The Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS), the
Automotive Service Association (ASA) and the Alliance of Automotive Service
Providers (AASP)
announced at the 2011 SEMA Show that they were jointly
recognizing OEM vehicle manufacturer published repair procedures as the
industry's repair standards.
The announcement raised some questions from the collision
repair community, one of which was whether or not the use of non-OEM parts and
other parts not recommended by OEMs would still be a viable alternative in the
repair of a vehicle. SCRS then released a statement responding to that
question, in essence saying that how to repair a vehicle comes down to the professional judgment of the repairer, who must be accountable to the consumer.
Now, the Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA) has issued its own statement after reviewing the three collision repair associations' announcement on standards. CAPA's statement, given by CAPA Executive Director Jack Gillis,
reads:
"After reviewing the position statements of SCRS,
ASA and AASP, and taking into account the recent policy statement by the ASA in
support of certified parts, as well as collision repair shops we know who want
to repair their customers' vehicles with high quality competitive crash repair
parts, we do not believe those statements rule out the use of alternative
repair parts, especially if those repair parts meet the high quality comparative
standards of the CAPA Certification program. In fact, CAPA's comprehensive
certification standards follow both the spirit and intent of the effort to
standardize repair processes."
More information:
Collision Repair Standards Position Statement Released by Top Industry Groups
SCRS Clarifies Position on Repair Standards