Workshops in the Klang Valley are selling fake engine oil (aka minyak “piau”), whereby used oil is recycled and repackaged as new ones from well-known brands. According to a report by Harian Metro, these “lubricants” are sold by syndicates at nearly half the price of those from genuine sources.
These syndicates operate by purchasing oil drums used by workshops to dispose of used engine oil, which are reportedly priced between RM40 and RM80 each. The dark-coloured engine oil is then extracted and filtered several times until it appears lighter in colour as though unused. In some cases, vegetable oil is blended in to make it look more “authentic.”
The “clean” oil is then repackaged under the guise of famous brands before being sold to customers for cheap. Most customers are unaware or ignorant of what they are purchasing given the ludicrously low prices offered.
The report also adds that most workshops are aware that they are selling fake engine oil, but turn a blind eye in the interest of profit, often times not informing their customers. The scandal involving the sale of recycled engine oil only came to light when three workshops in Kuala Lumpur were raided by the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism (KPDNKK) after several months of surveillance and complaints from oil companies.
During the raid, KPDNKK officers confiscated 517 four-litre bottles of engine oil marketed using famous brands. Aside from engine oil, 34 bottles of imitation transmission fluid and 22 bottles of brake fluid were also taken. The value of the confiscated items was around RM41,430.
“Acting on the complaint, KPDNKK Kuala Lumpur set up three teams to conduct inspections at three premises located at Taman Segar, Taman Daya and Taman Melati with representatives from the oil companies in the country,” said deputy chief enforcement officer Mohd Shahran Mohd Arshad.
Investigations revealed workshop owners obtained the engine oil from a supplier knowing full well that it was fake, but continued to sell it anyway. Mohd Arshad added that under Section 8(2) of the Trade Descriptions Act 2011, a company can be fined up to RM15,000 for each item seized, while an individual is fined up to RM10,000, also for each item seized, along with the possibility of imprisonment.
Suffice to say, you should always ensure only proper, genuine lubricants are used in your vehicle. Therefore, it is advisable to send your vehicle to official service centres or at the very least, reputable independent workshops.
You should also be suspicious if a workshop is selling engine oil at heavily discounted prices, because “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” A good way to source for lubricants is from petrol stations or authorised retailers, where you’ll also be able to get a good idea of how much they cost.
Using fake lubricants can result in severe engine damage and many other unwanted scenarios, as they are incapable of meeting the requirements set by carmakers. So, please take heed and be aware what you’re putting into your vehicle.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
I see Aeon Big selling “Made in Japan” fully synthetic oil for RM99, less during promotion.
Dunno what to think of it. Logic say could be recycled oil, but Aeon Big wanna risk their reputation selling such dodgy oil? Really?
Same story with oil sold at Tesco, etc hypermarket.
Tayar celop, minyak tam celup, wiper celup. Syukurlah rakyat muhibah, ekonomi negara kukuh. Takdak celup…
Biar papa asal bergaya. Buy branded car but used sub par oil becoz ori is expensive. Economy is good, myv laku keras, civic laku keras, city laku keras, but when comes maintainance time, duit xcukup maa.. bayar hutang mahal..how come workshop can sell if no demand?
Buy Mazda incl free service maintainance.
Hidden due to lowcomment rating. Click here to see.
bengkel owners and KPDNKK are all on each other whatsapp
Raid time….bengkel owners get whatsapp immediately
clean up corruption…..to many cars accident and lives are lost cause of fake parts. I nearly died cause my fake tyres burst
publish tth workshop name … save the raykat. bankrupt this shops
This article come after kpdnkk raid…at least some of them doing job
And deswai reputable oil makers have security seals on their bottles, oso only buy from reputable distros like petrol stations.
Smart consumers long time ago alredi knows this but basher prefer to trust his unicorn pomen and then get angry when his car is all fake.
spot on mate.
Righto mate. Even my outside pomen tells me to buy the engine oil outside when I go service my car. He says dun trust anyones word of mouth becoz its bollocks even himself, its better to trust ownself when buying the oil.
Like that U better service your own car since U thrust only yourself.
I do. I change all my filter meself except for engine oil filter. And do tyre rotation meself. What about u?
security seals are also faked or stolen.Just like syndicate having rolls of original JPJ blank roadtax and printing fake road tax on it
Security seals are used by the oil makers internationally. So if its faked easily, isit gov fault or the oil brands using lousy security stickers? Since its sold internationally, which gov is at fault too? US? UK? EU countries? Aus? China?
JPJ sell originals to sindikat. All internal job. Here also same. KPDNKK also always warn of raids. Sama gang with bengkel
JPJ sells security seals for engine oil bottles to sindikets? Furthermore the seals r from SG? How do u even brain that logic?
Oh, and Shell oil bottles for ASEAN are packed and sealed in SG. U sure u wanna accuse them of FAKING or STEALING those security labels, hmm?
I could trust Tesco, recently bought Castrol Magnatec, RM150 during offer. It is from Castrol Malaysia…usual price is RM200, so i guess thats legit.
But Tesco also sources many engine oils from overseas…maybe thats why they can sell cheaper? Lst year, i bought Shell fully-syn for RM130 (during promo), it is for overseas market from the packaging…
tesco malaysia may get that from tesco UK, which may had bought the oil in large bulk from european distributors at a very good price.
example, the deal maybe involve 50 containers in all. tesco malaysia then asked for 1 container for malaysia.
just to understand the whole idea. because in malaysia before the oil reaches the spare part market – it will go through several tiers of distributors and therefore marked up prices. same goes to tyres.
Why don’t U serviced your car at Castrol Accredited Service Center. The Magnatec package is less than RM150 for changing Oil & Filter for a 4 liters pack ?!
Which castrol magnatecbare you talking about? Fully synthetic?
go summon aeon… make million of ringgit. or u just talk only?
Engine oil is actually very cheap, only that big brands keep the price heavily inflated in Malaysia. And the small brands follow it.
While the big brands helped consumer and enforcement agency to stop the fake oil from continue being sold, they do it out of their own interest to protect the brand.
Be a smart consumer and look for original product at reasonable price. Those shopping can’t sell fake oil because the big brands will be the first to take action and sue them.
When its dirt cheap, its usually dirt quality.
Err…. u mean proton?
Pipu buy P2 becoz its cheap not becoz its gud.
Proton is cheap that is why cannot sell
Pipu buy P2 coz it is cheap not because it is good
Jauh lebih murah berbanding Singapore. Ohwai
Fake engine oil?
What’s next? Fake cooking oil?
Please stop bring in China culture into our country, try to fake/recycle everythings for profit.
Shameless!
authorities take money…what to do?
make money? suppose they lose money.. fake don’t pay tax
It’s too late bro, they are already here, china culture is everywhere and nowhere…you know Geely, Alibaba, Lazada [taobao]…etc…oh yes they r here and there ain’t nothing u can do ’bout it ..hiak hiak hiak
Why target China?Fake/recycle goods can be from any where.Read more to open up your mind.
Atrocious. Their license to service should be canceled and blacklisted by all insurance companies. The owners who knowingly sold the fake oil should be fined, jailed and caned.
Someone may get killed or badly injured , includes Jonnie,if the engine seized up,or malfunction at high speed…the enforcement must sentence these rogue dudes to life imprisonment….to get the message across.Drug traffikers get people die slowly,but these bastards eliminate lives instantly.
Apart from that above, fake coolant (most prominent is ‘Toyota Long Life Coolant’ or other well known brand) also need to be take seriously, especially many new cars doesn’t have proper temperature gauge (imagine if no temperature meter to alert and suddenly front bonnet smoked out or burned before red idiot light comes out – or in many cases, doesn’t come out at all).
Profit Cash is King. Zero business ethics. Not my problem.
Just another normal day then.
Only Engine Oil?
Come on, they have been selling fake parts since long time ago, the most popular is fake brake pad, air filter, oil filter and many la
There is nothing new about this. This has been going on for over 10 years. Infact, the enforcement officers are hand in hand with the workshops. Now only doing a drama to curb the issue because someone has highlighted the issue and the media has made the issue big
This is why corruption, everybody loses.
Many cars have been damaged and even lives lost because many cars have malfunctioned whilst at high speeds and major accidents have happened
tale as old as time…
This has been around for 20 years. Now only they catch???
You should say why not catch them when the first time they did the fraud
always go to official dealer to service your car
Fake ingggg…..every where
Good job KPDNKK! But why now? Why not 5 years ago? I still remember my friend told me his mechanic warned him about these oils on 2010..
The only way can keep my car or motorcycle engine in good condition I only buying oil from Fuel station. Maybe I buying slightly higher compare to shop .But with this i can make sure oil that I buying is original & good for my Engine.
Actually recycled motor oil being a practice for many years in Malaysia and other countries.
Whereby, recycled oil will go through the refineries to remove metal and impurities. At the end of the process will add additives to meet the standard and quality.
for example, Valvoline NextGen is made from mixture of recycled oil.
What is lacked of here is recycled oil without quality control being sold as “real new oil” faking it with reputable brand. This create a problem for the user and lead to engine damage.
Usually recycled oil are suitable to be use for generator, marine diesel or more heavy duty type engine.
The legitimate recycle oil from oil company does state that on their packaging, so consumer will know before buying.
Those mofos recycle (just filtering the dirt to make it look ‘new’) and pack it as new stuff. That’s just criminal.
Ini cerita lama. Very common brand ciplak is motul n castrol. I once use castrol ciplak the engine slow like turtle. Once kena never again. People now buy from petrol station. A bit expensive but u know it is ori.
A drama by KPDNKK.
Please find out the manufacturing place of the fake oil and close it down. Then go to newspaper and hoohaa on the achievement. Just do one part of the job and then brag so much.
Additionally, why not name the workshops for transparency purpose so that customers can boycott those workshops.
Simply naming may find yourself in a counter sue for defamation. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Usually that (the guilty part) involves court proceedings.
recycling used engine oil is a legit business. its actually environmentally friendly instead of dumping into river/landfill. these oils are filtered and sold for heavy machinery like genset/marine engine.
Recycle engine oil is legit business but some ppl buy and repack it to engine oil. So catch those illegal manufacturing unit.
Agree. Burn them with the fake oil that they repack.
What if they sell the fake oil at almost the standard prices ?? They make more money; and the customers dont suspect a thing.. double whammy !!!
It’s not something new, even authorized dealer workshop is doing this to gain more profit.
the only time i will buy recycle oil is when I’m about to trade in my old car to the car dealer.
U just shoot your own foot by admitting U are a cheater.
Fake oil will make your car whole engine spoil, the car could break down anytime on the road. End up we need to pay more for the repair and service cost. Previously one of the Castrol Dealer want to make more profits, they mixed with the cheap oil by using the recycle Castrol Packing, then resell it to the workshops or other resellers in the market. It was happened as I know because the customer make a complaint.
Reduce Car Sales Tax, Excise duty and GST tax so that car price down and People will have extra money to buy genuine parts/oil.
Kasi tangkap masuk lokap. These wankers have no regards to the safety of their customers.
shopee selling shell helix ultra at rm120 for 4 liters..make in hongkong
What is the brand? That’s what I’m more concern of. So I can avoid to buy them from the workshop.
Buy EV. No engine no need change engine oil hahaa…
Just surf the internet and go visit our car accesories shops in the whole Malaysia….
Lots of fakes accessories, fake performance parts are sold openly, without shame. Syoik-sendiri buyers oso not bothered about their own safety…..Biar gaya.
Buy 18l lubricant from caltex petrol station since 12 year ago…
….delo400
For my bike I use f’s repsol at half price at Tesco bahau clearance sale….buy a dozen at that time….
Whenever we mention raid, ohhhh sure KPDNKK guys have kawtim with workshop one.
But in the first place, who supply the fake oil to them?
Of course its The Syndicate. But do you really know who are them? How vast their reach and network are?
They have networks even inside the big oil company. How would you explain fake bottle having nearly identical label, markings and even holograms. Even after all security measures taken, the syndicate is always two step ahead.
This is an industry as old as automotive industry itself.
The best way to protect oneself is to be cautious, and get to know your oil.
If it smells burnt, funny, rotten then be careful.
If it looks clear, then its okay.
If it looks cloudy, hazy, got some suspension like and dark streak, most probabaly its recycled.
With some exception ro proprierty blend with molybdenum, oil should be clear, amber like and smells not too pungent.
There is so much that we can do as a consumer. Unless that you have access to a lab then you can check the TBN number, VI and Pour point to really damn sure its not a fake
Other than that, use common sense and pray that you dont get scammed.
Oik is actually cheap, i cant understand why in malaysia is so bloody expensive. Once they are sold at proper market prices the fake industry will die