The Shocking Truth About Fake Car Parts in the UK

When was the last time you had your car serviced? You drop it off, trust the mechanic, and pick it up a few hours later, confident it’s safe and roadworthy. But what if the parts used weren’t just “aftermarket”—what if they were sophisticated, dangerous fakes?

It’s a chilling thought. In the UK, a growing tide of counterfeit car parts poses a serious risk to drivers, families, and pedestrians. This isn’t about a dodgy air freshener; we’re talking about critical components that are designed to look identical to the real thing, but with none of the safety, quality, or performance.

They’re sold by unscrupulous sellers, often online, to unsuspecting drivers and even some garages trying to cut costs. The packaging looks legit, the branding is perfect, but what’s inside is a ticking time bomb.

The Rogues’ Gallery: When Fakes Turn Fatal

To understand the scale of the problem, you need to see what’s at stake. These aren’t minor defects; they are catastrophic failures waiting to happen.

1. The “Sawdust” Brake Pads

The Fake: A genuine brake pad is a marvel of engineering, made from a complex composite designed to create friction and withstand immense heat. The counterfeit version? Investigators have found fakes made of compressed sawdust, wood chips, and even dried grass, all glued together and painted to look the part.

The Safety Issue: As you can imagine, the second these “pads” get hot, they either disintegrate or glaze over.

The Result: You’re driving down a motorway, a car stops suddenly, and you hit the brake pedal. Instead of the reassuring bite of friction, your pedal goes mushy. The car barely slows down. In test conditions, cars fitted with these fake pads have taken twice as long to stop, turning a simple emergency stop into a horrific, high-speed collision.

2. The “Empty Box” Airbag

The Real: An airbag is an explosive, precision device that must deploy in milliseconds. Counterfeiters can’t replicate this, so they don’t try. They create a perfect replica of the airbag module, but inside, it contains nothing. Sometimes it’s just rags, plastic sheeting, or a faulty, salvaged inflator.

The Safety Issue: In a crash, the car’s sensors work perfectly. They send the signal to deploy. But nothing happens.

The Result: A survivable, low-speed impact becomes fatal. The driver’s head and chest hit the steering wheel with full force, causing catastrophic injuries that a genuine airbag would have prevented entirely. In other cases, the shoddy inflator does explode, but it does so improperly, sending a spray of metal shrapnel directly at the driver’s face.

3. The “Cardboard” Oil Filter

The Fake: This seems less dangerous, right? It’s just a filter. But a genuine filter is designed to trap tiny metal particles and maintain specific oil pressure. A fake one often uses cheap cardboard (instead of a proper filter medium) and brittle, low-quality rubber seals.

The Safety Issue: The cardboard quickly disintegrates, sending a pulp of fibres and all the trapped metal fragments straight back into your engine. Worse, the cheap rubber seal cracks under heat and pressure.

The Result: At 70mph, the seal fails. Your engine’s oil is pumped out onto the hot exhaust and the road in seconds. The car behind you swerves on your oil slick, and your engine—now starved of lubrication—seizes completely, destroying itself. You’re left with a £5,000 repair bill and the wreck of a car, all to save £8 on a filter.

Why Is This Happening?

The simple answer? The internet and the cost-of-living crisis. Online marketplaces make it incredibly easy for a seller anywhere in the world to present a slick, professional-looking shopfront. They use stolen logos and official-looking product shots to sell fakes that are almost indistinguishable from the real thing… until they are fitted.

As we all try to tighten our belts, that “too good to be true” deal on a set of brake discs or a timing belt becomes very tempting. But you’re not buying a “bargain”; you’re purchasing a gamble.

How to Protect Yourself and Your Family

You don’t have to be a mechanic to stay safe. The key is to be a savvy consumer.

• Trust Your Garage: Use a reputable, established garage. Ask them where they source their parts. Good mechanics will have trusted suppliers and will be just as keen to avoid fakes as you are.
• Beware the “Bargain”: If you’re buying parts yourself online, be extremely cautious. If a part that costs typically £100 is being sold for £25, ask yourself why. There’s a very good chance it’s a fake.
• Check the Seller, Not Just the Product: Don’t buy critical parts from anonymous sellers on auction sites. Visit the official manufacturer’s dealer or a reputable, trusted UK parts supplier.
• Please inspect the Packaging: While fakes are getting better, they often slip up. Look for spelling mistakes, low-quality printing, or flimsy packaging that doesn’t feel right.

The Intellectual Property Office and trading standards are working together to address this issue, but it remains a significant problem. Ultimately, the best defence is your own common sense.

That ‘bargain’ part could cost you your car. Alternatively, it could cost you a great deal more. Don’t let a scammer make that choice for you.