Car Part Scams: Can We Tell What's Real and What's Fake?

If you put this in your car and you crash, you're dead. This should be absolutely illegal! I'm calling the cops!

Millions of people get scammed every year by dangerous, counterfeit car parts. But can we tell what's real and what's fake? We've got a bunch of car parts, and we're gonna try to guess whether they're legit or bootleg.

He's Justin, he's Jeremiah, I'm Nolan. Today, let's not get scammed. Big thanks for K&N for sponsoring this video. Listen up, car people!

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Let's start with our first product: racing gloves. Are they Sparco gloves?

So these are our Sparco gloves right here. First impressions — They look legit. They look legit and they feel legit. What do you feel? What do you think?

Well, the size is off in the fingers. Fingers are a little short, like, I mean, is that a large? Yeah, this is size large. (giggles) Yeah, that's fake.

But if you got really big palms with really short fingers, these are great! So these gloves, guys, claim to be fire resistant. Normally, racing gloves will have a special tag in here with an FIA or SFI approval telling you what level of fire protectiveness it offers, actually.

We don't have that. No, we just have this tag telling you that it's machine washable. This is just adding to my guess here. Legit Sparcos, the stitching is on the outside of the glove. Oh. Like the joining of the fabric is to the inside. Usually it's on the outside, depending on the brand.

I don't know what I'm looking at. And I think they're fake. Yes. Fake, fake, fake! Counterfeit. The Sparco gloves are counterfeit. (all cheering)

These are from wish.com. They cost $44 and they claim to be flame retardant. $44 for this? Alright, we're burning these later.

For 40 bucks, that's not worth it. So, moving on, let's take a look at a racing seat. Oh!

So this is a Bride seat.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- If you put this in your carand you crash, you're dead.- This should be absolutely illegal!- I'm calling the cops!(Jeremiah laughs)Millions of people get scammed every yearby dangerous, counterfeit car parts.But can we tell what'sreal and what's fake?We've got a bunch of car parts,and we're gonna try toguess whether they're legitor bootleg.He's Justin, he's Jeremiah, I'm Nolan.Today, let's not get scammed.- Big thanks for K& N for sponsoring this video.- Listen up car people!Til June 28th, you can get 20% offof K&N air filters at knfilters.com.The same filters that aregoing in both low and hi-car.- This K&N upgrade isdesigned for horsepowersand doesn't need to becleaned for 75,000 miles!- You heard him, it'swashable and reusable,saving you up to 250 bucks.- K&N products makeyour vehicle run cleaner,go faster and drive further.And they're super simpleto install as well.- What more did you want?So go to knfilters.com/donutto get 20% offyour air filter fromMay 31st to June 28th,or just click the linkin the description below.- Let's start with our firstproduct: racing gloves.- Are they Sparco gloves?(all exclaim)- So these are ourSparco gloves right here.First impressions-- They look legit.- They look legit and they feel legit.- What do you feel? What do you think?- Well, the size is off in the fingers.Fingers are a little short,like, I mean, is that a large?- Yeah, this is size large.- (giggles) Yeah, that's fake.- But if you got really big palmswith really shortfingers, these are great!- So these gloves, guys,claim to be fire resistant.Normally, racing gloves willhave a special tag in herewith an FIA or SFI approvaltelling you what levelof fire protectivenessit offers, actually.- We don't have that.- No, we justhave this tag telling youthat it's machine washable.This is just adding to my guess here.Legit Sparcos, the stitchingis on the outside of the glove.- Oh.- Like the joining ofthe fabric is to the inside.Usually it's on the outside,depending on the brand.- I don't know what I'm looking at.And I think they're fake.- Yes.- Fake, fake, fake!- Counterfeit.- The Sparco gloves are counterfeit.(all cheering)These are from wish.com.They cost $44 and they doclaim to be flame retardant.- $44 for this?- Alright, we're burning these later.For 40 bucks, that's not worth it.So, moving on, let's takea look at a racing seat.- Oh!- So this is a Bride seat."Brid", not bride, I knowit's spelled that way.Because Bride is such a big legacy brand,there are a lot of fakes out theretrying to take advantage of that.Guys, what are your impressions here?- There are a lot oftelltale signs about this onethat leads me to believe my answer.- I think I'm with you.It's a little hard to guess,because this is obviously a used seat.These strap kind of-- Grommets?- -holes, they've got Bride logos on them.I feel like that's a detailthat a counterfeiter would probably skip.The cover looks nice, theseat cover looks nice.The padding, you shouldbe able to remove thisand it's got, yeah, see,it's got Velcro on there.- It's also pretty light.- It's super light.- The mold is really good there.- That's the key detail for me isthat the weight of the seat is very light.And I feel like that'd be hardto replicate if you're usinga cheaper manufacturing process.Let's get our guesses in.- Alright, ready?- 3, 2, 1.- Real.- Question mark?- Yeah, this is a real seat.- This has gotta be.- The Bride seat isreal.(bells ding)Another giveaway is theJapanese tag of origin.- Yeah, obviously.- Yeah, that is-- This tag.- a dead giveaway.- Next up on our list,steering wheel, so, ooh.- I'll take it first.- So, that is a Nardi wheelor it says it's a Nardi wheel, at least.It says made-- Made in Italy, but you know what?It's real easy to stamp stuff.- It is.Alright, I already have a coupleof first impressions, okay.First thing, it looks asymmetricand it's a circle, whichshould be symmetric,but it doesn't look like it's great.Also, this is flexing already in my handand the leather itself, likethese are really big stitches.- Yeah, that'sthe first thing I notice.That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.- Some, like, leftover glue. (sniffs)Smells weird.Doesn't it feel chintzy?- It feels so cheap.- Ah, oh!- See, see?That's the, yeah, as soon as you touch it,you're like, "Huh, what'swrong with this thing?"Let's try and break it.- Yeah that'sfake, that's fake for real.- Fake, fake, fake!- Alright guys, answers in 3, 2, 1.- Fake!- The Nardi steering wheel is legit!(buzzer sounds)- No (beep) way, Max.- Straight from Jimmy's collection.- No way.- That's trash.- That doesn't mean anything.- Jimmy got burned.- Jimmy got burned, dude.Jimmy.- Hey, what's up dude?- We just looked at the Nardi wheel.Where'd you get that?- I got it from (beep)- Is that a legit website?- Yeah, it's legit.- Because we have somequality control issuesabout your steering wheel.- Those smell like sneakers. (sniffs)- Alright, we justcalled Jimmy to tell himthat his (beep) was fake,because we didn't believe it.- I almost broke it.- Yeah, oh my God.(all laugh)- I was like, "Imma push down."- Oh yeah. This is fake.Everything's fake that Max got.- Alright well, that was embarrassing.- (laughs) Allthree of us are idiots.- Alright, so next up we got anotherfeel point for driver pleasure.I'm talking shift knob, baby.It feels nice, right?- It is a Momo Italy and it has-- Another Italian product, supposedly.I held it.The knob feels prettygood, feels pretty hefty.- Oh, okay.- The prices on shift knobs are crazy.Like, I think I had a Cobb shift knob,and I got it out of a pile of Subaru partsfrom some dude in a warehouse.But my buddy was justlike, drooling over itand it was 100 bucks on eBay,and I gave it to him for-- Yeah, the shifter in hi-car?Or that used to be in hi-car.(rejuvenating harp playsas voices fade out)I dunno, I think shift knobsare like an important purchase,if you wanna like changethe feel of your car.(voice fades to harp)(TV test tone)- It's the branding.- Back to the knob at hand.I think I know what I'm gonna guess.- Yeah, I do too.- Say your guesses in 3, 2, 1.- Real.- Fake, ohh!- The Momo shift knob iscounterfeit.(guys clap)The counterfeit Momo shiftknob costs $13 on wish.com.- 13 bucks, that's somehigh profit on that thing.- The only way someone would knowis if they know the wholeMomo collection, like,oh, that's not Momo theynever sold one like that.- Yeah, they make a lot of stuff.- The logo's too small!- What do you guys thinkabout this other Momo that I bought?- It says, Momo, this isnot a Momo shift knob.Is it?- Look at that. (growls)- This is also counterfeit.- Oh my God, it lights up.(all laugh)- Is it heavy?Oh no, this is piece of junk.- So someone in the Donut Underground isactually gonna win thisshift knob right here.Lucky, lucky.- Lucky ducky!- We'll also sign it and give you 50 bucksfor your suffering.(all laugh)If you'd like to join the Underground,click that join button down there.Ah don't, ugh, don't drop it!Alright, moving on.This next product is perhapsthe most important decisionyou'll make in a racecar: racing harnesses.Now, I do find fake racing harnesses,counterfeit racing harnesses,to be especially egregious.- Abhorrent.- It's pretty bad that peopleget away with selling this stuff.- Yeah, that's really sketch.- Many fake harnessesout there will cheap out,not just on the strap material,but perhaps more importantly,the fastening material thatkeeps the seat belt in your car.If it's a cheaper metal,in the event of a crash,the impact could break that metal,and render the belt useless.- That's scary.- Because it's not keeping you in anymore.So Max, let me get that harness.- We actually have afour point safety harnessfrom Sparco.- "Sparco".- Okay.- It feels pretty good.- This buckle feels solid and really good,but this one feels kind of dainty.- It doesn't seem likeit's very much metal.- Huh, it feels pretty good.- This metal's pretty strong.- I think that's probably fine, actually.Made in USA, made in USA.- Made in the USA.Here's the thing about tags:print whatever you want on it.That's why I still thinkJimmy's steering wheel is fake.I could stamp made in Italy on anything.Heck, I'm made in Italy.- What?- I was conceived there.(Nolan laughs)- You didn't see that coming?- You guys have your answers on the-- I got it.- 3, 2, 1.(all answering)- Who said what?- I said real.- I said real.- I said fake, fake baby.- The Sparco racingharness is counterfeit.- Oh, very convincing.- I'm on fire today!- You are.- I wanted to say fake,but I just don't have enough experience.- Neither do I, but here'sa couple things, okay?One, the stitching of thissignage is whack as (beep).- I didn't even look at that.- And then this thing right here isjust really kind of chintzy looking.And the buckle itself.- The buckle itselfshould have been the dead giveaway.- Literally on the latch,you can see where they paintedover damage to the metal.I would've been like fake, immediately,if I had actually looked at that.Yes, it's too late, Jerry.- They even, they-- (beep) Captain Hindsight over here.- Wow. I'm really embarrassed by that.- It's okay, Nolan, we all make mistakes.- I have shamed my family.I'm not qualified to host this show.- Is Sparco even a US company?(buzzer sound)- No.- It says made in USA, dammit.- Oh yeah, see they'remade in Italy like me.(Italian sound jab)So here's the thing, if youwere to use this seatbelt;you're on a racetrack, you'reripping around, you knowyou're shifting through the gears.You make a little mistake. (gasps)(demonic voice) You're dead!Your family's all alone!They don't have a father(normal voice) Aw man.(demonic voice) They don't have a fatherto take care of your baby or your wife.(normal voice) Don't buy one of these.Get this hunk of (beep) out of here.Nolan's like legit upset with himself.(Justin laughs)- Alright, for our nextproduct guys: brakes.That's right.Fake brakes have become apretty big problem as of lateand pose quite a big danger.- Not good.- That sounds quite deadly.- So let's look at some brakes right nowand see if we can tellif they're real or not.- This claims tobe a Wilwood brake rotor.- Oh, okay.- Seems to be.- Yeah, I got Wilwoods on the old catfish.- Good for you, Jerry.- (laughs) I mean they look pretty good.- They have an arrowindicating the rotation.- Right, they have nice veins.They have the cleaning edge.- Normally, isn't there safety wiregoing between these bolts right here?- There are holes foryou to safety wire it.- Okay, well that's-- I feel like if therewas a counterfeit thing,that would be something skimp on.It's like when you buyfake Jordans and like,the Jordan logo has like a big fat ass.(all laugh)- Big, juicy double, Jerry.- And you're just like, oh, that's,that's the clear sign that these are fake.- How heavy is it?- It's pretty heavy.Well, I got the two strongest guys here.(mocking voice) "Yeah,it's pretty light, blegh"- I'm gonna say that this is real.- I'm with you, if thisis a counterfeit one?- Yeah, that's a good counterfeit.I think this is a real rotor.- Agreed, real.- I also believe this to be legit.- The alleged Wilwood rotor is real.- Yes!- It came off of hi-car.- That's right, okay.- Are people makingcounterfeits of these, yeah?- Fake Brembos, fake Wilwoods.- Yeah, don't buy fake brakes, y'all.- If it's a little toogood of a price to be true,it probably is.- It's likeJordan's with the butt.- How about a little bit of style?- Oh, okay.- What's one of the first modsthat you guys have made to your cars?- Wheels and tires.- Wheels and tires.- Oh.So we have one of the most popular wheels,the one and only Enkei RPF1.- Alright.- It's pretty heavy, oh my gosh!- Geez!Oh, look at the wheel weights.- Okay, there's a ton of weights on it.- Yeah.- So usually a high qualitywheel is balanced betterfrom the factory, so that you don't needa ton of weights to get it balanced.- Yep.- Other thing is these cheap ass tires.- Cheap ass.- If you got a cheap tire,probably means you bought cheap wheels.- I've got NTO3s on my Mustang,those wheels have anEnkei logo on the rim.These do not.- Okay, I'm ready.- I'm ready.- Alright.- Fake.- The RPF1s arefake.- Alright, yeah.There's no Enkei logo on it.- Enkei anywhere.- Alright, so wehave a fake set of RPF1s;we also have a real set ofRPF1s and if you wanna see us,put them head to head in abattle of torture and resistance,let us know down in the comments.Really wanna make that video.- Justin wants to throw it off a roof.(Nolan laughs)- Alright, guys.The last item of our listhere: a Ferrari badge.- Ferrari badge?- That's right.Hmm, ooh!- The horse looks really good.- It does.- That's a good looking horse.But I don't remember Ferrari having a,the horsetail that's out the butt.- I was about to say that.- Is the Italian flag green, white, red?- Well, if you turn it sideways,that's the Italian flag right there.- Oh okay, yeah, that's the, I knew that.- It's got some good heft to it.- It's pretty hefty.- It doesn't feel cheap.- But there's a hole.- Yeah, I think that's just becauseyou'd line it up on the hood.Is that adhesive?- Yeah, it's adhesive, butthey didn't put it on square.- It's not square!- Alright. I got, but I feel like this is-- I feel like that's legit, though.- Can you tell us howmuch you paid for thisand where you bought it?- Of course not!(all laugh)- See, this is my worrywith this one, okay?Okay, now Max has got into our heads.(all laugh)This, of course, is the lastone, cuz this is a great one.- Dude, this looks really good.- It looks really good on thefront, the back throws you.- The back is weird.- Okay, do you have your guess?- Yes.- We have our guess?- Yeah.Hold on, hold on, letme see it one more time.- You guys all ready?- Yes.- 3, 2, 1.(all answering)- The Ferrari badge isreal.(all reacting)- You lost! (laughs)It's tied, actually.- You guys wanna guesshow much I paid for it?- 125.- 500.- $300.- I paid $250 for this.- Yeah, yeah.- What?- So the finaltally: Justin five points.Jeremiah, six points,Nolan, six points.- Yay!What did we learn today fellas?- Anybody can be fooled.- Even me.(Jeremiah laughs)One, if I had just-- Got that seatbelt.- Yeah, anyway,I think what we learned today guys isthat if you're gonna buy some parts,buy it through a reputabledealer or reputable retailer.And if a price is to good to be true,it probably is.Also never, ever buy safetyequipment off of wish.com.- Guess what?Tool shirt's back in stock.Comes in two colors,that way you never get mixed upon which tool is which again.Get yours today at donutmedia.com.- We make videos like this all the time,so if you wanna see morehit that subscribe button,hit that like button.I wanna thank Jerry and Justinand myself for being on this video.Again, for the Donut Underground,if you want to get accessto our Discord channel,and access to other coolthings like early merch drops.Hit the join button down below,learn more about the Donut Underground.Join up.That was really fun.Be kind.See you next time.