Counterfeit products are an issue for all manufacturers. Counterfeits exist in all geographical markets, and in all product segments. In a worst case, a counterfeit part could fail and cause serious damage to your engine. Cheap, low-priced, poorly constructed and performing Chinese counterfeits of popular Auto Meter gauges and tachometers are available on e-commerce websites including eBay, Amazon and Alibaba.
Authentic Auto Meter Sport Comp II tachometers are powered by digitally controlled, rugged stepper motor drives and lab grade solid state sensors for extreme precision. Advanced Digital Stepper Motor Gauges are the BEST gauges available and the choice of top racing teams worldwide. Offering the highest accuracy levels of any gauge type combined with the durability and superior resolution of a traditional mechanical gauge and the safer operation of traditional electrics.
Counterfeits are low-cost, poor-quality products that typically malfunction in short order. Indeed, Auto Meter first became aware of them when its customer service department began receiving an unusual number of requests for warranty service from customers who reported either no function, slow or inaccurate response, or other hardware issues you simply don't experience with authentic Auto Meter products.
The authentic Auto Meter 3699 Tachometers (body only) weight is about 19 ounces. The body of the counterfeit tachometers shown here weighs just 11 ounces.
Beware of low priced Auto Meter products, Auto Meter has consistent pricing throughout the industry. Authentic products have a street price around $250. If you find a new product priced around $50, it's likely to be a counterfeit.
Authentic Auto Meter Sport II Tachometers have an amber shift light. They are sold with a yellow cover, but it is never mounted covering the light.
If the product shows the yellow cover in-place in a listing photo, it's a counterfeit.
To conceal the incorrect red shift light, this counterfeit Auto Meter tachometer has the yellow plastic cap in place to cover the incorrect red lens.
If your Auto Meter Sport Comp II has a red shift lens - you have a fake.
At first glance, there's little to distinguish between the authentic and counterfeit Auto Meter Sport Comp II Tachometer.
Authentic tachometers are a precision engineered quality product. Counterfeits are just a cheap visual look-a-like.
This "New" Sport Comp II Tachometer purchased from an eBay seller arrived without any retail box or protective packaging.
Note the poor quality screened graphics and over tightened screws that dimpled the cover plate.
Authentic Auto Meter Sport Comp II Tachometers will have the trademarked Shift Lite logo on the side of the shift light.
The logo is usually missing on the counterfeit tachometer.
The "Shift Lite" connector on the authentic Sport Comp II is a quality connector that is much larger than on the counterfeit.
Authentic Auto Meter's have a patented micro-air core movement that is responsive (it will go from zero to 10,000 rpm in 333 milliseconds), more accurate, and more durable.
The counterfeit has a cheap stepper motor.
The authentic Auto Meter's packaging has been copied, but not very well, as shown here.
The counterfeit packaging fails to reproduce the subtle shadow effect lettering on the genuine packaging, making it nearly unreadable.
Counterfeiters are very good at creating authentic looking packaging specifically to deceive you.
Authentic Auto Meter shift lights are amber, this counterfeit has a red lens.
Offered on a China website for just $36, a fraction of the authentic Auto Meter tachometer price.
These counterfeit products are often listed on eBay as "Authentic" or "100% Genuine" and sold to unsuspecting buyers.
No question about it, China counterfeiters have fake Auto Meter Tachometers and lots of them.
Counterfeit products appeal to re-sellers who sell them on eBay as "Genuine" products to unsuspecting buyers at near retail prices.
 |
