I just changed the spark plugs on my car, and I'm wondering if they were original.

The plugs I removed are NGK Iridium, and marked IFR6A - 11.

I replaced the old plugs with Denso Iridium SK20R11 - 3297.

 

HUH.....I did my plugs at 118k and that's what came out of my '06. I assumed 1/2 previous owners replaced prematurely, maybe they were in fact installed at the factory in Tahara Aishi.

And that's what I put in, the 3297s, cost like $6.20 from amazon at the time--they then went into the $5's dang. Coincidentally my commute changed and the mpgs have plummeted too lol (but I know the avg mph used to be 24-26, and now it's about 14-16 mph, so it's the commute, not the plugs)

 

See that? Exactly as you said. I bet the NGKs were from the factory, because why would anyone have done my plugs already, when I did them myself at 118k, 2k short of the recommended.....

 

Makes sense!

Condition looks similar to mine as well.

The car feels a little smoother at idle, unless it's entirely my imagination. Though I did pull the positive battery terminal for a bit, so possibly reset some of the fuel/ignition stuff.

I can't believe I managed to do this entire job in under forty minutes! I started with the most difficult plug, back by the battery, to make sure that I could just quit if it wasn't going to work within the 1.5 hours I set out for myself, and then I buzzed along and was done in no time at all. I love working on this car. (So far. Hope I didn't just jinx myself.)

 

Buyer beware on low cost Iridium spark plugs. The first set of Denso Iridium plugs for the LS430 that I purchased from Amazon at relatively low cost (around $5 per plug) were fakes. It was not easy to tell the difference between the counterfeit Denso plugs and the real ones. I had to check on the Denso web site to verify the plugs material, printing, graphics, and packaging. I ended paying 1-2 dollars more per plug from another Amazon vendor but did get real Denso plugs.

The fake plugs are Chinese knockoffs that look very similar including packaging but the fakes are not iridium and also use inferior core and insulator materials.

 

Glad this came up.
For others this site has pictures:
https://www.driven2automotive.com/bl...rk-plugs-2017/

 

problem is, if sold by amazon and fake, amazon has a supply chain issue. If you're talking 3rd party seller, then all bets are off and yes, like 2032 coin cells, knock offs abound. It's rockauto that is more vulnerable than amazon. Nobody F's with Jeff Bezos, if you don't believe it, do business with him and find out. Anyway I once got 12 PF63Es from rock and sent all 12 back.

I often wondered why eBay has genuine Toyota parts sometimes 65% off list etc. So I asked. The answer made sense. Not fake.

There's a reason why German pliers from amazon UK is cheaper to my front door even with express DHL shipping, over ordering it with amazon Prime. I literally ordered them last Sat., and they were delivered Tue., from London. $94 v. $68.

again, sold by amazon, meaning amazon, not 3rd party? Not fake. But to each his own. Maybe also just me, when I see it's an amazon 3rd party I rule them out, and find them on eBay for much less if I really want to buy from that seller. But I rather buy from amazon only even if 3rd party is prime.

edit p.s. I used a QR scanner to scan both the exterior box, and the interior box, of the plugs I purchased. Per the guide posted above, the QR code led back to 4 pc. on the outside box, and 1 pc. on the individual box. I can't help but feel it's a disservice to amazon to conclude if you get it from them, you have a decent chance of knock offs. That's simply my opinion. And let's be clear, I am talking about purchased from amazon, v. 3rd parties selling on amazon.

I've noticed that their pricing is crushing the other place lately, and I think they are moving in for the kill. Is that nice? Not really. But it's life. The OE water pump I got from them for my wife's car? It had a Canada maple leaf on it in the proper spot, and a GM hologram sticker on the exterior box, so if it were fake, I would think it will simply fail prematurely. But where can I buy it to be assured that it's real? Dealer wanted $284 for the pump, then $8.09 x 6 for the torque to yield bolts, another $6.01 for the gasket, when amazon sold them all for $115.

My buddy just had a Motorcraft AGM battery installed by Ford fail in his NAV L in 9 months. I don't think it's a fake battery, it's a poorly constructed battery. We had 2 fail in my wife's GM in 12 mos. and 18 mos. back to back, so I switched to Costco. Yes, it's a wild world out there but it always has been. my .02

Many of the purchases we make in today's world are only as good as the seller who is backing them. A HFT jack might cost only $90, a fancier $350, and a Snap On $1,600. They literally are only as good as the warranty. I will say this, across my 6 HFT jacks, only 1 has ever leaked, and it was replaced and replacement good now for 11 years. Maybe that's 1 too many if you get under the car while it's jacked up? Another example and I could go on, I purchased a ThinkPad online from the place that even today will credit you back the sales tax (I think that is a genius move). It wasn't fake because I had service calls through IBM over a 3 year period--the fact that IBM recognized the warranty meant legit.

 

We'd been discussing the authenticity of parts over in the 400 section too. Lots of 3'rd party with some twisted wording be a bit unclear on an initial read. "Fits" using a Toyota/Lexus part# as a reference. Add in the fakes and the parts market can be a horrible learning experience.

Amazon has had their share of knock-off products even those shipped and sold by Amazon. The supply chain can be a suspect so there isn't the 100% but with a shipped by Amazon the return is quite good to remedy the situation.

 

Agree - knockoffs and counterfeit parts can be anywhere in the supply chain from virtually any vendor. Even your local dealer can end up with fake parts. The key is to know that fakes exist and do your best to identify and avoid them. Amazon can painstakingly stock and ship fakes purchased from a wholesaler just as easily as a third party can do the same.

 

Agreed. What you say makes sense, just do your best to avoid.

I just thought of something. We wouldn't at all be surprised with 2032 or any type of batteries not being genuine. Easy test. Go to one of those malls I don't know what they're called like a permanent flea market. The 2032s are not the same as Walmart or Target or CVS. Packaging alone gives it away. And you can get batteries for 50 cents each.

I was getting them from amazon whenever prices dipped, for energizer 2032s to around 65 cents each, regardless if 4, 6, or 8 pack etc. Always from amazon only. Packaging looked like Walmart, would have to check but even for a package of 1--retail packaging if you will.

One time I did receive counterfeit and it was because amazon fulfilled the order using a 3rd party's stock. I asked a coworker who had a large amazon store and he said yes they will do that. They could probably do it as well with plugs, or unintentionally have counterfeit introduced into what they are selling.

Touche.

I do think gray market exists today, like the Knipex pliers I got from amazon UK. They are $94 on amazon's website, $6x on the UK website. Both are same pliers, both made in Germany, one bypasses all the USA distribution and their markups. When I go to undo hoses on a car, any difference? Highly doubt it.

At the same time, I think we have to be able to live our lives in such a way to say we're going to get a part from somewhere like amazon, and simply use it. if there's an issue, return it. I had to get 3 starter motors from that other large online auto place and do the job 3X because of defective, not counterfeit, parts. Unlike amazon, I had to pay the shipping 3X, albeit at their rates with their FedEx account. I remember documenting it on the other forum--the stickers that the factory put on the part were never in the same place across 3 parts that were brand new. That's lack of quality. This would be my fear with a LS starter where it's not feasible to do the job 3X because the replacement part is faulty....if you're afraid of buying from amazon, you should be very afraid of buying from them. As mentioned I got 12 PF63E filters from them, that matched a web page describing knock off AC Delco.

There is no question that after I did my plugs my mpgs are about 3 lower, to 16. Based on the pics I posted my buddy said my Densos are clearly fakes. I said how so? He said you really got time to worry about stuff like that?! I guess not really.

 

My Denso plugs looked the same as the plugs in your photos there.

I don't know. Maybe they were fake? I bought them months ago. Shipped and sold by Amazon.

Fake spark plugs are certainly not something that ever crossed my mind. So much so that I wonder about the validity of all this. Is there any statement from a major manufacturer--Bosch, Denso, NGK, etc? A ton of myths get started in the car community and go on for years before they die. (ATF cleans your engine, synthetic oil makes it leak, GM makes good cars, etc) I've changed many spark plugs over the years, and looking at the photo comparisons online, I don't see anything really discernible between the "fake" and "real" examples for these plugs.

I feel like it's much more likely that the differing plugs we're seeing are just made in different factories.

Which isn't to say I'm entirely dismissing the idea of fake plugs--I really have no idea, and I wouldn't be that surprised.

 

I am of the opinion the amazon plugs I got and you got are not fake. But we could be totally wrong. Maybe next time we go to remove them they all snap in the cylinders, or they disintegrate and something falls in the cylinder and our engines are done, but I don't think it's worthwhile to worry. Fraud exists at all levels, this would be seemingly a low one. The latest one I have seen? My wife went to a doctor, and suddenly on the claim it says alcohol counseling and depression counseling. I asked my wife they do that? she said what??! fraud but the doctor already got away with it and paid. insurance could care less because it's a HRA. This is an old game that one woulda thought would have been stopped--we'll just submit claims, if we get something ok, if not, ok. Very likely my wife signed something resembling checking in and it states they can do what they did.