June 18, 2020—As noted in a recent Guild 21 webinar, the collision repair industry uses a wide variety of parts types, and counterfeit parts have become a growing concern in recent years. According to the Automotive Anti-Counterfeiting Council, it's difficult to determine what percentage of parts are counterfeit. 

The June Guild 21 webinar, hosted by VeriFacts, brought together multiple leaders in addressing counterfeit parts to discuss how the government and OEMs are working to eliminate them, and what body shops can do to protect themselves. 

The call included the likes of Andy Forsythe, who represented the Nissan Group of North America, who noted the following, according to a press release. According to Forsythe, there are several signs to look for when evaluating the veracity of the parts ordered:

• Labels that do not match or have conflicting information
• Labels hiding other labels
• Unrealistic production dates
• Misspellings
• Poor packaging, nested boxes, empty boxes and shrink wrap

 The group also noted that virtually every type of part can be counterfeited, from keys to air bags, brakes, headlights and suspensions.