E-Paper
Spare a thought for original spares
Many a time when we give our vehicles for service, we are unaware of what really goes into the engine and other parts as spares.
Many a time when we give our vehicles for service, we are unaware of what really goes into the engine and other parts as spares. Even if you are getting a suspension rebuild done or even getting your car painted, use of sub-standard and fake parts might lead to a loss in performance, looks or even worse – accidents. Sometimes it’s just to save a few bucks here and there that local mechanics at times suggest the use of non-standard parts. Doing so, however, will cause you greater harm in the long term and you would be well advised to stay away from such components.
There are times when you might need to take your vehicle to a workshop which will assure you of using ‘genuine’ spares but would invariably compromise. At this time, you need to be careful because fake spares also mean that there could be expensive repairs to your car in the long term. What is amazing is that even things like engine oil get duplicated and there are workshops, which sell used engine oil, filtered through a strainer as fresh oil. You can imagine the effects it would have on your vehicle’s engine!
This is not all. There are basically three types of spares available in the market – the genuine item, a ‘reconditioned original’ and totally spurious. The genuine item is the best part to fit. The others are a gamble.
Sometimes you might need to fit ‘replacement’ spares. What this means is that your preferred brand might not be available and you might have to substitute brand ‘a’ with brand ‘b’. This is fine as long as the other brand is a genuine manufacturer or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and supplier.
