Last updated: 7 May 2026
Affiliate relationships
Some links on this site are affiliate links. If you click one and complete a purchase, the site may receive a commission from the retailer. Your price is unchanged — the commission comes out of the retailer's margin, not yours.
Required by Google, the NZ Commerce Commission's Fair Trading Act guidance, and most affiliate programs themselves. Disclosing it is the price of using affiliate links at all.
Programs used
The site has applied for or participates in the following affiliate programs:
- Amazon Associates (NZ / AU) — broad coverage, lower commissions, fast shipping for many small parts.
- FCP Euro — VAG-focused, lifetime warranty on most parts, popular with the European-car community.
- ECS Tuning — major VAG retailer, OEM and aftermarket.
- Pelican Parts — older retailer, still relevant for some VAG parts.
- Other manufacturer-direct programs as relevant — disclosed where used.
How affiliate links are marked
Affiliate links carry the rel="sponsored" attribute, which signals to
Google and other search engines that the link involves a commercial relationship.
Browsers don't show this visibly; you can confirm any link by inspecting it.
Where an entire article or section is paid for (sponsored content), it carries a "Sponsored" or "Paid partnership" label inline at the top, not just in the footer. This is separate from passive affiliate links and a higher bar.
Editorial independence
Recommendations are made on the basis of fitment, quality, and (where possible) first-hand use. Commission rates are not a factor in what gets recommended; the affiliate link is added after a product has been chosen on its merits, not before.
Where a recommended part is one the site author has personally used, this is stated. Where a recommendation is based on documented owner reports or manufacturer data rather than first-hand experience, this is stated too.
Drop-ship products and unverified third-party sellers are avoided. Quality control is impossible at this scale and a bad recommendation costs more reputation than the commission earns.
What commission funds
Domain renewal, photography gear used to document repairs, occasional parts purchased specifically to test or photograph for an article, and time spent maintaining the site. Hosting is currently free (Cloudflare Pages); if it ever stops being free, that becomes a cost too.
If you'd rather not use affiliate links
Every product mentioned can be searched for directly at the retailer. Part numbers and manufacturer codes are quoted in articles for exactly this reason. The site's content is the same either way; the affiliate program just makes the cost of running it lower.
Sponsored partners (future)
A separate "Partners" page may be added in future for ongoing sponsorships from
relevant Mk3 / VAG community pages, NZ specialists, or parts importers. Any such
placements will be clearly labelled as sponsored and use rel="sponsored".
Generic "place a link for $2/month" offers are not accepted.
Tax
Income from affiliate commissions is declared as additional income to Inland Revenue under New Zealand tax law. This is operational housekeeping, listed for transparency.