I was already corrected on that missed point much earlier in the piece, but good thing you are here to save the internet one post at a time ;)

Ive seen counterfeit stuff before. Ive been to Hong Kong and seen it all first hand. the markets run ripe with it.
I even bought a fake pair of Bolle ha ha ha ha.
sure they are not as good as the real things, but i found them no worse than the average no name brand sunnies.
same as the Levis being no worse than any Kmart branded jeans.

It is wrong though if people are put under the perception that it is the genuine article

What I have found with a lot of these sorts of parts (and not just Automotive) is that it is generally a company that is sub contracted the manufacture of these parts, and has either just lost the contract or someon has gotten the bright idea of cutting ou the middle man. Kinda like you buying on “e-Bay”. A lot cheaper because it doesn’t go through the distributer.

Anyways, I tune my weekend cars, I like and trust brands like HKS, Apexi, GReddy, Work, Enkei etc some of the more popular aftermarket performance brands…

the KEY WORD being PERFORMANCE…

the article here talks about dodgy parts, yes most likely from China.

I know for a fact that parts drawings sent to Chinese manufacturer plants have to have different part numbers, and even sometimes no dimensions, dimensions are sent through another method… to prevent these drawings being intercepted or being reprinted then “sold” to “cheap’ dodgy chinese manufacturers…. Again I know this for a fact.

Nike gave up and basically just established chinese Nike manufacturing plants to take advantage of cheap materials and cheap labour.. but strictly the products are sold in China…. but with eBay these days, these poorer quality “Nike” products make it here and everywhere.

The next phenomena is the automotive industry…

So Realcars, please just STFU if you don’t know what you’re talking about, start a Toyota Hate forum. Because the article here is about protecting assets and ultimately jobs by Australian suppliers, Australian manufacturers… Who will buy an australian manufactured “genuine” part for a Holden if there’s a chinese alternative worth 1/10th the price?

Toyota has many suppliers, Thailand, US, Europe, Australia etc… heck even China, but everything must be to a certain standard.. heaps of chinese counterfeits are straight rip off of design but using cheaper materials… out of spec too and usually 3 to 4 times the value of tolerance.. which means poor fitment.

I’ve been real lucky with that second rate aftermarket product, haven’t I? Can’t imagine any manufacturer using those – err, hang on – don’t many companies use Hayman
Reece towbars as “Factory Towbars”???

Yes, they do – at 3 times the price.

OH YEH and Toyota’s are not expensive to service. my parents own an 07′ Camry Sportivo, and every service is either $100 or less. we just had a service done 2 weeks ago at 41,000km and it cost $83!

and cam saying anyone is an idiot for buying a camry, as if. it’s been a sensational family car for myself and my family, and its great to drive – and when we got it everyone commented on how nice it looks, and they still do. our only problem so far is the re-sale value (we are looking into upgrading to Mondeo TDci or a Passat diesel).
we got metallic paint, sunroof and leather, and payed around $41k on the road. it’s been valued by ford as a trade in for $23k. although privately we’d prob squeeze about $26-$27k outta it.

so yeh, we love our camry :)

thats sad… the parts may fit, but quality wise, and safety etc. is sure to be below par.

its like all those designer brand rip-offs, the quality is shit, they last about 4 months, and they still even have the ‘versace’ or ‘gucci’ logo on them despite their obvious fakeness. original products means quality.

Also, this is different from the general counterfeiting out there. Toyota is warning workshops not to do so, as distinct from the blackmarket of car parts and chop shops in existence.
This is a problem because people walk into a workshop and expect a genuine service with genuine parts, but that’s not what they’re getting.

I don’t mind using cheap parts, or importing questionable quality parts from elsewhere, but if I order a HKS part (for example) I want it to be made by HKS, get what I paid for.