(See the actual form below) (Reprinted with permission of Beyond Parts & Equipment)
Not long ago we began receiving copies of a new disclosure statement State Farm was placing on its estimates (see story, p. 23, February 1998 Beyond Parts & Equipment):
This estimate has been prepared based on the use of automobile parts not made by the original manufacturer. Parts used in the repair of your vehicle by other than the original manufacturer are required to be at least equal in like kind and quality in terms of fit, quality and performance to the original manufacturer parts they are replacing.
Who's Liable?
Who had liability for assuring that the parts were, indeed, equal, repairers wanted to know? Insurers specify the parts and suppliers but seldom are present to inspect the actual parts when they're delivered.
Why not Ask?
In many states*, when business professionals have questions like this, they request a formal opinion from their state's attorney general so they can prevent unwanted liability. Since the laws on liability vary from state to state, the responsibility may vary, so one state's response may not work for shops in another state.
State Farm insures more than 20% of the country's vehicles, which means its insureds and claimants probably claim a significant amount of your stall space. So, protect your business and use the letter below to request an opinion about liability in your state. You'll find your attorney general's name and address in the 1997 Parts & Equipment Yellow Pages. States are listed alphabetically.
More that One Benefit
You'll benefit from more than an opinion. You'll introduce an attorney general and staff members to a fact of insurance practice they may never have known. If 10, 20, or hundreds of you write, you'll educate several people. If you, or all of you copy your state and federal legislators and your local newspapers' business and consumer editors, you'll educate still more.
And if you really want to do a bang-up job of education, copy your customers, too.
The more letters shops send, the greater their impact.
[You may also wish to copy your state representative, senators, and local newspapers' business and consumer editors.]
__________, Attorney General Date:
State of ___________________ Re: Request for Official Opinions
123 Main Street On: Liability for post-crash repairs
City, State 00000
Dear
I request four official opinions on liability for choice of parts to be used in vehicle repair. State Farm Insurance, the U.S.'s largest property-casualty insurer, uses this disclosure statement on estimates given to insureds, claimants and collision repair shops:
Non-Original Equipment Replacement Parts Information
This estimate has been prepared based on the use of automobile parts not made by the original manufacturer. Parts used in the repair of your vehicle by other than the original manufacturer are required to be at least equal in like kind and quality in terms of fit, quality and performance to the original manufacturer parts they are replacing.
This statement appears to make collision repair professionals responsible for quality control on imitation (aftermarket) parts (fenders, bumper covers, hoods, etc.), because it tells customers the parts must be "at least equal" to OEM.
Problem
State Farm's repair estimates usually specify imitation parts whenever they're available and the suppliers it wants shops to buy from. As a repair professional, though, I often request a new original equipment manufacturer (OEM) part either because the vehicle is still under factory warranty or because the parts aren't equal in fit, quality, or performance. (I've never seen an imitation part made of exactly the same materials as an OEM part; with holes, slots, welds, crush darts, and attachments identical to the OEM; and matching the OEM exactly in weight, length, width, thickness, coatings, and other measurements.) Unfortunately, State Farm usually refuses my request, and even my customer's request, for new OEM.
My Opinion Requests
(1) Is maintaining intact a vehicle's transferable factory warranty protection an element of a part's performance? Vehicles with transferable warranties seem more desirable to buyers.
(2) If I use imitation parts because the insurer insists and the customer can't pay extra for new OEM, I void parts of the vehicle's factory warranty (on that part and on adjacent and functionally related parts). If the voided portion of warranty later costs money for repairs that would otherwise have been paid under warranty, who is liable: State Farm or my shop? Example: If an imitation A/C condenser causes the A/C to fail, or imitation sheet metal causes bimetallic corrosion to an adjacent part put on by the factory, am I liable or is State Farm?
(3) If my shop installs an imitation part and later it breaks, as an imitation hood recently did in Massachusetts, is my shop liable or State Farm?
(4) If a part appears to be equal and is, therefore, installed on the vehicle, and after a subsequent accident it is shown that the part is defective and possibly contributed to the accident or the severity of the accident, am I liable or is State Farm liable?
No studies have ever been done that document the "performance" of these parts; how, then, can I as a repair professional verify that these parts meet that qualification. We're not engineers.
Sincerely,
