April 22, 2019—The Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA) and the United Recyclers Group (URG) recently filed a joint statement on OEM repair procedures.
According to the statement, ARA and URG have watched with growing concern as a proliferation of legislation requiring adherence to original equipment manufacturer (OEM) repair procedures has been introduced in state legislatures. Auto manufacturers are becoming more aggressive in their efforts to force recycled OEM parts out of the market, releasing position statements, repair specifications and procedures that are both biased and based on weak or no apparent scientific research claiming that recycled OEM parts are inferior to new OEM parts, the AR and URG claim.
ARA and URG believe that if passed, this legislation would have serious negative anti-competitive consequences for consumers, professional automotive recyclers, and independent collision repair professionals.
ARA and URG support that industry standards for automotive repairs should be well defined as to the process necessary to assure the vehicle is returned to pre-loss condition as closely as possible. The groups do not support repair procedures that disallow the usage of OEM recycled parts or deny the consumer choice of what parts are used in the repair of their vehicles.
