CUSCO U.S.A., Inc.

In this day in age, counterfeit products plague the aftermarket automotive industry to the extent of even bringing down large corporations. There are many copycats out there who ripoff original product designs and market them for pure profit, which in simplicity is no different from theft at a whole new level. Moreover, the worst is when the product is copied exactly right down to the brand logo, packaging, and instruction forms, and sold to the unknowing consumer as the real deal.

The counterfeit producers utilize such commerce sites as eBay and even have websites of their own, selling the items well below the manufacturer suggested retail pricing. Here we have an example of a well constructed knock-off CUSCO oil catch can.

Pictured: Counterfeit CUSCO Oil Catch can exactly the way it's shipped to your door. Everything seen here is replicated, even the sticker.

Since CUSCO products are designed and manufactured in Japan, it is fairly easy to tell the difference between an item that had been constructed in a foreign country. The fake oil catch can kit comes with the contents shown above, the biggest visible difference is the cardboard that can be seen through the clear film, whereas on the real unit, the oil catch can is shown for product display.

Let's take a better look at the packaging, specifically the discrepancies of the Japanese text that is printed on the box.

Various Japanese character errors that can be easily distinguished by a Japanese person. There are speculations of the origin of the individual responsible for these copies, indicated in the font encoding/input used in their language.The Japanese keyboard input system is incapable of producing these characters. 

Speaking more specifically, the font system utilized when making the counterfeit good gives away the fact that the packaging too, has been attempted to be copied. A simple scan and print would have compromised the quality of the print, so an attempt of recreating the entire layout was performed. Simple grammatical and spelling errors, as well as the usage of the wrong Japanese kanji character is pretty much naked from the non-Japanese speaker but close enough for the copycats to get away with.

The canister shows a great deal of differences Real vs. Fake.

REAL:

Pictured: An authentic CUSCO oil catch can. Notice the "Made in Japan" scribe as well as the polished finish.

FAKE:

Pictured: Counterfeit "CUSCO" oil catch can. Notice the flamboyancy in the overdone chrome finish?

The comparison of the above two photographs clearly shows that the fake unit has the CUSCO logo flipped upside down. The real product is finished by buff polishing, as with the fake unit being chromed. Although very faint to tell, the real unit has more of a hand-crafted quality with each one being made individually as opposed to being manufactured in large volume.

Further details of surrounding components:

Pictured: The difference between the various hardware used. The counterfeit is on top, real on bottom.

The hardware gives away the authenticity of the product. CUSCO usually uses the blue plastic labeled EASON or other high grade plastic brand which is of superior quality than the knockoff product.

Fake hose and canister bracket:

Pictured: Counterfeit hose and bracket

The counterfeit hose is clearly of cheaper quality, with the metal wire already coming out of the end. The real CUSCO unit has a white Teflon braid lining inside the hose, and does not contain any metal.

Closer look at the bracket:

Pictured: The close up of the canister bracket of the horrendous counterfeit unit. CUSCO products will never look like this condition brand new.

Pictured: Contents found in the counterfeit kit. Low grade hardware such as the bolts and clamps can be found here, as well as the blue L-brackets. The authentic does not come with blue L-brackets, but silver ones.

CUSCO L-brackets are not blue, but silver. The bolts and nuts are of lower quality. The copycats even went as far as copying the famous CUSCO Racing sticker that is included in all products. The sticker printed on the sheet is very hard to tell apart from the real version, however the backing is a dead give away. CUSCO stickers are all made in Japan and always has a cream/beige colored paper backing, not white.

Before buying, signs of red flags:

• - If the product is for sale on eBay through an unauthorized vendor. Please report these vendors immediately to eBay.
• - If the stated new product is significantly lower than the manufacturer suggested retail price. CUSCO has a MAP pricing policy for all dealers, which prevents dealers from advertising below a certain percentage of the retail price.
• - The origin of the seller is not from Japan or United States
• - If the seller is not listed in CUSCO's authorized dealer list: http://cuscousainc.com/distributor/

Carrosser / CUSCO will not allow the continuance of these unethical business practices and are prepared to take immediate and effective action no matter how small the value of the product.

For more information and product authenticity inquiries, please contact info@cuscousainc.com along with detailed photographs of the product. We will gladly assist any customer who may think that they had unknowingly purchased a counterfeit item.