Real vs fake denso plugs w/pics

When I went to buy plugs for my Honda accord the dealer price was 25 a piece. I looked on Amazon and amazingly enough I found the same for as low as 5$ a piece. Now being an intelligent person I didn't purchase the amazon plug figuring it was a fake chinese pos. I really don't care if they are as good. I'm not going to support stealing tech and intellectual property by the Chinese and no one else should either. If you do don't bitch if you company goes out of business because china stole your tech makes your products for half the price.

 

BINGO ^^^. That's exactly what I have sitting on the shelf waiting for the time to come.

 

Denso makes the spark plugs for Toyota, whatcha you talkin about. You maybe be buying imitations from China on Ebay, so just go to Rock Auto.

 

Yep.

 

same happened to me on my other vehicle with Nissan NGK ebay VS dealership.
ebay was $60 for 8 NGK Nissan oem plugs vs dealership $170.
I first installed the fake, gapping was all over the place and truck rode like shit. keeps misfiring. ended up ordering from dealership, swapped everything and now smooth as a kitten. buyer beware.

 

I pay under $10 for 6 Denso plugs for my Datsun. My new 07 Tundra, I'll spend the extra for the New NGK Ruthenium because of the higher output ignition system vs the 72 Datsun. $65 for 8 plugs.

 

The more expensive plugs with precious metals just last longer. They don't provide higher output. Normal nickel plated plugs will work, they just need to be replaced sooner.

 

I didn't say they provide higher output, they handle the higher output better than the copper plugs. Trust me on this.... I was using the coppers in my 2000....great for awhile, but they dont last long as in my Datsun. So I decided for now on to go with the harder metals and the spark is more precise. I just researched all this just recently just to be sure my self.

 

These are the ones I bought. Box said Toyota Lexus? Truck runs fine? I only get 12 mpg. All were on gap when I took them out of boxes? Maybe this spring I will swap them out or at least pull one and see how it looks. Thanks for the info guys. Peace. D

 

Thanks. I was just about to ask what the ramifications are of buying fake plugs. I bought "Denso" plugs off eBay for our Rav4 last year. I guess they are likely fake.

I'll be replacing them soon after reading this thread. So far, I've not had any issues though.

 

All plugs have copper cores. The plugs we refer to as copper have nickel tips, these plugs actually are the best performance plugs as they are the most conductive, they just dont last as long. Iridium plugs just have a small amount of iridium on the tips which make them last longer and allow longer service intervals but do not provide a better or more precise spark than a copper plug.

https://www.championautoparts.com/P...air-and-maintenance/Spark-Plug-Materials.html

 

I think so but I'm not 100%. I'll have to look before I buy.

 

I'm getting the new NGK's too. NAPA down the street has them in stock and 20% off.

 

I was referring to the TIP and the Iridiums are designed to have more of a precise spark, especially after 20,000 miles when you have to change out your copper plugs. Not saying copper doesn't work good, I use them on my Datsun that takes me 15 minutes to change all 6. Now do you want to change spark plugs every 20,000 miles if you have to remove an intake manifold just to change 3......big fat NO. (talking about most other vehicles out there) Iridiums are 100k plugs, throw them in and forget about it. So a box that says Toyota/Lexus on it sounds fake. Should say Denso or NGK. and what are they, platinum or iridium? You can't have both as far as I know. side note: Lexus is short for Luxury EXports for the US same engine.

 

If you get the plugs from the dealership they will be in a Toyota/Lexus box. Same plug, just repackaged solely for the Toyota/Lexus consumer and dealerships. I'd imagine if someone went to the dealership and ordered spark plugs, and they came in a denso branded box, and not a toyota branded box, it may cause some confusion for those unaware. Just my speculation.

 

Op1 use @Roman
Op2 by a second set
Op3 take a marker and make it blue

We are living in a new century now guys. Things are made cheaper and cheaper. Also the world is running out of certain compounds to make what we use to have. Look at our metals, just because it’s says made in the USA don’t mean that metal was produce here. What it means is we have certain spec. lines that that metals has to pass for product of USA products. This is what’s call world trade. Scientists everyday are trying to make man made compounds to match what the world is running out of. Nothing’s guaranteed to last. Even if it had the blue, and let’s say you just installed new ones and 2 go in 10k. What will you do or even if all go out. Also we need better quality control. Other countries probably have 8-10 year olds help making their products which we buy. Just think about this for a moment...

 

Fake cigs! Now that’s funny!

 

think i have a set of "fake" denso's in my tundra now. had no idea they were making counterfeit plugs. Just ordered replacement set direct from a toyota dealer this am

I bought mine off ebay last year for $56 for the set. (only about $15 cheaper than the totyota dealer) Looked back at listing and they shipped from China. Going to swap out asap and will post up some pics. Maybe have about 12k miles on them Trucks seems to run fine but worried about having a similar failure as posted

 

Well to add to the story, got a Camry in the shop that the owner put “oem” Toyota plugs in his Camry... from eBay.


The electrode broke off and did some damage. (They’re pretty convincing fakes. Until you look at the stampings really close and the ceramic isn’t as smooth) He tried calling Toyota to complain about the plugs. They told him your sol. Just bite the bullet and buy oem from the dealer or Denso/ngk from a reputable auto parts store! If the price is too good to be true, it is indeed too good to be true!

 

Yup, no spark plugs from Amazon or eBay, go to a brick and mortar and get them or order from an actual auto parts site. Would be nice if they could stop the flow of these counterfeit plugs from China from getting into the country or at least stop people from selling them.

 

Advanced Auto and NAPA have a higher overhead and always charge more for stuff you can buy online. Even RockAuto is cheaper, but shipping from 7 locations kills the price deals.

I have never had an issue using the inexpensive Denso iridium plugs from ebay. Don't buy them from a new seller with 3 feedback. And don't buy from Amazon's sellers. I swear 99% of the stuff on Amazon is fake BS from China or India. They don't seem to care either. Don't think they listen or read complaints. It's like complaining about the USPS, they don't give af.

 

I'd rather pay more from Advanced, Napa or O'Reilly and get real iridium's and not worry. With the time between plug change intervals it's really not a big deal to pay more.

 

Yup both eBay and Amazon are full of fake parts.

Air filters, cabin filters, oil filters, spark plugs, gaskets, wheel bearings, etc... buyer beware.

 

Yeah it's crazy, I've resorted back to just buying all my parts from local stores unless I can tell the eBay seller is an actual dealership.

 

Amazon is OK if the item is shipped directly from Amazon or a Toyota dealer. Avoid 3rd party sellers on anything important, really. Not just spark plugs.

 

swapped out 8 "counterfeit" densos. Have about 12k miles on them, and gaps had opened up alot. Bought my new OEM plugs from toyota dealer

I just

 

I can't tell if it's just carbon build up on yours or not but one thing I had noticed on counterfeit plugs is the tips are much broader and not as fine as the tip on genuine plugs.

 

the fake ones have a bigger tip. The gap on all the plugs that I pulled was up to .56-.60

 

I’ve bought Ignition Coils and o2 Sensors online from the Denso store via the biggest online retailer in the world. No problems so far. You can go directly to Denso and they will link you wherever you want to buy. Denso even will confirm fitments and link you over. You can pay double or pay half. Your choice. No need to go through Toyota if you can go straight to their direct source. I’ve even sourced Hitachi for my MAF Sensor. You know its real when they scratch off the Toyota Stampings to make it legal.