There is plating flaking off the electrode. They are labeled and stamped as Denso and in a Toyota genuine parts box.

 

Hard to be certain but I would not use that plug in my car. Looks like a very poor quality plug. Never seen a plug do that.

 

https://www.denso-am.co.uk/news/late...ing-the-fakes/

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...k-plugs-4.html

 

They're probably fake. Even if they're not they are going back. If there's a problem with one the entire lot can't be trusted. If they made the car run bad they could just be replaced but an electrode melting or breaking off would be a real mess.

 

Where did you buy them? I've gotten fake plugs from Amazon and you wouldn't be able to tell unless you had the real thing side-by-side. The Chinese copied everything down to the box but it all is slightly different. I've seen fake NGK and Denso from Amazon. I'm guessing eBay is the same. I only buy plugs from Rockauto, AutoZone, or the dealer, in that order. Not worth risking fakes for the savings considering how often plugs are replaced.

 

The ceramic insulator looks like total crap around the center electrode as well.

 

My respected on this board indy tells me there are lots of counterfeit Chinese made parts floating around. When "we" changed out the plugs on my LS, the one's he removed were highly suspect. When he replaces a part, he always shows me the old part.

 

Ebay. They were a buck cheaper than Autozone and I thought I was saving a trip to the store. I'll probably use Rock Auto since it's not urgent

 

Make sure you buy from a reputable dealer on eBay like Bell Lexus.
https://www.ebay.com/usr/belllexusnorthscottsdale

 

Happens with lots of products besides car parts.

I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 9, I like it a lot. I bought my wife one off Ebay. It was guaranteed to be genuine, and was not that. Samsung box, wrapping etc. It failed in less than one month. Hmm, sez I when boxing up for return, I am 100% certain Samsung would not misspell a common English word printed on the box. It was a fake. I had no issue getting a refund. I also reported the seller to EBay.

 

Today i learned that there are such a thing as counterfeit spark plugs.