If Acadia, Apollo, Astra or Malibu ring a bell, you must have owned a holden car or still hold the beauty. And as a car owner, you must have ordered spare Holden parts often. However, fake car parts and accessories are readily available at offline stores and online.
The automotive industry is flooded with fake car parts, and you may have likely come across many online stores that sell these. While there are strict laws against manufacturers of these counterfeit parts, sellers continue to run the fake car parts club. It is, therefore, essential to distinguish between original and fake car parts to save yourself from the agony of car-related mishaps.
What Fake Car Parts Can Do to Your Car
If you happen to buy and fail to recognise a fake car part, you are in danger of the following accidents:
- Brakes and wheels – You may encounter brake failure and lowered wheel rigidity because fake brake pads and wheels will undergo faster wear and tear.
- Windscreen – A fake windscreen doesn’t have the load-bearing capacity of an original one, so it will crack and can injure the passengers.
- Engine – Your car engine may fail or catch fire if car parts like air filters, spark plugs, safety belts etc., are fake.
- Accidents – Since counterfeit parts are not meant to fit correctly within the vehicle’s structure, body parts like airbags may not fail to work in the event of a collision.
How to Differentiate Between Original and Fake Car Parts?
OEM and OES manufacture spare parts for cars and bikes. These are according to industry standards and are safe to use. However, fake parts cost less to manufacture (cheaper products used) and look like the real ones.
Since fake car parts can be life-threatening and damaging to your car, you must be able to identify them. So, keep an eye on the following aspects:
A Lower Price
The first ounce of doubt should arise when you see the price tag is cheaper than the original one. Genuine spare parts are costlier because of their quality. Further, look for warranty details if that part usually comes with one.
Hologram and Serial Number
All original car parts, like Holden parts, come with a serial number and a hologram of the manufacturer. You can use these two to trace the originality of the spare part. This is similar to the IMEI number that can detect the originality of a mobile phone.
Meanwhile, a lot of fake manufacturers also place fake serial numbers, and these are usually on a sticker.
Pro-tip: Some car parts come with a QR code and RFID tags. You can scan the QR code or use the tag to check whether the car part is genuine.
Packaging and Spelling
Fake car parts will have flimsy packaging, and the quality will also feel cheap. So you can keep an eye on the quality of the box and the printing on the outside. If they seem off in any way, it’s a fake. Further, you will find a lot of typos on the packaging, instructions, grammatical errors, etc., on a fake part.
Fragmented Instructions
The instructions for any fake car part will be incomplete and make no sense sometimes. These often have missing steps, diagrams or words in between. So, you can look up images on the internet for comparison.
Compare Your Old Car Part to the New
You can compare your existing car part with the newly bought one. If there are differences in weight, colour, texture, and dimensions, it’s probably fake. However, check the car’s website or get updated if the company has made any changes.
According to a vehicle census report, the most common car brands on Australian roads included Holden and Ford back in the day. You might still have these iconic cars in your garage; hence, there will always be a demand for their spare parts.
So, the best way to ensure receiving genuine car parts is to buy from trusted websites or stores. You can look up reviews and customer ratings when purchasing Holden parts for your Apollo or Malibu. Further, you can get discounts on these parts. However, they will not be cheaper than the fake ones since these are original and according to manufacturing standards. Hence, keep a critical eye on landing original car parts using the above quality check measures.
