Online giant eBay UK has partnered with insurers, Aviva and LV, to encourage motorists to repair their vehicles with used parts.
The firms say the ‘green parts’ will help ease pressure on supply chains amid Brexit and Covid pressures.
According to eBay, green parts refer to used car parts that are still “fit to use”, and are usually taken from insurance write-offs where components have not been damaged.
In the first three months of this year, around 65 per cent of car dealers suffered problems and delays trying to source parts for cars, eBay UK said.
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The online marketplace also suggests that the so-called green parts can deliver savings of up to 70 per cent versus OEM parts.
Laura Richards, senior automotive business manager at eBay UK, said: “Many drivers are unaware of the huge benefits that green parts can have when looking to get their cars repaired.
“The number one priority when your car breaks down is getting back on the road as quickly as possible and green parts can play a vital role in this, especially when Brexit is slowing the importing process.
“The environmental benefit of green parts is huge, and at eBay we’re doing all we can to offer these options to our customers and partners.”
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Sales of eBay green parts, it claims, have risen by 24 per cent year-on-year in the first seven months of this year.
The online marketplace said it was also working with WhoCanFixMyCar.com to provide access to green parts to over 8,000 garages across the country.
For motorists worried about whether using a green part could cause future problems, eBay UK said it would work with sellers to ensure that ‘every product sold is supplied by an independently certified automotive recycler, giving buyers complete faith that their cars will be repaired with reliable parts.’
The news will likely raise eyebrows among the UK’s network of independent garages.
Related: Independents unite in battle against customer supplied parts
In 2019 the Independent Garage Association (IGA) collaborated with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to highlight the dangers of counterfeit and consumer supplied car parts within the IPO’s Crime and Enforcement Report 2018 – 2019.
In the report, the IGA highlighted the issue of customer-supplied parts which it says presents garages with problems because they’re unable to determine the true origins of such parts.
The IGA warns that consumer supplied parts may not be the correct fitment for the car, some internet sourced parts can be of low quality and there are potentially complex warranty issues if the part fails – especially where provenance is difficult to establish.
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