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.

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).

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.

For your information

.Fake Denso plugs.pdf

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.

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

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, 20214 yr by moosens
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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. 

autoclub_17a   

 

Thats the scumbag i was I was a sucker for. 

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

3 hours ago, moosens said:

autoclub_17a   

 

Thats the scumbag i was I was a sucker for. 

Report that seller to eBay!

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.

Waiting on replies from seller and eBay. 

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, 20214 yr by moosens
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Can’t upload another but one side shows EAC as in the video on YouT

I'm not expert, but isn't classic Japanese script very similar to Chinese script?

I.E. could this be a Japanese product?

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.

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, 20206 yr by brus brother

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 ? 

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.

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, 20214 yr by moosens
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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

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, 20206 yr by brus brother

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.

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 !!!