Fake Britian - BBC One today. Car parts
Discussion
Unfortunately its not a new thing, back in the early 90's I recall bulletins being released by vauxhall stating how to identify genuine lower suspension arms from fake ones, this was due to the increasing number of bent items we were seeing through the workshop which were not oe fitments ......also I think at that time we had notification of fake brake pads too
Are these parts being sold as a decent brand, ie fake bosch/lemforder/brembo/bbs packaging, or just crap pattern parts? I've seen some really shonky parts in local motor factor type places that I would refuse to use, like cheap CV joints and electrical sensors etc. but they wern't being sold pretending to be genuine parts. It is scary though, as I guess lots of these type of parts get fitted by garages and the owner of the car is completely oblivious to what's going on. DIYers are more likely to take notice of what they're fitting- I always try to get OE or OEM parts from a reputable supplier as I'm very aware of how important parts like this are. I'll have to check the program out on iplayer later on.
Most of the stuff is coming from China and sold via "well known internet bidding sites". The usual story, apparently.
It's quite frustrating listening to people who are upset they've got a fake when they've paid 25% of the price (what did they expect?!)... more worryingly some of the fakes look good.
Is the way forward to start verifying supply chain and exposing this to consumers?
It's quite frustrating listening to people who are upset they've got a fake when they've paid 25% of the price (what did they expect?!)... more worryingly some of the fakes look good.
Is the way forward to start verifying supply chain and exposing this to consumers?
nixon1 said:
Most of the stuff is coming from China and sold via "well known internet bidding sites". The usual story, apparently.
It's quite frustrating listening to people who are upset they've got a fake when they've paid 25% of the price (what did they expect?!)... more worryingly some of the fakes look good.
Is the way forward to start verifying supply chain and exposing this to consumers?
Its price of everything value of nothing again isn't it. They don't wanna pay the OEM prices because they haven't got a handle on the value of properly engineered parts. Its just metal 'innit, shouldn't be that expensive....It's quite frustrating listening to people who are upset they've got a fake when they've paid 25% of the price (what did they expect?!)... more worryingly some of the fakes look good.
Is the way forward to start verifying supply chain and exposing this to consumers?
Yesterday I bought some brake discs, however made the decision to go for MTec (from their website) rather than chance some other well-known make from ebay. Let's just prey that the pallet of discs they have came from a reputable source 
Maybe the next big boom will be the hologram (or some other tech) business whereby every item can be checked regardless.
Maybe the next big boom will be the hologram (or some other tech) business whereby every item can be checked regardless.
Nealio said:
Old news really, it's quite an expansive and well known about issue.
The various Federal Mogul brands actually carry fairly involved anti-counterfeiting measures such as holograms and computerised codes on the packaging which you can check online to ensure they're authentic
I'd have to challenge your assertion that it's a well known about area; there are a lot of people that would think knock-offs are only found at car boot sales and those men who pull up next to you at a petrol station and ask if you want to buy a watch. The idea of counterfeit items coming through well regarded retailers would surprise a lot of people. The various Federal Mogul brands actually carry fairly involved anti-counterfeiting measures such as holograms and computerised codes on the packaging which you can check online to ensure they're authentic
As for holograms, the Chinese can copy anything these days! There are huge volumes of counterfeit medicines knocking around with perfect copies of the original hologram; it's truly frightening!
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