Genuine OEM air filter or not

Went out of my way today to the dealer just to get a genuine OEM air filter for the 05 but after getting home and trying to install it I'm not so sure. My first question I asked was why was it not in a box but in plastic and the parts guy said they buy in bulk without the box. Then I asked was it genuine OEM and he said yes. The pleats look much thinner than OEM, the seal around the outside needs to stretch 3/8 of an inch to fit in the housing, the plastic is black not grey like OEM and it doesn't say made in Japan. I think they are selling bulk crap at dealer prices so tomorrow I'm going to take it back and bitch at them for awhile. What do you think?

 

I have a Fram that I wanted to replace with an OEM filter and the Fram appears to be a much better filter than this one. The OEM filter material looks to be thicker and closer together. The Fram seal also fits nicely without having to stretch it into the housing groove.

 

Thanks SB, there's no way the filter I got from the dealer is genuine after looking at your pics. Looks like the same number of pleats but mine are not as thick as OEM. I'm going back to the dealer today after work to see what they say.

 

Well the parts guy at the dealer apologized to me and gave me the filter I paid for. Then when I asked him why they sell a substandard filters he said they put them in the used cars. I told him thanks for the warning about buying a used car from them and left.

 

I bet you're right. This is the same dealer that put a new hybrid battery in the car so hopefully there's not a cheap aftermarket one available that they used.