Toyota RAV4 Forums banner

Ozzie customs seizes bogus Toyota parts

4K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  Lemon 
#1 ·
Customs seizes bogus car parts - Created by admin - In category: Technology - Tagged with: - The News On Time - Minute by minutes following worldwide news…

AUSTRALIAN Customs has seized a shipment of counterfeit car parts that could have made their way into thousands of cars, as authorities crack down on dodgy repairers.
Car giant Toyota has sent an urgent bulletin to its network of more than 200 dealers across the country to help identify the bogus parts, which could cause engine failures and leave customers with repair bills in the thousands of dollars.
According to the dealer alert obtained by News Corp Australia, Toyota is trying to identify oil filters for the Corolla, Camry, RAV4, and Kluger, which may have been used by independent repairers.


The parts, which had Toyota labels and packaging but were not made by Toyota, were intercepted by Customs and Border Protection during their importation.
Toyota is concerned earlier shipments have arrived undetected.
It is suspected the importers intended to sell the parts to independent workshops unaware they were non-genuine items.




 
See less See more
2
#2 ·
Now I am wondering whether somehow there is a procedure being used or even possible in the U.S. to intercept and identify counterfeit bogus Toyota parts . . .it appears to be difficult to do until someone who knows quite well what a part or packaging is supposed to appear actually gets their hands onto a counterfeit one. To examine carefully all inbound shipments including those supposedly to and from Toyota would seem to be a daunting task for U.S. officials.
 
#6 ·
Just imagine, every single industry that sells branded stuff can have counterfeit items. Anything from Rubik's Cubes to fancy purses. I would not want to have to deal with that mess. There is no possible way anyone could be an expert on every possible item. Legit things will get stopped and fake things will get through. Even obvious fakes will get through if the person looking at it is an expert in other types of items.

-d
 
#3 ·
We should all be mindful of this when buying "Toyota" parts from online vendors or Ebay.
 
#4 ·
I only buy from Toyota dealerships... and even then, I somehow ended up with a bad air filter for my Tacoma.
Last oil change, I opened the airbox and noticed some dirt on TOP of the filter, and signs of air leakage from one side of the cover.
Removed the filter and noticed it was not identified as a Denso... there was a "Made in Korea" stamp on one of the pleats.
It had no gasket (the Toyota filter for the 4.2 was like that so I didn't think anything of it when I installed it).

I opened the box to pull out a new filter and it had a silicone gasket and the perimeter was a bit thicker.

It MAY have been a legit Toyota filter... I know they change their sources and designs from time to time. I honestly don't recall the silicone gasket on any previous filters.
I wish I knew who I bought it from but it could have been from any of 4 or 5 dealers.
 
#5 ·
Going to have my wife stop by the dealer this week and buy one OTC to compare with the case that I bought online.
The photo above is hard to see the details.
Of course, under different lighting, the filter color looks different, as does the Toyota red.

My part number is different (04152-YZZA1), so that label (and indeed all of the labeling) is different.
My labels are in English/French.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top