APPETITE FOR DECONSTRUCTION

Maintaining your car by using recycled parts makes more sense than ever, thanks to a rejuvenated online sales portal and high-tech dismantlers

- Claire Evans

WHILE I HAVE fond memories of clambering up a stack of scrapped cars to unbolt a part from one to go on my old motor, that was many years ago, and these days I'm far more cash rich, time poor and too risk averse to go hunting for parts in an oily scrapyard. I'd much rather order a replacement part online and have it delivered to my door the next day. Luckily for me and millions of other motorists, the secondhand parts sector has largely gone online, so I can still save money by choosing a recycled or reconditioned part instead of a new one.

As the UK's biggest automotive parts marketplace, eBay is where many car owners and repairers go for replacement parts. However, it hasn't been considered as good as buying from a high street store or an online brand specialist, because you couldn't guarantee where the part had come from and what the quality was like.

To give buyers confidence and counter the poor perception of some of the private sellers who offer parts for sale on the website, eBay has just relaunched its Certified Recycled portal. This sub-section of eBay Motors was originally set up in 2020 on a small scale, and it now has two million parts offered by 81 sellers, all of whom have been checked and certified by the Vehicle Recyclers Association and are subject to an annual audit of their processes and policies.

Certified Recycled parts account for 20% of all car parts sold on eBay. All of the parts offered on this portal have been sourced from scrapped vehicles that have been accurately identified, recorded and tested. They are graded from A to D, depending on their condition and the mileage of the vehicle they've been taken from. For extra peace of mind, all body parts are covered by a 12-month warranty and all mechanical parts have three-month cover.