Can a car part be 3D printed?

Which parts print, and which do not

Three questions decide: does the part get hot, does it see the sun, and does anyone get hurt if it fails? The table sums up what we accept.

The dividing line is heat and safety. A printed plastic keeps its shape up to about 95 °C at best; an engine block, a manifold or an exhaust go far beyond that. And a part whose failure endangers someone is only replaced by a certified part: we refuse to make it, even with a perfect file.

The material depends on where the part lives

• PETG for the cabin: clips, mounts, covers, console parts. It bends before it breaks, holds about 75 °C, and a closed cabin in the sun sits at the limit but below it.
• ASA for anything that sees the sun: mirror covers, strips, badges, grille parts, under-bonnet ducts away from the engine. It does not fade and holds about 95 °C.
• ABS for a cabin part to paint or glue, or where the original was ABS; not outside.
• TPU for grommets, bonnet seals, bumpers, bellows and any flexible part.

PLA goes in no car: it deforms from about 55 °C, which a dashboard reaches in August in Marrakech.

How to get the part

1. You have a STL, OBJ, 3MF file: drop it on the online quote, choose the material, and the delivered price shows.
2. You have the broken part: photograph it from the front, the side and above with a ruler in the frame, measure what matters (length, width, holes, spacing, tab thickness) and send it all on the Custom project page. The guide Reproducing a plastic part you cannot find details what to measure.
3. You only have the location: photograph the seat, the opposing clips and the mirror-image part on the other side if there is one. A right-hand part is drawn as the mirror of the left.
4. We state a price for modelling and printing before making anything. The part arrives in 2 to 3 days, delivery included.

For a fleet or a garage that needs it regularly, the file is kept: every following copy is identical, and small batch production brings the price per part down.

What redrawing lets you improve

• The tab or clip that broke is thickened where there is room, and the corner where the crack started gets a fillet.
• Walls go to at least 0.8 mm, 2 mm for a part that clips on; a thin injected plastic does not have the strength of a thin printed one.
• The part is oriented so the layers work in compression, not in peel: a tab printed flat holds, the same tab printed upright delaminates.
• A part over 256 mm, a trim strip for instance, is split into sections that fit together.

What a printed car part costs

A clip or cover of a few grams sits at the order minimum, 105.00 MAD delivered, and several parts in one order share that minimum and the service fee. For scale, a solid 30 mm cube costs 105.00 MAD delivered in PLA; in ASA, the material page gives the same case priced in both. Modelling a part from the original is priced separately, by its complexity, and stated before you agree.

The full calculation is in How much does 3D printing cost in Morocco; the Automotive page shows what we print most for cars, and the Tangier and Kenitra pages what the suppliers there ask us for.

Inspection, insurance and common sense

A printed trim part, cover or mount raises no issue at the roadworthiness inspection or with an insurer: they are cosmetic or accessory parts. The parts we refuse, braking, steering, suspension, occupant restraint, are precisely the ones an inspector or an assessor would look at, and for which only a certified part is acceptable.

• Keep the broken original: it is the reference if the printed part needs adjusting.
• Fit the part cold, without forcing: a PETG clip snaps in like the original, but a hammer splits it.
• If the part breaks again in the same place, tell us: the file is changed and reprinted, which is the point of having the drawing.