Saw a post about a smoking deal for a motor oil that usually costs around $10 a quart at the dealer and as low as maybe $8 elsewhere. This deal brings the cost down to around $3.xx after rebate. I was at the dealer a while ago and he warned me about buying the cheapest part(s) online as many were fakes. He pointed out tht most cheap oil filters online weren't real. It was self serving by him I know but I do know there is a real issue with counterfeit everything nowadays. I wonder if motor oil has fallen into this category? I would hate to think that I was using M1 and really using chainsaw bar oil or such.
Counterfeit products
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People have posted here questions about whether Mobil1 jugs for sale at Walmart are the real thing or if Mobil itself makes sub-standard products for their biggest outlets.
Your question is not an unreasonable one.
Your question is not an unreasonable one.
Counterfeit auto products do exist such as NGK spark plugs among other things. The fake stuff is more prevalent to the large Asian manufactures such as Toyota.
Another concern is those who have their vehicle serviced and pay for an upgraded oil and don't receive it.
Another concern is those who have their vehicle serviced and pay for an upgraded oil and don't receive it.
It is a possibility and I do care about it. I think as long as you buy products from big name or otherwise reputable dealers, you won't have a problem. They have too much on the line and usually get things direct from the manufacturer. Also sourcing things from a few locations that you trust consistently. I buy from a single online dealership, RockAuto, Advance AutoParts and Walmart that I shop from for all car stuff, that's it. What I don't do is buy from individual sellers on eBay. Too much to go wrong there. Dealerships on eBay though are fine.
Originally Posted by Kira
People have posted here questions about whether Mobil1 jugs for sale at Walmart are the real thing or if Mobil itself makes sub-standard products for their biggest outlets.
I have read from several sources that whole, "sub quality made just for Wal-Mart", is complete nonsense. I heard the same thing said about their guns, .22 L.R. ammo, laundry detergent, motor oil, paint, and even prescription drugs. It's all B.S.
Just think about it. The logistics would be a nightmare..... "Don't take that off line 3. That's strictly junk reserved only for Wal-Mart!"... It's ridiculous. And for argument purposes if it were true, why would a large multi billion dollar manufacturer like Exxon Mobil, or Lilly Pharmaceutical, deliberately risk their reputation by manufacturing sub standard products? It wouldn't make any sense.
The risk is far greater than the reward if they were ever caught. Especially in regards to the FDA with prescription drugs. Look at what happened to Volkswagen with the EPA for just trying to cheat consumers and the government with emissions. They're still not done paying out billions of dollars. And now have acres of vehicles they don't know what to do with. It is a total disaster. All for what?
Now with the Internet this kind of nonsense gets legs, and never seems to end. Wal-Mart buys in huge volume, with large contracts that guarantee huge purchases over long periods of time that no one else can match. That is why they can sell cheaper. Because they buy and sell more. Quality is not jeopardized. Waste your time worrying about the asteroid instead.
People have posted here questions about whether Mobil1 jugs for sale at Walmart are the real thing or if Mobil itself makes sub-standard products for their biggest outlets.
I have read from several sources that whole, "sub quality made just for Wal-Mart", is complete nonsense. I heard the same thing said about their guns, .22 L.R. ammo, laundry detergent, motor oil, paint, and even prescription drugs. It's all B.S.
Just think about it. The logistics would be a nightmare..... "Don't take that off line 3. That's strictly junk reserved only for Wal-Mart!"... It's ridiculous. And for argument purposes if it were true, why would a large multi billion dollar manufacturer like Exxon Mobil, or Lilly Pharmaceutical, deliberately risk their reputation by manufacturing sub standard products? It wouldn't make any sense.
The risk is far greater than the reward if they were ever caught. Especially in regards to the FDA with prescription drugs. Look at what happened to Volkswagen with the EPA for just trying to cheat consumers and the government with emissions. They're still not done paying out billions of dollars. And now have acres of vehicles they don't know what to do with. It is a total disaster. All for what?
Now with the Internet this kind of nonsense gets legs, and never seems to end. Wal-Mart buys in huge volume, with large contracts that guarantee huge purchases over long periods of time that no one else can match. That is why they can sell cheaper. Because they buy and sell more. Quality is not jeopardized. Waste your time worrying about the asteroid instead.
Originally Posted by PimTac
There are factories in China that will make anything you want and even the packaging that will mimic a known brand. Most of this stuff gets sold on EBay and other online sellers.
What you have to be careful with when buying on E-Bay or Amazon, is be sure to stay away from brand name products. Even if the higher price matches the good. You're just asking to be screwed. If your wife wants to buy a Louis Vuitton purse for $700.00. Make sure she buys it from an authorized Louis Vuitton dealer, not from Amazon. If she wants a $45.00 copy, then let her knock herself out.
There are factories in China that will make anything you want and even the packaging that will mimic a known brand. Most of this stuff gets sold on EBay and other online sellers.
What you have to be careful with when buying on E-Bay or Amazon, is be sure to stay away from brand name products. Even if the higher price matches the good. You're just asking to be screwed. If your wife wants to buy a Louis Vuitton purse for $700.00. Make sure she buys it from an authorized Louis Vuitton dealer, not from Amazon. If she wants a $45.00 copy, then let her knock herself out.
"It's estimated that between $20 billion and $30 billion in counterfeit goods are sold in Canada every year."
https://globalnews.ca/news/4163571/counterfeit-goods-economy/
https://globalnews.ca/news/4163571/counterfeit-goods-economy/
You are probably safer in the US than we are here. I have often find top labeled oil that is only the label being top. One one very obvious example, The local Chevron dealer was trying to take away one of my customers, and they provided drums of what was supposed to be Delo, also agreeing to show analyze the oil. They (the dealer) collected the sample and sent it to the US lab. But since the customer was mine, and we, by coincidence, use the same lab, the report was sent to me. The oil was nothing more than a CF-4.
Two years ago a customer challenged me to prove that a Donaldson oil filter was better than a Volvo filter. He brought me the Volvo filter and the receipt from the Dealer. We cut both of them open. I hate to think this is a real Volvo filter, and suspect that the dealer is being duped, but you can see some things for yourself. I published a bulletin on it (in Spanish, of course): Volvo filter alert
Here are some of the comparison pictures
![[Linked Image]](https://www.widman.biz/boletines/168_files/stacks-image-24145f2-900x1200@2x.jpg "[Linked Image]")
![[Linked Image]](https://www.widman.biz/boletines/168_files/stacks-image-d562af2-900x1200@2x.jpg "[Linked Image]")
I took some oil we were draining from a customer's car and pumped it through the 5 um membrane
Some oil (25 ml) filtered through the "Volvo" filter
![[Linked Image]](https://www.widman.biz/boletines/168_files/stacks-image-fde5c57-1192x1200.jpg "[Linked Image]")
Same amount through the Donaldson
![[Linked Image]](https://www.widman.biz/boletines/168_files/stacks-image-416bcc5-1198x1198.jpg "[Linked Image]")
Two years ago a customer challenged me to prove that a Donaldson oil filter was better than a Volvo filter. He brought me the Volvo filter and the receipt from the Dealer. We cut both of them open. I hate to think this is a real Volvo filter, and suspect that the dealer is being duped, but you can see some things for yourself. I published a bulletin on it (in Spanish, of course): Volvo filter alert
Here are some of the comparison pictures
I took some oil we were draining from a customer's car and pumped it through the 5 um membrane
Some oil (25 ml) filtered through the "Volvo" filter
Same amount through the Donaldson
Zee09
$200 Site Donor 2023
I had a joker on EBay Italy knocking off my products and he was even charging more than me.
He packaged the items with my labels. He had over 2800 sales and EBay shut him down in 48 hours.
It went on for years. Now I check EBay worldwide monthly...
He packaged the items with my labels. He had over 2800 sales and EBay shut him down in 48 hours.
It went on for years. Now I check EBay worldwide monthly...
It is pretty crazy the lengths people will go to make counterfeit products. My boss will sometimes buy from another vendor who guarantees the parts are "Genuine Ford and Mazda" but when they show up their are generic white box. We had a whole pallet of filters that we refused because they were all generic white box.
Zee09
$200 Site Donor 2023
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
It is pretty crazy the lengths people will go to make counterfeit products. My boss will sometimes buy from another vendor who guarantees the parts are "Genuine Ford and Mazda" but when they show up their are generic white box. We had a whole pallet of filters that we refused because they were all generic white box.
Good for you guys!
It is pretty crazy the lengths people will go to make counterfeit products. My boss will sometimes buy from another vendor who guarantees the parts are "Genuine Ford and Mazda" but when they show up their are generic white box. We had a whole pallet of filters that we refused because they were all generic white box.
Good for you guys!
The Chinese made brand new starter is a near exact copy of the original Ford starter. The no-name clone of a Zama carb that is a copy of a Walbro on the Echo or the Husqvarna. Are these copies "counterfeits"?
A few years ago there were companies in the UAE flooding the market with counterfeit import parts. Those could easily end up via , unwitting third party; for sale. China is even copying part numbers font/color and selling Chinese parts as Japanese on ebay.
So I picked up a few M1 filters at a decent price: without cutting them open, how can I verify that they are genuine ? I have other M1 filters that I have cut open in the past. Does the base plate have special codes ?
Originally Posted by Zee09
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
It is pretty crazy the lengths people will go to make counterfeit products. My boss will sometimes buy from another vendor who guarantees the parts are "Genuine Ford and Mazda" but when they show up their are generic white box. We had a whole pallet of filters that we refused because they were all generic white box.
Good for you guys!
I caught it. Our other counter people at the time didn't think anything of it. I compared one of their filters to a Genuine Mazda one and it was actually not the same size. Then it turned into a huge measuring contest between my boss and the company. We just refused to pay the bill and told them where the pallet was if they wanted to come get it, they eventually did.
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
It is pretty crazy the lengths people will go to make counterfeit products. My boss will sometimes buy from another vendor who guarantees the parts are "Genuine Ford and Mazda" but when they show up their are generic white box. We had a whole pallet of filters that we refused because they were all generic white box.
Good for you guys!
I caught it. Our other counter people at the time didn't think anything of it. I compared one of their filters to a Genuine Mazda one and it was actually not the same size. Then it turned into a huge measuring contest between my boss and the company. We just refused to pay the bill and told them where the pallet was if they wanted to come get it, they eventually did.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
Originally Posted by billt460
I have read from several sources that whole, "sub quality made just for Wal-Mart", is complete nonsense. I heard the same thing said about their guns, .22 L.R. ammo, laundry detergent, motor oil, paint, and even prescription drugs. It's all B.S.
I owned a photography/camera store for 20 years in Pa. I know for fact that WalMart spec'd and sold de-contented cameras from several different makers. Same body, add or change one number in the model name (Rebel XTis vs Rebel XTsi for instance) and take out a couple of features or have less focus points or whatever to make it cheaper to manufacture. I examined the cameras and it was confirmed by the factory rep when asked. The average consumer would never know. When you're ordering tens of thousands of an item you can do that. I've always wondered since they did it with cameras that are a relatively low margin sale what else did they do it to? Not nonsense or BS, this was my field of expertise and it was confirmed.
I have read from several sources that whole, "sub quality made just for Wal-Mart", is complete nonsense. I heard the same thing said about their guns, .22 L.R. ammo, laundry detergent, motor oil, paint, and even prescription drugs. It's all B.S.
I owned a photography/camera store for 20 years in Pa. I know for fact that WalMart spec'd and sold de-contented cameras from several different makers. Same body, add or change one number in the model name (Rebel XTis vs Rebel XTsi for instance) and take out a couple of features or have less focus points or whatever to make it cheaper to manufacture. I examined the cameras and it was confirmed by the factory rep when asked. The average consumer would never know. When you're ordering tens of thousands of an item you can do that. I've always wondered since they did it with cameras that are a relatively low margin sale what else did they do it to? Not nonsense or BS, this was my field of expertise and it was confirmed.
The WM and cameras case is an example of "no price match" game. Costco started it long ago. The same product, except for a feature and model number, of course.
Another game in town is soon to be discontinued model liquidation in huge batches. Doesn't mean anything is fake or lower quality.
Another game in town is soon to be discontinued model liquidation in huge batches. Doesn't mean anything is fake or lower quality.
Originally Posted by Y_K
The WM and cameras case is an example of "no price match" game. Costco started it long ago. The same product, except for a feature and model number, of course.
Another game in town is soon to be discontinued model liquidation in huge batches. Doesn't mean anything is fake or lower quality.
Exactly. Wal-Mart does this with big screen, (55" & up), LCD flat screen TV's all the time. They sell them cheaper than anyone, because most all of them are recently discontinued models. They are no more, "lower quality" than any other set from any other store with that same exact model number. In fact, most all big box stores do this on Black Friday sales. Manufacturers are upgrading their electronics with new models every 15 minutes.
People shopping on Black Friday become victims of their own creation. Because they are all running around town at midnight like a bunch of wild animals, all looking for the cheapest prices. And because the bulk of them are shopping for price alone, they end up getting into fist fights and shoving matches over old, discontinued models. The entire Black Friday shopping "experience" is based on P.T. Barnum's model.
The WM and cameras case is an example of "no price match" game. Costco started it long ago. The same product, except for a feature and model number, of course.
Another game in town is soon to be discontinued model liquidation in huge batches. Doesn't mean anything is fake or lower quality.
Exactly. Wal-Mart does this with big screen, (55" & up), LCD flat screen TV's all the time. They sell them cheaper than anyone, because most all of them are recently discontinued models. They are no more, "lower quality" than any other set from any other store with that same exact model number. In fact, most all big box stores do this on Black Friday sales. Manufacturers are upgrading their electronics with new models every 15 minutes.
People shopping on Black Friday become victims of their own creation. Because they are all running around town at midnight like a bunch of wild animals, all looking for the cheapest prices. And because the bulk of them are shopping for price alone, they end up getting into fist fights and shoving matches over old, discontinued models. The entire Black Friday shopping "experience" is based on P.T. Barnum's model.
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