Fake OEM oil filters?

I tried searching the forum a few different ways with no luck, so apologies if this is an old topic. I bought a box of 6 (supposedly) OEM oil filters from Amazon. They looked pretty legit, and the price wasn't low enough to seem suspicious. I got them and the boxes look good. Nothing seems too suspicious, but being always leery of fakes from Amazon I opened one up and gave it a good once over. Nothing obviously wrong with how the filter looks, but there's some weirdness. The OEM part number for the Tundra filter is

$29 04152-YZZA4 Replaceable Oil Filter Element 1/2 Case (QTY 5)

04152-YZZA4. That's how these are marked on the box, however on the folds of the filter a different number is stamped. When you google THAT number (15613-YZZA4), all of the results returned are Alibaba links and Chinese manufactured fakes.

The Amazon seller is Metro24Wholesale.com (I know. Already sounds dodgy). Normally I pay more attention, but I think I actually bought them following a link I found here. Anyway, the return is going to cost me $3.24. Well worth it IMO, but I wanted to post up here because if they actually are fakes I may throw a fit with Amazon and see if I can get a 100% refund.

 

There is a huge slew of fake OEM Toyota filters and other OEM parts out there. Spark plugs are a big offender too. I only buy from the dealer now for my filters and spark plugs.

Things to note with fake oil filters that are a dead giveaway are: 1. The reflective sticker on top of the package - real OEM is a high quality reflecting sticker. Chinese is very poor and doesn't actually reflect much, its obvious. 2. The fake oil filters box label usually says "made in Japan". This is wrong, real OEM is printed Made In Thailand. 3. Filter is not rigid. OEM is a very stiff material. The fake ones are almost squishy.

This stuff is worth paying extra at the dealer imo. Last thing you need is a Chinese filter disintegrating into your motor, or a fake spark plug breaking apart into your cylinder head. A couple bucks is worth the peace of mind.

Nice job inspecting that and catching those discrepancies.

 

The packaging and the filter both look pretty solid, like I said. The filter is pretty rigid, sticker you mentioned looks pretty high quality, and the box says Made in Thailand. The only real red flag that I see is that number printed on the folds of the filter.

 

I remember reading about fake filters before. They probably used real boxes that were trash and put the fake filters in them to resale. Or they got better at fake markings.

I’ve ordered individual ones from Amazon and I’m pretty sure they were real. But I always ordered from a Toyota site that was selling on Amazon.

 

That's really interesting. I wonder if there was a superceded part number but i couldn't find one. Curious to see if anyone else chimes in. Could just be reusing legit boxes with fake filters. Crazy

 

I just bought oil filters for a Camry from the same seller on Amazon, the Toyota holographic sticker and filter looked legit compared to the Tundra filter i picked up from a local Toyota dealership. $16 for 3 filters and 3 oil washers looked good.

 

A few photos. In the last one I'm squeezing the filter with a fair amount of pressure.

 

I'm certain that is a Chinese knock off even though the box seems legit.

 

What is the part # on the filter?

 

My local dealer sucks so I buy filters online direct from other Toyota dealers, or I did just notice that Walmart sells Toyota oil filters. What are the chances those are fake? I'll go check them out next time I'm grabbing oil.

Edit: checked out my stock from dealers for truck and rav 4. You sure that other parts number isn't just the filter media part number?

two different medias here to match the part numbers, although I am a bit concerned about TOYOTA logo appearing different font.

Tundra oil filter


Rav4 oil filter with different filter media part number

 

Yeah, so am I. I've already contacted Amazon and the seller about it. A lot of stink to raise about $3.43 worth of shipping, but I'm tired of this bullshit with knockoffs everywhere. I'm done eating the cost.

 

I purchased a case (12) from the same seller that @chuffaluffigus did. Me being me i got curious as well, and well dead ringer for what he posted. To go even further, my wife has a 17 4Runner which i have filters for her vehicle as well. The beginning index printed on her filter is the same as the filters in question. Maybe Toyota has a logical explanation for this?

 

If that's from a Toyota dealership then that brings me a lot of relief. Dealership wouldn't be selling fake ones i would think, since their supplier is Toyota directly vs 3rd party sellers some vendors online may use.

 

I bought mine directly from Toyota and it has the exact same # (15613-YZZA4). Why would a knock-off go through the trouble of printing a number on the inside of the filter that most people don't even know are there?

 

Just called my local dealer and asked them to look at a filter out of inventory. He says that number is correct and it's the manufacturing number, so it sounds like maybe I'm getting myself worked up over nothing.

 

Very unlikely IMO. If the dealer is discovered passing fakes off as Genuine Toyota, I suspect they can kiss their dealer franchise goodbye. Plus, there is very little financial incentive for them if dealers can buy the real deal at wholesale prices, typically half or less than half of MSRP.

I will only buy Toyota or Honda parts on Amazon IF the seller is clearly a Toyota or Honda dealer.

 

Looks like 04152-YZZA2 was an OEM 4runner filter part number before it was superceeded with 04152-YZZA5 so to me it looks like these part numbers are size-filter media type. And the 15613 - number is indicative of "oil filter media" - type.

 

I agree now that more of you have checked. Saved me a trip to my storage unit. I still have 5 OEM filters left. There are fakes using the A4 suffix coming out of China Alibaba site. The dealer will not sell fakes. Whew!

 

I bought my filters from the same Dealership.

 

my local dealer sells oil filters buy 3 get 1 free. Other dealers might do same. Also some large dealers that participate in the Toyota parts online have pretty big discounts compared to some. Also free shipping with minimum order. So no need to go 3rd party to save a few bucks in my opinion.

 

So at this point I'm 98% sure that the filters I got were genuine. I probably should have just kept them, but I went ahead and sent them back anyway (and paid the return fee) because the idea of not trusting them had burrowed its way too deep into my brain at that point to keep them, and it just wasn't worth it to me. Filters are too cheap straight from the dealership to wonder about the authenticity of something from an unknown source.

 

Then buy them at the dealer for peace of mind....

 

Not sure if Amazon still has a problem with it, but it used to be that, through their "Fulfillment by Amazon" programs, counterfeit products could get stored and warehoused with legitimate products, and then, even if you bought from a reputable seller, you could still get a counterfeit product. (This personally happened to me numerous times with printer ink cartridges a few years back - were "shipped and sold by Amazon", but were obviously junk knock offs).

Here is one article from 2017 talking about it...

Again, they may have fixed it, but when it comes to things that are easily knocked off, I buy those from a dealer. eBay should be safe too, as the parts are sent directly from the seller and not some random warehouse where pallets of things are stored and shipped on their behalf.

 

I’m glad to see this. I was about to order from the same seller. It appears that the part number in the box is really an “assembly” or “kit” number. I’d be willing to bet the o-ring and the oil drain tube each have different numbers. So I’m not too worried about a different number in the filter itself.

 

I bought the exact same deal that you did from metro. Those are legit filters.

 

Stealer Prices are so cheap for Oil Filters that its a no brainer to buy them there. You can order and have them delivered for a small fee or pick them up for free. Check to see if your local participates in the Toyota Parts Programme for an even better deal.