RockAuto Spark plugs legit or counterfeited?

[wgtoys]

I don't think Rock Auto stocks any product themselves and as such they are not a conventional retailer. They seem to have contacts with many of the jobber warehouses in the industry. Rock Auto gathers all of the inventory listings for those many warehouses under one user interface, then directs your actual order for drop-shipping direct from whichever warehouse is providing the inventory. Typically they are also optimizing for shipping distance/cost. If you order a bunch of different products from different brands on one order you will see multiple warehouse locations and multiple shipping costs. The closeouts are probably the highest risk items as the actual suppliers are sweeping the last of their inventory out the door .... and it may not be "first quality". As a business person I find their business model fascinating.

 

[FordFETruck]

There is a Rockauto warehouse just a few miles away from me. I used to work with a guy that worked there for a while, they stocked all kinds of parts in that place and I've had several orders fulfilled from that location over the years. That being said, I've bought a lot of NGK and Denso sparkplugs from Rockauto and they've all been legitimate and problem free.

 

[PAb5]

RockAuto is generally considered a reliable online store, and many people I know have ordered without problems.
The price difference for NGK laser iridium spark plugs between AutoZone and RockAuto is quite significant. But prices can vary between retailers, and RockAuto is known for offering discounted prices. If you have a good experience with RockAuto, then it's worth buying.

 

[GMBoy]

The only catch with Rockauto, in my opinion, is I believe that they resell returns. So you could get someone else's returned fakes, I guess.

Actually pretty much every store does this.

 

[Urshurak776]

I have bought spark plugs several times from RockAuto. Never had a problem. Seemed to work fine and have lasted a long time.

That being said, I threw some autolites in my sons Rio. Oil burner, so no sense in wasting good plugs. Got a couple sets on eBay. Not sure it's worth faking autolites, but they seem to work (6 months or so now.)

 

[Mainia]

This. Plus you're more likely to get returned fakes at a B&M store than from RA

I'd still watch out for ebay regardless of positive FB. I got fake Motorcraft plugs from a seller "rulealpha" who had 98%+ at the time

However on ebay one indicator can be to look at their other listings. If they're selling stuff for tons of vehicle makes plus home goods plus purses, it's likely all Chinese crap.

OTOH if you find a Honda dealer on eBay (it happens with Ford A LOT) and you can verify their identity, it's almost surely legit. I've purchased lots of OEM from Ford dealers on ebay

Ebay has little incentive to can the fake Chinese sellers -- as long as the listings are plentiful and they get their fees, they fein ignorance. I see they now have commercials claiming authenticity -- are they REALLY cracking down? I'm skeptical.....

I thought that ebay commercial was about ONLY that they will fit/correct part, not about if they were quality parts.

 

[dubber09]

One test I do is check if ground electrode is magnetic, it should not be.

 

[Kantaro]

Any thoughts on measuring the resistance of the spark plugs? The resistance of the authentic NGKs are around 5 kΩ while the counterfeits are all over the place in this video:



Before I knew better, I bought NGK Platinum plugs from Sixity Auto Parts on eBay 7 years ago. Sixity seems reputable and the plugs haven't caused any issues yet in 40k km but I'll measure their resistance when I have time.

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[Urshurak776]

I know this thread is a few months old (started 8 months ago) but it cracks me up to share I got some Autolite iridium plugs for my sons KIA super cheap from a store called "UnicornPopFizzzy." Not kidding. Extra 'z' in fizzzy.

Baffled if there is a market for fake Autolites, but there may be.

My sons car burns oil pretty bad. All heroics have been thrown at it, piston soaks, you name it. I believe there is carbon scoring on cylinder walls, so it is what it is. I swap out the plugs every 20K now. The unicorn fizzzy (with extra z) plugs have been in for 10K, seem to work just fine. I'm sure this store is nothing but legit.

EDIT: looked it up....store is gone. Shame. Only the good die young.....