Nov. 16, 2011—The Automotive Service Association (ASA) on Tuesday announced its board of directors voted to approve a new policy for crash parts.
Dan Stander, collision division director for the ASA and co-owner of Jerry Stander’s Collision Works in Littleton, Colo., said the ASA’s new replacement crash parts position statement is in response to today’s parts usage and market conditions. He said the increasing number of part types with various levels of quality, as well as an increase in the number of processes used to validate those parts is confusing to most repairers.
Stander said the ASA’s new policy better defines its goal to provide the highest level of repair by requiring full disclosure of all part types, and having a standard for replacement crash parts to be certified and verified as equivalents to OEM parts.
ASA’s new crash parts policy states:
“ASA supports requiring insurers and auto collision facilities to provide disclosure of part type, description and warranty information to the consumer for all part types including, but not limited to, original equipment manufacturer, aftermarket, recycled, remanufactured, reconditioned and rebuilt crash parts.
“ASA supports quality parts, certified and verified in which the quality is determined based on empirical and measurable evidence equal to the standard of OEM parts. ASA recommends quality verification and testing related to metallurgy, fit, functionality and responsiveness.
“ASA believes a competitive parts marketplace, of tested and verified quality parts, is in the best interest of the motoring public. ASA continues to oppose parts policies that focus solely on cost efficiency without regard to certification, verifiable quality and safety.”
“We are seeing a changing market in the collision industry, especially in reference to the growing use of aftermarket crash parts, which shop owners are being asked to use in repairing vehicles,” said Roy Schnepper, chairman of the ASA’s Government Affairs committee and owner of Butler’s Collision Inc. in Roseville, Mich. “ASA believes collision repairers should have confidence that replacement crash parts will respond equally as well in a secondary collision as the parts originally placed on the vehicle. Collision repairers, insurers, parts distributors and manufacturers must work together to ensure the testing and verification procedures are the best possible to protect consumers and repairers.”
For more information, visit ASAshop.org, or ASA’s legislative website, TakingTheHill.com.
