The Automotive Body Parts Association (ABPA) has taken issue with information on aftermarket parts disseminated by attorney Andrew Rodenhouse at an Oct. 10 NACE presentation.
ABPA is claiming that Rodenhouse, in his presentation about the potential liability incurred by body shop owners who use aftermarket parts, based many of his claims on the assertion that the state of Michigan and other states have statutes that “forbid the use of certain types of aftermarket parts.”
ABPA, which represents more than 400 members of the aftermarket collision parts industry, says it follows automotive aftermarket-related state laws and regulations closely and that there is not a single state or jurisdiction that has such a statute or regulation in place.
In the wake of Rodenhouse’s presentation, ABPA contacted the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Services, in addition to conducting its own search for the statutes to which Rodenhouse referred. ABPA claims that the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Services confirmed that the law was not part of the Michigan Insurance Code and noted that a search of the Secretary of State’s Motor Vehicle Code likewise revealed no such regulations.
“Mr. Rodenhouse’s allegation that aftermarket parts are ‘defective or inferior’ and represent a liability for repair shop owners flies in the face of the aftermarket collision parts industry’s 60-year track record in which there has never been a single report of an injury or fatality due to usage of an aftermarket replacement part,” said Eileen A. Sottile, co-chair of the ABPA Legislation & Regulation Committee. “And his assertion that Michigan and other states forbid the use of any kinds of aftermarket parts is at best inaccurate and at worst defamatory and intentionally misleading.
“Why would the car companies lower their prices to compete with aftermarket parts prices if there weren’t aftermarket parts that matched their quality? The answer is, they wouldn’t, and if the car companies weren’t threatened by a thriving aftermarket, they wouldn’t be wasting time and money attacking our parts.”
ABPA says that aftermarket crash parts meet all of the same regulatory requirements that OEM replacement parts are required to meet, in addition to meeting certain states’ requirements of being of like kind and quality to the original parts. ABPA also asserts that its more than 140 members employ quality assurance programs offered by NSF International and the Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA) to ensure that aftermarket parts are comparable in fit, finish, performance, safety and quality to car company parts.
More information:
Ford Announces Aftermarket-OEM Crash Test Results at CIC
CAPA Releases New Bumper Standard, Enlists IIHS for Crash Tests
Diamond Standard Says Study Indicates ‘Acceptable Variance’ Among Parts Exists
