Since a lot of us with the higher mileage vans may need to think about replacing spark plugs, I thought I would post this information as a "public service" hopefully to prevent anyone from installing sub-standard plugs after going through the effort to get to the 3 in the back. After inquiring at the dealer and getting the price of $10.83 a piece, I checked around at Amazon and Ebay and found a plethora of options, all cheaper. Having had a lot of luck ordering OEM parts from highly ranked sellers on ebay, I found a great deal on 6 OEM, DENSO plugs, model no. 3297 (OEM part. no 90080-91180), aka sk20R11.... total $18.59. (I know, if it's too goo to be true...) In any case, once I had the plugs in hand, I was immediately suspicious upon opening the package.
Although, there were 6, authentic looking TOYOTA boxes, the giant "made in China" label on the bag was unsettling. Ok, "I'll let that one slide. They were just being thrifty with packaging."
Once I had all six open and laying out on the work bench, it was a horror show of inconsistent construction. No two plugs looked the same. One even looked slightly used. After deciding that I needed to put my hands on some known good product for comparison, I then discovered that you can go to Advance Auto Parts online and order these things and more times than not, get a 25% discount. Six Denso plugs (model 3297) out the door with tax for $47.52. Nice little $23 savings over the dealer.
Once I had the real plugs in hand, the differences were striking. All 6 of the "retail" version plugs were identical. No visible variation in the dimensions of the anode/cathode. There were some very obvious comparisons that can be made, which I've detailed in the attached pics. I suspect what's happening here is that these may be "reconditioned" plugs, which allows them to often pass as real, but with zero quality control or performance guarantee. They may work, but not as well as they should. At the end of the day, I would be hesitant at this point to ever buy plugs through the mail again, unless you knew it was a confirmed good source.
Cheers!
Although, there were 6, authentic looking TOYOTA boxes, the giant "made in China" label on the bag was unsettling. Ok, "I'll let that one slide. They were just being thrifty with packaging."
Once I had all six open and laying out on the work bench, it was a horror show of inconsistent construction. No two plugs looked the same. One even looked slightly used. After deciding that I needed to put my hands on some known good product for comparison, I then discovered that you can go to Advance Auto Parts online and order these things and more times than not, get a 25% discount. Six Denso plugs (model 3297) out the door with tax for $47.52. Nice little $23 savings over the dealer.
Once I had the real plugs in hand, the differences were striking. All 6 of the "retail" version plugs were identical. No visible variation in the dimensions of the anode/cathode. There were some very obvious comparisons that can be made, which I've detailed in the attached pics. I suspect what's happening here is that these may be "reconditioned" plugs, which allows them to often pass as real, but with zero quality control or performance guarantee. They may work, but not as well as they should. At the end of the day, I would be hesitant at this point to ever buy plugs through the mail again, unless you knew it was a confirmed good source.
Cheers!
