparts offers a lifetime warranty on the part. How can the distributer only offer a 18 month warranty and the go parts offer us a lifetime warranty. I think they do this by selling a fake product at a high price. Also I can't get back in touch with them. I filed a claim with ebay now I have to wait 7 days.
Thanks to all
Chris

Out of curiosity, I went back to my shipping email and the Koyo that was sent to me weighed 36 pounds and some change. I distinctly remember that the radiator did weigh quite a bit during the install.

 

[packetstormin]

So did it end up being a fake rad or did they send you the aluminum rad?

 

[AGGRESSIVEMACHINIST]

30.6 pounds out of the box. Koyo is available in New Jersey and California. They will be happy to give you the weights for any of their products or any related dimensions. Great people. I spoke with Jeff in New Jersey several times in the last days. Jeff is the President of their North American sales division and seems to be helpfull. I've told him about our club and I'd like to work towards him giving us additional discournts on their products. This may be accomplised through Radaitor Express who is one of their larger national resellers. I've told him we have many members and a lot of our cooling systems are starting to fail.

Take care
Chris

 

[AGGRESSIVEMACHINIST]

goparts told me they would issue a refund today. I still have not received it. Just as I thought. They can't afford and don't have a KOYO radiator to ship at that price 246 plus shipping. They would just rather wait for another one not to notice. They stated they don't have any more of the radiators for 2 weeks to a month they told me. They seem to have them available on their web site and 6 auctions on ebay with multiple quanitys per auction.They said my unit was probably packaged in the wrong box on accident. Their ebay add states that all units are packed, checked, and shipped. I don't understand why they would have to pack the radiator if it's a KOYO becuse it would allready be packaged. Their not a KOYO reseller. Another key to this counterfit is the boxing. Koyos labeling is not the same as the packaging used to crate their units. KOYO uses white printed tape with identification and puts a inspections sticker on each unit. KOYO also comes with the trans fittings attached and black. goparts ties their fittings to the neck. goparts uses clear tape that is laser printed. No inspection inspection sticker labeled KOYO on the units. It looks great stateing the toyota landcruiser 93 94 4.5l But it should for a 300 percent markup on a fake or repaired unit. I found some of these units for 76 on ebay. I have the correct KOYO radiator from Radiators express now. This radiator is 30.6 pounds and very nice. The two units were not even close in quality. I'm just glad that I caught this prior to installing it. What a time saver. I only want to try and help others in the future. Thanks to all
Chris

 

[AGGRESSIVEMACHINIST]

Refunded from gopart. Today I got my refund from gopart for the counterfit unit. My case is closed with them. I hope that no one else has the same trouble.
Thanks to all.
Chris

 

[Rwhat]

What web site is Radiator express?

 

[-Spike-]

Radiator Express

 

[Rwhat]

Radiator Express

Nice link. That was funny. I should have asked WHICH. I didn't know they were a chain of stores. So when I searched I found alot of links. Looks like there is one near me.

 

[-Spike-]

It's been done to me too, thought it was good.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

On Radiator Express it does not say a brand. Anyone got one from them and confirmed its a Koyo?