Just discovered I purchased a counterfeit timing belt kit for Honda/Acura

[houseology]

Back in March of this year, I purchased a Honda timing belt kit that includes several parts. It was advertised as genuine, it came with all the OEM packaging, stickers/labels, made in Japan, etc...

These parts are designed to last a solid 100K miles or more. About 5K miles later, yesterday the timing belt snapped in half and my mechanic is confused because this has never happened to him before. Now I realize these were counterfeit parts.

I go back to the seller account where I purchased this Honda Timing Belt kit and to my surprise, the seller account was closed they have comments stating:

" These are counterfeit parts. I took them to a Honda dealer who confirmed that these were counterfeit parts"

and

" Parts were not OEM Honda parts, they are fake OEM parts reason why I know this is because a friend of mine works for Honda and I compared the parts to the original parts and they look similar but you can tell the quality difference, tensioner was another brand and was weak that it made rattling noise afterward, the timing belt was overly stretched after just a short run, OEM water pump seal and dow pins comes fix on the pump, this one the o-ring was pack separately and no Dow pin " 

The problem I have is that the seller account was banned and this was back in March. I cannot ask for a refund, even if I could, the seller is gone. I have been with eBay for 20 years, and years ago I could call and talk to a live person, customer support is 100% AI/Web Pages.

I didn't realize this was a big issue, but apparently, there are a lot of sellers here that sell counterfeit auto parts and they know they will last a few months, and by then, it is too late, they have our money and are gone. Failed counterfeit auto parts can literally kill someone...

My wife was about 200 feet from getting on an interstate with a speed limit of 70 mph. Her vehicle died just before she got on the interstate. Had it died on the interstate with traffic at this speed, she could have died... Thank goodness she is safe. This could have happened with our entire family on the interstate. 

[bonjourami]

Its too late for Ebay to do anything. You have six months at Paypal to file an item not as described, but since the belt is not in its original conduition, thats a problem. You might try your cc for a chargeback tho.

[mtgraves7984]

You're out of time for an eBay MBG claim, but you have 180 days with PayPal or your CC. You're still under that, no?

[lakefor94]

Yes sir, best to order/buy from a Honda dealership here in the states. Glad no one was injured when the belt broke. 

[khetzel]

I will just add that counterfeit auto parts are a huge problem all over eBay and Amazon.  It may sound crazy but if the seller is not an authorized reseller of that product (like an actual Honda dealer in your case), there is a very high probability the item is counterfeit.  Especially if the seller has multiples.

[houseology]

Thank you. I completely understand, I learned this by buying fake spark plugs. I was not aware people made fake timing belts, this is just horrible! 

I purchased this Timing Belt kit back in March, so that was 5 months ago. The kit was $245 dollars. RockAuto sells the same kit with Koyo Japanese Parts, but the timing belt is not Honda. Their kit is $200, but the OEM Belt is $90 online at a regular Honda dealer or $150 at a local dealership (complete rip-off).

So with this seller at the time having like 25 positive feedbacks, and nothing negative. It looked legit. If they purchased all these items in massive quantities, it is possible for them to get a big discount and still make a small profit. 

So my timing belt broke with 5,000 miles on it and now seeing that feedback from other buyers. I realize this was a fake kit. All the OEM parts from Rockauto came in retail Koyo Japan boxes, the water belt comes in a sealed bag and not a shrink-wrapped bag.

I learned my lesson. If a timing belt kit is less than $300 on eBay, it is fake. 

[houseology]

Thank you. Yes, it is scary considering when your timing belt breaks, the vehicle completely stops immediately wherever you are. I am grateful my wife didn't get on the interstate yet and this didn't happen while with our kids in the vehicle. 

I purchased this Timing Belt kit back in March, so that was 5 months ago. The kit was $245 dollars. RockAuto sells the same kit with Koyo Japanese Parts, but the timing belt is not Honda. Their kit is $200, but the OEM Belt is $90 online at a regular Honda dealer or $150 at a local dealership (complete rip-off).

So with this seller at the time having like 25 positive feedbacks, and nothing negative. It looked legit. If they purchased all these items in massive quantities, it is possible for them to get a big discount and still make a small profit. 

So my timing belt broke with 5,000 miles on it and now seeing that feedback from other buyers. I realize this was a fake kit. All the OEM parts from Rockauto came in retail Koyo Japan boxes, the water belt comes in a sealed bag and not a shrink-wrapped bag.

I learned my lesson. If a timing belt kit is less than $300 on eBay, it is fake. 

[houseology]

Thank you. I went ahead and did a chargeback on the credit card. Hopefully, we can recoup the $245. That will cover some of the $300 I just spent on new parts.

[houseology]

Thank you. Yeah, this is one of those things where you don't know it is always fake until months later and it is too late. This was purchased back in March, so 5 months ago. The seller was able to sell fake stuff and have the parts work just long enough that buyers didn't know the difference (except for a few who knew these were fake, because they have friends that work at Honda stores, or they changed timing belts before).

I went ahead and filed a complaint with my credit card. Hopefully, I can get a refund and that should help pay for the majority of the new parts that I had to pay for. 

[khetzel]

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@houseology wrote:

Thank you. Yes, it is scary considering when your timing belt breaks, the vehicle completely stops immediately wherever you are. 

 And if you have an interference engine, you probably just destroyed your whole engine. It sounds like luckily that didn't happen to you at least.

Everything that can be made for pennies by using substandard materials is being counterfeited and cranked out in broad daylight in that one country.  Precious metal spark plugs with no precious metal.  Reinforced timing belts with no reinforcement.  Product looks genuine and might even work for a couple months.

It sure would be nice to say I won't buy anything from that one country, but unfortunately everything is made there or soon will be.