Original or non-original parts: what workshops may fit
Which spare parts a South African workshop may fit on in-warranty cars, its right to buy original parts from dealers, and how to trace every part fitted.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Automotive businesses in South Africa
A customer brings a two-year-old car to an independent workshop for new brake pads. The original part from the franchised dealer costs noticeably more than a reputable pattern brand. The customer asks the obvious question: will the cheaper part affect my warranty? And the workshop owner has a question of their own: if I want the original part, will the dealer even sell it to me?
The Competition Commission's aftermarket guidelines answer both questions, with some important limits. This article sets out what they say about original and non-original parts, which safety parts carry their own regulation, and how a workshop can keep records that trace every part it fits back to its supplier.
Original, non-original, and what is excluded
The guidelines say consumers can fit original or non-original spare parts during the warranty period at a provider of their choice. In the guidelines, non-original parts exclude counterfeit, grey and illegally sourced parts. A reputable pattern part from an established manufacturer is non-original; a fake carrying a manufacturer's logo, or a part brought in outside legitimate channels, is not covered by that freedom at all.
For a workshop, the exclusion is as important as the permission. Fitting a counterfeit part is not exercising the customer's choice; it is a risk to the customer and to the business. Knowing where every part came from is the only defence.
The Commission's guidelines for competition in the automotive aftermarket set out the parts provisions in full. They were prepared under section 79(1) of the Competition Act, are effective from 27 March 2025, and are not binding on the Commission, the Competition Tribunal or the Competition Appeal Court.
Buying original parts from the manufacturer's network
Independent workshops have long complained that original parts were hard to get. The guidelines say manufacturers and approved dealers must make original spare parts available to independent providers who need them for repairs, and that manufacturers may not restrict an independent service provider's ability to buy original parts needed for service, maintenance and repair work.
There is a limit on what the workshop may do with them. Manufacturers may prohibit the independent from on-selling those parts to third parties. Buying original parts to fit to customers' vehicles is protected; buying them to resell over the counter to other workshops or the public may not be.
Prices and the security-system exception
The guidelines also say manufacturers may not set minimum retail prices for spare parts. That leaves workshops and dealers free to price parts competitively.
One category is treated differently. Conditional sale of original parts is reserved for items linked to the vehicle's security system, such as keys, immobilisers and related components. A workshop asking for these may face conditions the manufacturer would not impose on, say, a filter or a headlamp.
Safety parts with their own regulator
The Competition Commission notes that a motor vehicle has approximately between 30,000 and 60,000 parts and components, and that the NRCS regulates the safety of lights, brakes, brake fluids and seals. The freedom to choose non-original parts does not override safety regulation. For those categories, a workshop should check that the non-original part it fits meets the applicable requirements, and keep evidence of where it came from.
When a fitted part causes damage
Freedom of choice comes with consequences. The guidelines say damage caused by an independent provider's work or parts fitment may void certain warranty provisions, while other provisions remain severable and enforceable. A consumer harmed by a defective product can claim against any party in the supply chain under section 61 of the Consumer Protection Act.
Two practical points follow. First, tell the customer, in writing, which parts you are fitting and whether they are original or non-original, so the choice is genuinely theirs. Second, be able to name the supplier of every part, so that if a part fails and causes damage, the claim can move up the supply chain to where it belongs.
Recording supplier and cost for every part
Traceability starts with a clean supplier list. Achekam keeps one supplier list per business, with duplicate checks by name or VAT number, and quotations, orders and bills pick suppliers from it. A pattern part bought from "Auto Spares" and from "Auto Spares (Pty) Ltd" should not end up looking like two different sources.
Supplier bills are recorded line by line with VAT. A bill without a purchase order waits for approval before it posts, and it can be paid in full or in parts from a chosen bank account. Record the part number and description on each bill line rather than a single total, so that a part fitted to a customer's car can be matched to the bill it came on.
For parts held in stock, Achekam's Item Master lists and creates products with an SKU, name, category, selling and cost price, opening quantity and VAT treatment; it needs the Point of Sale, Warehousing or Wholesale add-on. Use separate SKUs for original and non-original versions of the same part, with the brand in the name, so the job card and the invoice show exactly which was fitted.
A short checklist for the parts counter:
- Every supplier on the single supplier list, with full legal name and VAT number.
- Every purchase recorded line by line, with part numbers.
- Original and non-original versions held under different SKUs.
- No parts from sources you cannot name.
- The customer told in writing which kind of part is being fitted.
For setting up part numbers and barcodes, see parts stock, SKUs and barcodes; for in-warranty work more broadly, read servicing in-warranty cars at an independent workshop.
The customer's freedom to choose the part is real. So is the workshop's responsibility to know exactly what it fitted, and from whom.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
