ultimase

Honestly, I've read and re-read the post a few times, and it was just short hand for me, and I figured it'd be enough to differentiate. Would prefer for me to just keep the discounts out of the forum?

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Advance Auto Parts is one of my best customers. I don't know why people insist on calling them Advanced. They're not.

Call them AAP. That's what they call themselves internally all the time.

ultimase

I actually thought they were "advanced" auto parts, never paid that much attention to the name, and I guess searches just auto correct to advance. Even weirder it looks like Advanced auto is actually pep boys.

So going forward you want to just refer to advance auto parts as AAP?

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Works for me. They're pretty good about frequent deals too, like most of their competitors.

vertex16

Bumping this thread because I wanted to share my mistake so hopefully someone else learns from it. Bought 8 plugs from an eBay seller last year. They were sold to me as original Lexus plus. I installed them and everything went well initially. However, over time, I noticed my fuel economy drop. While I'd expect it to happen over time with older plugs, air filter, etc, something felt unusual. I was keeping up with maintenance and fuel economy was gradually dropping. Fast forward to 10K miles later and I'm average about 16-17MPG (when I started I would average about 21MPG in similar circumstances). I know there are differences in fuel depending on seasons, and many other factors but to give you perspective I was getting 21MPG last year around this time right after I installed the eBay plugs, and my last tank average was 16.7. My driving style and commute is pretty much the same. I also noticed the engine just sounded louder than I felt it did before. When I was installing the eBay plugs, I dropped one on the floor and cracked the ceramic. In the interest of time, I called my nearest Lexus dealer and bought one individual plug. So essentially I ended up with 7 eBay plugs (sold to me as Lexus spark plugs) and one dealer sourced plug. Remember this part as this becomes important further down.

After seeing this thread, and working my way from easiest to most complex, I got to spark plugs. I decided to order 8 plugs from our vendor (myLparts, free shoutout, great vendor!) and got to work today. I figured if I have to go thru the trouble of pulling out the plugs again, I'm going to change them. I pull everything apart, and at this point I didn't remember which cylinder I put the dealer sourced plug in. I noticed the plugs I was pulling were unusually dirty for only having been run 10K miles. And then I pulled one plug which was noticeably cleaner than the others. This was the plug I sourced from the dealer, which was an authentic Lexus plug. Below are pictures comparing the authentic plug to the eBay "Lexus" plugs.





The authentic Lexus plug is in the center (pic 1) and the right (pic 2 and 3). It's very obvious to me that the plugs that were sold to me as Lexus plugs on eBay were in fact fake Denso plugs. At this point in time I have no recourse to go back after seller so I'm ok with the money I lost.

The most obvious difference to me was denso writing was in ever so small difference in font. the electrode is obviously minutely different as well. However, if you aren't paying attention and are expecting authentic plugs, you'd most likely miss this part.

TL;DR: DO NOT BUY SPARK PLUGS FROM EBAY. Only buy from your local dealer or an approved OEM online dealer like myLparts. Please take my mistake as a lesson to learn from

I am very thankful no damage occurred to my engine and I noticed it before anything DID happen.

cvt

Wow...kinda scared since i bought my plus on Amazon.

F Monster

Just buy from Rockauto, it's like $110 shipped.

vertex16

With our forum promo code that gives us 10% off, its 130 shipped from myLparts. Small difference to go oem.

oo10inz

So hate to bring this thread back from the dead. I just realized that they make counterfeit spark plugs. i ordered mine off ebay and thinking about returning just to be safe as i paid $32 for 6 and seems like that may have been too good to be true. my question is walmart has them for 11.69 a piece and they are shipped and sold by walmart can i trust these?

vertex16

It *should* be authentic but that price is almost dealer price.

lawrence1

$32 for 6 is too cheap for genuine plugs. Order from rockauto or mylparts to ensure you’re getting the real deal. You’ll find that these plugs aren’t much cheaper from anyone that sells genuine parts.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

QFT. No real bargains out there if you are looking for OEM longevity and performance.

lexusisgs

i see a lot of concerns about spark plugs fake.oem.similar.etc.etc.
let me tell ya.i did order from ebay many times because it was way cheaper than thru deler .so far never got any issues from selles from china taiwan japan etc etc.
2013 es 300h is about to crash 400 000 km range and it still running smooth .
2008 gs450h is about to crash 600 000 km range no issues.
2010 rx 450h is about to crash 350 000 km range no issues.

so in my case i had never got any issues with spark plugs from ebay .dealer charching arm and leg for parts that coming from same source.

remember range for spark plugs is about 200 000 km iridium only plugs.with correct temperature range.
labeling on plugs means nothing to me if after installation they dont missfire than they are good.on cold start if they dont missfire and your MIL lights is off than you have good plugs.
that is just my experiance .oooo yea never use NGK on lexus lol .....those are for nissan only
2008 nissan altima hybrid about $700 000 km on my neighbour car .those spark plugs from ebuy also no issues.

just one of many comments i hope it will help .

cheers

Rossi

iTrader: (5)

Nonsense, spark plugs are cheap, potential damage would be huge. You don’t need to go to dealer, just buy from reputable source. Nothing wrong with NGK for ISF.