One in six buy “illegal and dangerous” counterfeit car parts, government warns

Drivers are being warned to steer clear of purchasing counterfeit car parts as it’s revealed that one in six motorists have bought a fake component in the last year, potentially putting themselves and other motorists at risk.

The new campaign from the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), Fake Always Breaks, is designed to raise awareness of counterfeit car parts. As part of this, the IPO surveyed 1,400 people, and of the 15 per cent that admitted to buying a counterfeit car part in the past 12 months, a quarter bought car batteries, while almost one in five bought knock-off tyres and wheels.

While one of the most common reasons cited for buying counterfeit parts was their cheaper price, what some buyers may not realise is that such components do not undergo the same safety testing as their genuine equivalents. This is concerning in the case of motorists buying counterfeit batteries or tyres, because the former could short circuit a car’s electrical systems or even explode, while non-genuine tyres could affect its grip and braking distance.

Detective Chief Inspector Emma Warbey explained that, given that such items likely haven’t undergone the strict safety testing, “there's a real possibility that they won’t inflate during a road traffic collision, or will deploy in error.”

“Counterfeiting a device designed to save lives demonstrates the lengths that criminals will go to make money and their disregard for the safety of the people who will end up using these products,” Detective Warbey continued.

Of course, it’s a common mistake to buy a counterfeit product online without knowing it isn’t the real deal; just under half (42 per cent) of those who said they’d bought counterfeit parts thought they were genuine, with some finding out either through service checks or after the product broke.

The IPO’s Director of Enforcement, Miles Rees, described counterfeit car parts as “illegal to sell and very dangerous to motorists and other road users”. 

“As we enter the darker, colder, icier months, driving can become more hazardous,” he said. “This is why it is now more important than ever to highlight the dangers of fakes to motorists and help make every journey as safe as it can be.”