How to Tell Counterfeit Tires?

[inkuisitive]

I live in a country with high import taxes and high business costs, so premium tyres are expensive here and you can cut the cost by half or more by shipping them from Dubai or other countries.

Realised China has way cheaper tyres, but was wondering if some could be counterfeit, and whether there's ways to determine counterfeit tyres.

While you could check how long a seller has existed on Tmall and previous ratings, not all sellers are properly rated.

I bought Michelin Primacy 5s, but noticed a lot of Continental Tyres and was wondering if they are that popular there or could also be an aspect of counterfeiting hence trying to figure out what to exactly look for in the tyre itself to tell if it's genuine.

 

[OilStained]

What country are you at?

 

[inkuisitive]

In Kenya

What country are you at?

 

[CapriRacer]

I think counterfeit tires are extremely rare. Tire manufacturers have representatives everywhere and since tires have a warranty, any report of subpar performance would trigger the local rep to investigate and notify the authorities.

But to answer your question: Look for misspellings. Look for scaly surfaces. (that's old, uncleaned molds - a sure sign of neglect.) Look for things that seem odd - unusual names, usual markings, etc. Anything out of the ordinary.

 

[bonjo]

counterfeit tyre would generally not have all the labelling on the tyre wall.
I am sure china has it's own brand of tyres compliant with legislation for the maket they are selling it into.
I also know big brands have factories in different countries like continental bike tyres made in korea; these are legitimate & not fakes.

 

[rijndael]

I don't know anything about Kenya's tire market, but in the USA, doctoring the DOT numbers (date code) one tell. It's like rolling back the odometer, rather than a full counterfeit.

 

[inkuisitive]

I don't know anything about Kenya's tire market, but in the USA, doctoring the DOT numbers (date code) one tell. It's like rolling back the odometer, rather than a full counterfeit.

We definitely have fake tyres in Kenya though the traders importing them likely know they are fake and do so to undercut the genuine sellers at a discount. So these are intentional. One of the main tyre shops had to discontinue Achilles around 2019 due to proliferation of counterfeits.

 

[inkuisitive]

I think counterfeit tires are extremely rare. Tire manufacturers have representatives everywhere and since tires have a warranty, any report of subpar performance would trigger the local rep to investigate and notify the authorities.

But to answer your question: Look for misspellings. Look for scaly surfaces. (that's old, uncleaned molds - a sure sign of neglect.) Look for things that seem odd - unusual names, usual markings, etc. Anything out of the ordinary.

Went scouring Taobao to see if I could find examples of what I wasn't sure of. Actually missed some of the tyres are used and indicated in the parameters but easy to miss.

Found these in a store selling Continental - haven't used Contis before and wondering why especially the Contact 5 here has a weird looking groove and tread area - this is typical?

 

[Pew]

Went scouring Taobao to see if I could find examples of what I wasn't sure of. Actually missed some of the tyres are used and indicated in the parameters but easy to miss.
View attachment 321001

View attachment 321002

Found these in a store selling Continental - haven't used Contis before and wondering why especially the Contact 5 here has a weird looking groove and tread area - this is typical?

The Conti sport contacts 5 are like that because they're 'max performance summer' sport oriented tires more for dry grip.

 

[inkuisitive]

The Conti sport contacts 5 are like that because they're 'max performance summer' sport oriented tires more for dry grip.

Thanks. Think I'm now more comfortable for my next purchase.

 

[CapriRacer]

We definitely have fake tyres in Kenya though the traders importing them likely know they are fake and do so to undercut the genuine sellers at a discount. So these are intentional. One of the main tyre shops had to discontinue Achilles around 2019 due to proliferation of counterfeits.

I am curious about why a tyre shop would discontinue a brand because of counterfeits. Was the brand a fake brand? Was the brand-name tires copied by someone else? I need to understand this better. Thanks

 

[inkuisitive]

I am curious about why a tyre shop would discontinue a brand because of counterfeits. Was the brand a fake brand? Was the brand-name tires copied by someone else? I need to understand this better. Thanks

That was the excuse they gave me - probably they felt they couldn't compete due to low prices or perhaps they were sourcing from another dealer and weren't sure of the quality.

I know they fell out with the Pirelli supplier over a personal dispute and now we don't have those in the country, which is an issue for people with heavy SUVs as they worked best as HTs.

 

[CapriRacer]

That was the excuse they gave me - probably they felt they couldn't compete due to low prices or perhaps they were sourcing from another dealer and weren't sure of the quality.

I know they fell out with the Pirelli supplier over a personal dispute and now we don't have those in the country, which is an issue for people with heavy SUVs as they worked best as HTs.

OK, here's what I am getting from this. The tyre shop was having trouble competing with very low end brands, and they discontinued the Achilles brand because it wasn't priced low enough.

That's a bit different than counterfeit - and low end brands are a problem everywhere. It's called competition and the tire industry is extremely competitive. It's one of the reasons I questioned there being counterfeit tires. Usually things are counterfeited when there is a HUGE!! price difference because of the brand- like a Rolex watch or a Versace purse. Tires don't have that much difference between the top end and the low end.

 

[inkuisitive]

OK, here's what I am getting from this. The tyre shop was having trouble competing with very low end brands, and they discontinued the Achilles brand because it wasn't priced low enough.

That's a bit different than counterfeit - and low end brands are a problem everywhere. It's called competition and the tire industry is extremely competitive. It's one of the reasons I questioned there being counterfeit tires. Usually things are counterfeited when there is a HUGE!! price difference because of the brand- like a Rolex watch or a Versace purse. Tires don't have that much difference between the top end and the low end.

What we get is brand counterfeiting eh Michelin tyres will cost $270 to $400 from the genuine dealers but you'll get small sellers coming in at about $175 which doesn't make sense given retail margins and costs.

Achilles was a mid-end brand (Chinese are low end) anf after they became popular other sellers began offering them at close to Chinese prices. Not sure why the main dealer then stopped offering them as a result.