FCAI and Border Protection lower the boom on shonky parts

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection are clamping down on the importation of fake automotive parts.

And both organisations are seeking the assistance of consumers.

A new web portal, Report-A-Counterfeit is operational with effect from today. Vehicle owners are encouraged to report when parts fitted to their cars are not the real deal. These counterfeit parts are engineered and manufactured to a lower standard of quality than the factory-approved parts and are supplied by unscrupulous vendors.

According to FCAI Chief Executive, Tony Weber, the extent of counterfeit parts available in Australia – and fitted to many cars on the road – is beyond calculation. Australian Border Force officers have swooped on consignments destined for the cars of unsuspecting owners. Last year the customs officials intercepted nearly 200,000 dodgy parts from places like China and the United Arab Emirates.

"We cannot quantify how many, even today, are still being fitted," Weber told journalists attending a joint presentation today by the FCAI and Holden.

"Thousands of non-genuine, counterfeit, fake, sub-standard parts are out there. And their use in service and repair poses a safety risk to the consumer."

"Because of that risk, as an industry we're urging car owners to take care about what parts are used when their cars are serviced and repaired."

The FCAI realises that the demand for non-genuine parts from overseas is often driven by insurance companies looking for the lowest-cost solutions to repair insured and third-party vehicles. But the FCAI revealed today that the savings made by specifying cheap parts rather than the factory-approved parts adds cost elsewhere in the process of having a car repaired.

Holden's testing of two non-genuine VF Commodore bonnets highlighted the sub-standard build quality. Fitting each bonnet to the test car required additional hours of labour to correctly align the bonnets and ensure optimal panel gaps.

Usually, the cost of that extra labour falls on the long-suffering panel beater. The additional hours of labour won't necessarily be charged back to the insurer either.

The Report-A-Counterfeit portal opens the way for whistleblowing panel beaters and disgruntled vehicle owners to place the onus back on importers of the counterfeit panels. And consumers can push back against the insurers by pointing out the relevant sections of each underwriter's Product Disclosure Statement and policy wording explaining how they – the policyholders – are entitled to have the car repaired to its original state.

"Part of the solution here is to educate consumers that they need to be cognisant of the need for genuine parts, and if they're aware of it, when the critical time comes... they then have the capacity to stand up and say: 'I want genuine parts'" says Tony Weber.

"Or, conversely, they can make a conscious decision not to go down that path, but I think the important thing here is they make a conscious decision."

"The panel beaters will be very interested in this campaign. They'll be picking this up...

"If the pressure comes from both ends, from consumers and from panel beaters, obviously it's going to help things.

"That's where we need to get to.

"And we need people to ask the question... and when they actually take the insurance policy out, that's the best time to address the issue."