Sell vehicle parts and accessories

Whether you run a trade parts counter, a motor factor or an accessories shop, two duties go beyond ordinary retail: the safety of the parts you supply, and taking back the waste batteries and electrical items your customers return. The general fair-trading and consumer duties in Run a compliant motor trade business apply on top of these.

Make sure safety-critical parts are compliant

Safety-critical replacement parts — brakes, tyres, lighting, towing components and glass — must meet the relevant approval marks and construction-and-use standards. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) leads on general product safety and market surveillance, and Trading Standards enforces locally. As a distributor you must not place non-compliant or counterfeit safety parts on the market.

Take back waste batteries and electrical items

If you sell vehicle batteries and electrical accessories you must offer in-store take-back of waste batteries, and — depending on your size — take-back of old electrical items under the WEEE regime, passing them on to authorised treatment. The Environment Agency and the devolved regulators enforce these producer-responsibility duties. For the detail of the battery regime, see battery regulations compliance.

Next steps

Make sure the cross-cutting duties for your business are in place — see Run a compliant motor trade business — then confirm everything with the motor trade compliance checklist.