Man buys fake VW Golf GTI engine from Alibaba and puts it into his car to see if it'll work
Published on Sep 05, 2025 at 4:08 PM (UTC+4)
by Henry Kelsall
Last updated on Sep 05, 2025 at 7:51 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
A man bought a fake VW Golf GTI engine from Alibaba and put it into his Volkswagen to see if it would work.
Fake or budget Chinese car parts have become a hot topic in recent times, and when YouTuber Michael Schublacker needed to replace the engine in his Golf GTI, he turned to an official route.
However, with that costing over $11,000, he changed tack and turned to Alibaba, where engines cost less than half of that, but they are clearly not the genuine article.
In a recent video, he bought the fake engine from the Chinese marketplace Alibaba to see if it would actually work in his hot hatchback.
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How much did the fake VW Golf GTI engine cost?
The genuine engine needed for the Golf GTI from VW itself saw the engine come in at well over $11,000.
So that led to the YouTuber taking an engine from Alibaba to try to get the car running again for less.
The Mk7 GTI received a fake engine that cost around $1,100, which is quite a risk.
But despite misgivings, the YouTuber and his team bought the engine.
When it arrived, there were some concerns.
The biggest was the box it was in, which felt very light and wasn’t as heavy as you would expect a VW engine to be.
Despite this, they opened the engine up and had a good look at it.
Would the Alibaba engine work inside the Volkswagen?
Unboxing it, there are some VW stamps on the engine from China.
Compared to the genuine one that blew in the car, there do appear to be some similarities.
Outwardly, the Alibaba engine checked out, but that is before it had even gone into the car.
The YouTuber left the job of getting the powertrain into the car to his dedicated and hardworking team.
The first piece of good news is that the engine did go into the Golf GTI.
And when they tried to fire it up, after an initial worry, the engine did indeed fire up.
So for nearly $10,000 less, it looked like the VW had a working engine again.
But later in the video, it lasted for just 40 miles before failing.
What happens next to this Volkswagen is going to be very interesting to see.
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Henry is a content writer with nearly ten years experience, having written for various publications since 2017. Qualifying with a Sports Journalism degree from Staffordshire University, Henry loves all things automotive but has a particular soft spot for classic Japanese cars and anything Lancia. He also has a curious passion for steam locomotives.
