CAPA Says Ford ABPA Debate Demonstrates Importance of Certification

[David Fermani]

The Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA) says that one of the keys issues in the ongoing debate between the Ford and the Automotive Body Parts Association, specifically, aftermarket parts made out of different material than car company parts, is directly addressed by the CAPA Certification Program.



While CAPA has demonstrated that the car companies can produce their service parts with different material than what they used in the assembly part, the CAPA Program insures that the material used in a CAPA Certified part is the same as the material used in a car company service part.



"In addition, CAPA requires that a CAPA Certified part stay current with any modifications that the car company may make in materials or other part characteristics," said Jack Gillis, CAPA Executive Director. "That's a basic tenet of the CAPA Program and one of the reasons why CAPA insists on rigorous re-inspection of the parts in the CAPA program."



CAPA requires that AM parts undergo material testing at the outset of CAPA Certification as well as randomly through the life of the part. Clearly, the market assumes that when a car company puts a service part in the market, the part is appropriate for use. Because of this, CAPA Certification requires that both the aftermarket part and the car company service counterpart undergo extensive comparative testing.



Ford indicated that it would have been informative if the "aftermarket polystyrene isolator had been tested and compared to the Ford polypropylene isolators." CAPA agrees that the use of comparable materials is crucial to comparable part performance. During the research and development of its CAPA 501 Bumper Parts Standard, CAPA performed comparative crash testing on a non-CAPA Certified aftermarket energy absorber and a Ford energy absorber for the 2006-2009 Fusion. The aftermarket part was clearly marked that it was made of the same material as the Ford brand part. However, CAPA testing found that the aftermarket part was actually made of a completely different plastic and performed dramatically differently than the Ford brand part during impact. In fact, it exploded to pieces.

 

[C. Charles Hahn]

This is exactly why it is always important to demand the use of OEM parts as much as humanly possible in collision repair situations.

 

[David Fermani]

It all depends on the part in question. Aren't all or most parts these days "Aftermarket"? Not like the OEMs make anything? An aftermarket radiator is identical for a Honda Accord can be idental to the one you buy from Honda. It just doesn't have a fancy Honda sticker on it. In some cases AM components have a better warranty than OE.

 

[Ron Ketcham]

Sort of like ValuGard producing the MoPar rust inhibitor and undercoat for Chrysler or the same products for Ford MotorCraft.

Both companies tested and approved the product, and they are identical to the ValuGard product, which is specified by Mazda, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, etc for collision repair processes.

In the case of these products, both Chrysler and Ford will recognize the ValuGard for the repair should the repair shop chose to use them in place of.

Grumpy

 

[C. Charles Hahn]

It all depends on the part in question. Aren't all or most parts these days "Aftermarket"? Not like the OEMs make anything? An aftermarket radiator is identical for a Honda Accord can be idental to the one you buy from Honda. It just doesn't have a fancy Honda sticker on it. In some cases AM components have a better warranty than OE.

Well yeah, most parts are "aftermarket" with the main exception being body panels/sheet metal.



However if I'm entrusting the repair of my vehicle to a shop, I don't always have final control to inspect the parts they use before it's too late to turn them down. By demanding OE parts, I know exactly what I'm getting. If the shop is left to their own devices to find and choose AM parts, I might end up with something sub-standard just because it fits and is cheap for them to buy.



When doing the repairs myself, obviously I'd be more inclined to look at aftermarket parts since I can do QC before using them, but the OE parts are still the gold standard to measure against unless for some reason the particular part is widely known to have a weakness from the factory. Then of course it's a good opportunity to upgrade.

 

[David Fermani]

Great points. You'd be surprised how many shops try getting away with being paid/demanding the use of OE in a repair and using/installing A/M or recycled!! Unless you're the one doing the repair, it's hard to keep it under your thumb. Shops even go so far as to order OE so they have the receipts to produce to the owner/Insurance company and they end up returning them with a small restocking fee or some grease in the parts guy's palm.



The biggest thing an OE can do to throw a monkeywrench in the mix is to have their parts stamped with either their company or model logo. For example Mustangs have the MUSTANG impregnated into the bumper cover. Econline vans have the Ford logo on their headlight lenses. A/M are not legally allowed to duplicate that logo unless they pay a huge royalty to Ford. Keystone actually just worked out a huge deal with them as a matter of fact.