Fake parts (5 Viewers)

[leonard_nemoy]

How common are fake parts?

I bought an airfilter on ebay from a seller with awesome ratings. The new airfilter seems different than my old one.

old filter:

New filter and box

Both real parts?
Both fake?
One real one fake?

What experiences have you guys had with fake parts?

What are common fake parts?

 

[Outsane]

Fake parts are getting more common..



May want to avoid ebay and Amazon for new parts.

 

[jonheld]

Those 2 air filters are different part numbers. Both look legit to me. Both will fit.

 

[Rednexus]

A good rule of thumb is to never buy auto parts on eBay or Amazon unless 1) you are OK with it being a cheap/crappy part or 2) it's being sold by an actual dealer with an Amazon/eBay account (several Toyota and Lexus dealers fall in this bucket).

For example, I've received a fake Subaru timing belt from Amazon before. With counterfeit boxes, part numbers, markings etc.

Outside of a seller falling into the two buckets I identified, it's simply not worth the risk getting a fake part and having it damage your engine. Get the parts through legitimate channels instead.

 

[TXMeatball]

Looks legit. I've purchased several fake denso filters on amazon, each were obviously fake with no markings, only the box had a crappy denso sticker.

 

[Fj80oregon]

Looks legit to me

 

[Wildcat Walker]

Instead of looking at the markings, look and feel the quality. In this case that sticker showing what dealer the regional warehouse shipped to is a dead giveaway of legitimacy. Good on you for questioning though, question everything because these days you cant trust anybody or anything.

 

[ERG80]

Same situation I had last year. I had a filter stashed and when needed it the filter and box looked suspect to me so I threw it out . Description of the differences are in the posts linked below. I ordered from a toyota dealer and it looked the exact same as the one I trashed. The label looked suspect but it had been through Toyota’s system so I am running it.

Post in thread 'What Did You Do with Your 80 This Weekend?'

Sep 8, 2024

Installed a new air cleaner hose, cleaned my old air filter and threw a new air filter in the trash. I don’t remember where I got the new air filter because it’s been in my stash for many years. The label for the air filter looks counterfeit. The actual filter looks almost identical to the one that came out except the plastic has a little rougher texture and the lip holding the filter media is a little thicker on the Toyota one. I ordered a new filter from Toyota.

• ERG80

• 

Post in thread 'What Did You Do with Your 80 This Weekend?'

Sep 12, 2024

Installed a new air cleaner hose, cleaned my old air filter and threw a new air filter in the trash. I don’t remember where I got the new air filter because it’s been in my stash for many years. The label for the air filter looks counterfeit. The actual filter looks almost identical to the one that came out except the plastic has a little rougher texture and the lip holding the filter media is a little thicker on the Toyota one. I ordered a new filter from Toyota.


View attachment 3721360

View attachment 3721376

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View attachment 3721378

The new air cleaner arrived from Toyota. The part label is...

• ERG80

 

[leonard_nemoy]

A good rule of thumb is to never buy auto parts on eBay or Amazon unless 1) you are OK with it being a cheap/crappy part or 2) it's being sold by an actual dealer with an Amazon/eBay account (several Toyota and Lexus dealers fall in this bucket).

For example, I've received a fake Subaru timing belt from Amazon before. With counterfeit boxes, part numbers, markings etc.

Outside of a seller falling into the two buckets I identified, it's simply not worth the risk getting a fake part and having it damage your engine. Get the parts through legitimate channels instead.

I've ordered quite a few parts via ebay with great luck so far but I won't touch amazon.

I think the key to success with ebay is checking seller reviews carefully. I will look through the negative reviews going back a year and if I see a single claim of fake parts or sketchy stuff I skip that seller.

 

[Rednexus]

I've ordered quite a few parts via ebay with great luck so far but I won't touch amazon.

I think the key to success with ebay is checking seller reviews carefully. I will look through the negative reviews going back a year and if I see a single claim of fake parts or sketchy stuff I skip that seller.

That can certainly be a viable way to verify the parts, however IMO if you are getting a new part, it's still much easier to go straight to a Toyota dealer (for an OE part) or Rock Auto (for aftermarket) and skip a lengthy seller due-diligence process. There are multiple Toyota and Lexus dealers who offer good online sales prices and free/reduced cost shipping, so there is limited (if any) cost savings using eBay over a dealer for a OEM Toyota part.

What eBay is great for are used parts from US-based sellers. It's hard to "fake" a pair of used A-pillar trim panels....a rear sway bar....a rusty 8.2" 3rd member to use as a core....etc. I've also had excellent luck selling used parts on eBay - it's how my parts stash gets cleaned out every few years.

One of the better places for truly cheap new OEM Toyota was Partsouq and Megazip. Shipping can be high, but parts can be half the US price. But, with the end of the de minims exemption, I'm not sure if they'll continue to be viable sources at all. I had a new OEM rear axle housing shipped to my door from Megazip...and other items on Partsouq were half the cost of any US dealer.

 

[LongDuck]

Don't get me started on RockAuto...

 

[Wildcat Walker]

Don't get me started on RockAuto...

RA is great, just make for damn sure you know what you are ordering, ALWAYS use PayPal, and if you need to return something, make sure you understand their return question algorithm and understand they hate their customers. RA used to be great about 15 years ago when there was a good supply of Japanese parts for our old vehicles, now its mostly junk at better prices than the box stores. GMB, Beck Arnley, NSK, Aisin, and others still have a lot of good parts available, but it gets less every day.

 

[Rednexus]

Don't get me started on RockAuto...

They have zero customer service. If you have a return, they'll flat out ignore you.

But, I've been using them for 13 years. For many major jobs on my own vehicles and vehicles for friends and family. I bet they have saved me $5K in plus on auto parts over this timeframe. I can deal with nonexistent customer service if it saves me $100 on a Denso O2 sensor or $85 on a KYB strut over the dealer or a local parts store.

 

[Batameez]

LOL, I think even a fake air filter is worth keeping as a spare. You do realize if the fake was sold without a Toyota logo it's just an aftermarket filter right?

 

[Kernal]

FWIW here's a previous discussion, link below with photos for future reference:

K

Post in thread '1994 FZJ80 Air Filter'

Jan 11, 2025

While we're on this topic and FWIW, this evening I picked up two Toyota Denso air filters from my local dealer each with it's own part number, 17801-66030 and 17801-61030 (I ordered one of each). The 17801-61030 has the factory cleaning instruction sticker that indicates that filter is washable, the other filter does not have the sticker. I've used both filter part numbers in the past but never compared them (new) side-by-side.

Comparing the plastic top and bottom caps the filters have a different texture between them, smoother plastic on the -66030, rougher on the -61030...

• Kernal

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