We all like a deal. Saving a few Ringgit here and there will eventually go a long way. Unfortunately, unscrupulous parties prey on unassuming consumers by offering counterfeit products. And using such parts in your car can be costly, if not dangerous.
In the automotive industry, a counterfeit part is an unauthorized copy, imitation, or modified part that is knowingly misrepresented as a genuine part of an original or authorized manufacturer. These fake parts are often made with inferior materials and substandard manufacturing processes compared to original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts, leading to potential performance issues and safety hazards.
How to spot and avoid them? The first step is to check if the vendor is registered on the manufacturer’s website as an official partner. Many OEMs have stringent checks and protocols in place for their dealers to be part of the official distribution network. A price that seems to be too good to be true is always a alarm bell that should go off. The price difference between dealers may only be marginal, hence, a significant difference is hard to explain.
The basic idea of the counterfeit part is to cheaply imitate a product of a to p tier brand. Original parts will usually be packed in high-quality, consistent packaging as well. In addition, there are features included in the packaging that are expensive to copy and will therefore be omitted. Nowadays, individual spare parts come with a QR code that can be used to register the part when it is being installed. Should the QR code be copied, it will reveal that the part has already been used somewhere. Stickers that will break when peeled off are another safety precaution manufacturers apply. If the sticker is damaged, the carton might have been refilled with a non-genuine product.
For instance, a filter may look simple as a part, however, nowadays there is a lot of know-how involved in the manufacturing of spare parts. If a part looks sloppily produced and the materials feel cheap, chances are that the part is not an original.
As discussed in another article here, German Motors will not accept parts to be used in repairs if the part has been provided by our clients. This is simply because we procure our spare parts from verified, official dealers. We do not engage in any illegal activities, such as selling or promoting counterfeit parts.
