'Fake airbags made me wince' - mechanic

Paul Jones says he refuses to fit parts people have bought themselves without a safety guarantee

Motorists who buy fake vehicle parts online are putting their lives at risk, a mechanic has said.

Paul Jones, who owns PC Automotive in Lincoln, said he was being asked "on a weekly basis" to fit parts that have been bought cheaply on the internet and claimed many of those were either faulty or not safety tested.

"The thing that made me wince was fake airbags," he said. "You can imagine an explosive device five inches from your face. If that goes off, it doesn't bear thinking about."

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO), which launched a campaign highlighting the dangers of counterfeit vehicle parts, said the most common fakes included airbags, brake pads, wheels and car batteries.

Mr Jones added: "You're doing 70mph at certain points with a faulty component on it, it's only going to go one way.

"They are taking their lives in their hands."

The mechanic, who has been in the job for 35 years, said he refuses to fit parts that people have bought themselves without the usual guarantees.

"It's what's keeping you alive when you're on the motorway.

"It's not about garages making money. We don't want someone behind us when we've got the kids in the back seat, whose got a faulty car or one that's been bodged up."

Wary of price

As part of a campaign called Fake Always Breaks, IPO said it had carried out a survey that found one in six motorists who responded said they had bought a counterfeit part in the previous 12 months.

Miles Rees, IPO deputy director of enforcement, said: "If you see something at a significantly cheaper price, that's a reason to be wary.

"It's the old adage; if it seems too good to be true, it probably is."

He said that the sale of counterfeit goods was often linked to organised crime and wider criminal activity.

He added: "Illicit goods are not subject to safety tests, and are likely to be made using vastly inferior materials.

"This puts them at increased risk of failure, with potentially devastating results."

Dan Rack says counterfeits are a 'massive problem' for the industry

However, it is not just mechanics who have experienced the issue.

Some companies have seen their products appear as counterfeits and sold online.

A firm that manufactures motorcycle parts and accessories in Alford, Lincolnshire, said copies of its products regularly appear on cheap websites.

Dan Rack, who is a director of Drury Precision Engineering, said within six months of a new product being launched the company expects to see fake versions being sold on the internet.

"It's a massive problem," he said.

"It's quite demoralising when all of your ideas are just copied and sold off as someone else's.

"It's mind-blowing when you see how many fake products there are online."

He said the company spends up to £50,000 a year protecting its trademarks and intellectual property.

IPO has issued new guidance on how to spot and avoid fake vehicle parts, and what to look out for when buying online.

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