Since online marketplaces first started selling books and DVDs, things have changed dramatically. Now, you can order anything from medications to clothes, food products to home cleaning supplies, electricals and beauty brands—and car components.
There have long been calls for consumers and even automotive trade professionals to act with caution when choosing a replacement part from an unverified source. Still, the much broader accessibility and availability of parts, many from an overseas or unknown supplier, has exacerbated the risks.
Design911, a well-established supplier of specialist, OEM, and aftermarket Porsche performance parts, clarifies the advantages and drawbacks to consider and shares some expert tips to protect yourself and your bank balance from fake, counterfeit, and potentially dangerous parts.
Buying Car Components From an Online Marketplace: A Good or Bad Thing?
One of the factors we always talk about is balancing cost, convenience and performance. If you’re buying something relatively low-cost, such as replacement windscreen wipers, you might not be overly concerned about the quality of the item.
Likewise, buying any compatible OEM or aftermarket part may be completely fine, while acknowledging that many Porsche drivers and collectors of other luxury marques prefer to prioritise manufacturer-approved brands to retain the value of their vehicles and the driving experience they expect.
From a consumer perspective, ordering a simple part online may be beneficial because:
- Your part will usually be within you in as little as a couple of days.
- The cost is likely to be competitive, with the ease of comparing other seller’s prices before checking out.
- Any issues can be resolved through the marketplace’s complaints or query service – and you’ll often get an automatic refund if you have a genuine problem.
The issue is that even if you need to buy something as straightforward as a set of wipers, you are reliant on the information shown to be accurate and genuine.
Wipers that malfunction in heavy rain, don’t fit the vehicle or erode quickly might not be worth the speed and efficiency of the buying process – and can possibly cause very real hazards if you’re driving in bad weather and have reduced visibility.
If that same scenario applies to a more integral component necessary to the performance or function of the car, such as brake pads, tyres or a suspension kit, the concerns about safeguarding buyers reliant on online product descriptions become more obvious.
Are Counterfeit Online Car Parts Really That Difficult to Spot?
We often hear that experienced restorers and Porsche enthusiasts assume their knowledge and familiarity with high-quality brands and manufacturers will mean they won’t fall for a fake or substandard part. However, just as online scams have become more sophisticated, unethical sellers often look surprisingly authentic.
Examples include scenarios where sellers use modified or copied product images, replicate the specifications of genuine OEM parts, or misrepresent their brand or business to appear to be a verified, legitimate company.
A report published earlier this year by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) noted that confiscated fake car parts included crucial components to vehicle safety, including seat belts, windshields, accelerator pedals and airbags.
As many as 94% of seized counterfeit components are shipped to Europe from China, with 5% of the remainder from Hong Kong, and 60% of all dangerous products intended for sale in the EU are purchased online.
Even experienced mechanics can be caught out when a part looks genuine and has the appropriate credentials, brand marks, and certification. Still, once delivered, if there are any deviations from the listing or worse, they install the component and find it fails, there isn’t much recourse to take action against the seller.
How to Avoid Fake and Low-Quality Car Parts on Online Marketplaces
Of course, the best solution is to avoid online purchasing from unknown sellers or sources altogether. We provide a range of delivery solutions throughout the UK and Europe, with warehousing in Britain and the Netherlands, and can organise urgent shipping on request to almost any location.
Purchasing from a trusted supplier eliminates uncertainty while providing the benefit of expert assistance if you’re unsure which part to buy, need to identify whether a more expensive component represents good value for money, or want assistance working out which part is compatible with your vehicle.
If you’re committed to buying through an online marketplace, though, we’d suggest you:
- Verify who you are buying from – this is usually the third-party seller, not the marketplace itself. Never assume that a well-known brand name is authentic, as these are scarily easy to fake – usually with a minor twist on the grammar or spelling.
- Read past customer reviews, and if you’re buying a safety-related or performance component or a part with a considerable cost, research the legitimacy of the business.
- On delivery, inspect the part and packaging carefully. Most parts have a serial number or certificate in the box, which you may be able to verify online through the manufacturer.
Should you have any doubts or be unable to confirm that a part is genuine, we’d suggest you take it to a knowledgeable mechanic or service centre rather than take any chances on installing a part in your car that you aren’t 100% confident will perform as it should.
Defective products are normally fully refundable, and most of the big marketplaces have published returns policies that set out your rights and the available ways to report a fraudulent or unresponsive seller.
However, the bigger risk is purchasing a valuable component, believing it to be authentic, and installing it in your vehicle without realising that it could be unsafe to drive or be fitted with a part that could contribute to a serious accident.
