DENSO Iridium spark plugs from ROCKAUTO Fakes?

[jrvn]

Originally Posted by HangFire
Originally Posted by jrvn
just watched this, don't know if I feel better now

ROCKAUTO

Another useless Pat Goss video. In another he says buy only OEM oil filters from the dealer. Now when RA is sponsoring this show, RA sourced parts are OK.

IMHO I don't think RA intentionally sells fake parts. But they do source parts from closeouts and buyouts and excess from mergers, and so they might pick up just about anything that way.

I've had very good luck with RA, but I will readily concede that if there is a problem, it's not going to get handled as quickly, painlessly and cost-free as, say, Amazon. Meaning, you may have to pay return shipping for their mistake, and they won't cross-ship on your word. You'll be out of your money and you'll have to re-order or just wait for your part to be received before they send the next one.
I've had excellent past purchases with RA, my real concern is not whether RA intentially sells fake parts, more so trying to indentify if my DENSO iridiums are a made in japan part, its really impossible to do

 

[jrvn]

Originally Posted by Marco620
I'm not a basher or fan of RA. Sometimes its better to see the part in hand before purchasing for piece of mind. The ease of returning is a lot these stressful too.
jup, true, im really not quite sure if I bought the same plug from the OEM Toyota parts dept. it wouldn't be the same one RA is selling, I guess its a roll the dice situation

 

[4WD]

Originally Posted by jrvn
just watched this, don't know if I feel better now

ROCKAUTO


Oh boy … just ordered Autolite Iridium off eBay …
maybe nobody will bother with a knock off of that brand, LoL

 

[4WD]

Very tough to monitor parts QA/QC in many sectors.
I'd bet that N. Korean parts made it to the USA inside S. Korean brands.
It was a dirt cheap labor force for a good while even in modern times …

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaesong_Industrial_Region

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Originally Posted by borgward
I read somewhere (maybe here) that Rock Auto sources parts from a place in Texas that buys up parts from places that are closing down. .


That is their "closeout inventory" which mostly comes from Ultra-Power in Sugar Land, TX. Their site is surplusparts.com

Rock Auto's regular inventory comes from various warehouses across the country or even direct from the manufacturer in some cases. Rock Auto is a drop shipper.

 

[jrvn]

how to spot fake DENSO plugs

 

[spasm3]

I bought laser iridiums off Amazon a year or so ago, I think i will pull one and look at it.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

I thought the same with some Nissan Juke NGK plugs. $28 at dealer and $8 on rock auto. I couldn't find anything that made them obviously fake and they have been fine for 20k miles

 

[marine65]

Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by D1dad
I would think rock auto buys direct from the companies they sell.

Originally Posted by borgward
I read somewhere (maybe here) that Rock Auto sources parts...

Rockauto doesn't buy and sell anything. They just re-sell parts from auto parts distributors or wholesalers and have those places direct-ship them to customers.



yup.
I live in Golden Co.
I bought wiper blades from Rock Auto.
They were shipped from a warehouse(forgot the name) on S. Sante Fe Dr.
About a 15 minute drive from my house.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

I've been purchasing Denso or NGK plugs from RA for more than a decade. No issues.

 

[Oro_O]

Originally Posted by 4WD
Oh boy … just ordered Autolite Iridium off eBay …
maybe nobody will bother with a knock off of that brand, LoL

I got six of them for a Lexus a few years ago. With the Autolite rebate they were like $0.17/plug for Iridium, I thought, "Why not?"

Car has been purring like a kitten on them for 50k miles and they still look perfect.

Love me that RockAuto value...

 

[Trav]

Never had any fake products Rock that I am aware of, that is not to say its not possible but generally I think they are pretty good about selling legit products.
Once a company gets a bad rep for those kind of shenanigans its a downhill slide.

 

[Gebo]

That is a pretty big price difference. $13 difference????

That being said, I'm much more afraid of getting fakes off Amazon than RA.

 

[jrvn]

Originally Posted by Gebo
That is a pretty big price difference. $13 difference????

That being said, I'm much more afraid of getting fakes off Amazon than RA.

yes that's quite a difference in price which is standard operating procedure for most all Toyota dealers/parts dept. they also have a secondary Iridium plug available for my vehicle at a lower cost DENSO 90919-A1002 a USA made Denso plug its only $18.22 a plug

I think im going to go with the RA DENSOs ive purchased they do have Made in Japan on the individual boxes printed and seem to pass all the fake plug alerts that the bogus ones have and the UPC codes pass the background check and are valid, seems these plugs I have were from DENSO Sales inc. long beach,CA whose a DENSO part wholesaler based on the UPC codes on my boxes, they must have warehoused them for along time the year on the boxes is 2010 and they have an older style blue box configuration than the present day ones, keeping my fingers crossed these work out.

 

[jrvn]

Originally Posted by Trav
Never had any fake products Rock that I am aware of, that is not to say its not possible but generally I think they are pretty good about selling legit products.
Once a company gets a bad rep for those kind of shenanigans its a downhill slide.
I would agree, sometimes I wonder just how RA can get and sell these parts at such a rock bottom low cost and still sell genuine brand parts, maybe as some others said they buy from places who are closing out of business and buy their stock, the DENSO plugs I bought are close to 50% cheaper than what anyone else is selling them for. this is the same plug Toyota sells as Iridium 90919-A1002 for close to $12-$18 a piece how the heck can RA sell them for less than $6 a piece

RA DENSO Iridium plug

 

[WyrTwister]

I am guessing there is a tremendous mark up , if you pay " retail ' on auto parts ?

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted by jrvn
Originally Posted by Trav
Never had any fake products Rock that I am aware of, that is not to say its not possible but generally I think they are pretty good about selling legit products.
Once a company gets a bad rep for those kind of shenanigans its a downhill slide.
I would agree, sometimes I wonder just how RA can get and sell these parts at such a rock bottom low cost and still sell genuine brand parts, maybe as some others said they buy from places who are closing out of business and buy their stock, the DENSO plugs I bought are close to 50% cheaper than what anyone else is selling them for. this is the same plug Toyota sells as Iridium 90919-A1002 for close to $12-$18 a piece how the heck can RA sell them for less than $6 a piece

RA DENSO Iridium plug

Almost every one of my Rockauto orders have shipped from a Parts Authority warehouse. Parts Authority owns IMC, Pronto and Fast Undercar; they are probably one of the largest aftermarket parts distributors in the US:
http://partsauthority.com/about/

 

[exranger06]

I don't know much about counterfeit parts, but I just bought a Motorcraft thermostat from Rockauto. Someone apparently had bought and returned it once before, and they put a Motorad aftermarket thermostat in the Motorcraft box. It looked a little dirty; like it might've been installed in an engine before. I don't think it was even the correct thermostat for my engine. It definitely wasn't the right temperature; I had ordered a 190* stat and this one clearly said 183* on it.

Anyway, I returned it and had Rockauto send me another. I didn't have to pay return shipping, and they shipped out the replacement as soon as the tracking number showed that the bad one was in transit back to them. I was just really annoyed that I had to wait a few more days to get my truck fixed.

 

[Revving2Redline]

Originally Posted by Kestas
Originally Posted by borgward
Wondering if there is a way to determine if a plug is iridium? Like how to analyze the physical characteristics of it rather that depending on markings.

It can be done using a scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive spectroscopy. These are routinely found in a comprehensive metallurgical laboratory. I routinely do work like this.

I have been tasked at times to evaluate possible counterfeit parts. Besides physical testing, the packaging is also evaluated during investigation.



Sounds like a great Perry Mason crime to be solved.