Non-OEM part installed unbeknownst to me...

Hey guys,

 

Long story short....I had a fender bender to the front panel above my drivers side wheel. Insurance fully covered the work required at no cost to me, as the accident was 100% the other persons fault.

 

Turns out the new fender was not OEM. I'm freakin' choked! Took it back to the auto body shop and was told the insurance company doesn't replace such work with OEM. My car has been cheapened....for lack of a better word.

 

It also appears the work done was shoddy, at best. Some over-spray and a few chips are starting to appear. Plus....the color is not exactly the same as the rest of the car. When I mentioned my displeasure with the work done (to the auto-body shop) they said they would do a do-over, but not a new fender. Just a fix-up of the chips and repaint.

 

Wondering if I should just let it go, or get the chips and color, fixed.

 

If I were to get it fixed, by this same shop, would I run the risk of even more shoddy work, and more chips and discoloration down the road, or, or, or?

 

Ideally, I would like a new OEM fender, but that's probably wishful thinking.

 

TIA.

I would have read my insurance policy before I needed it.

 

I would have asked about OEM parts then paid the 5-20% difference in cost out of pocket before getting the repairs done.

 

Tough learning lesson. On the bright side, if you took it to the shop the insurance said to, they often offer a warranty and want to keep the insurance company happy (by keeping the customers happy) so they get loads of insurance work.

Damn, "tough learning lesson"!

 

Is there an emoticon for embarrassed and choked?

Something I won't do is go with a big "discount" insurance company... They have "preferred" shops for you to take you car to... They save money by using non OEM parts (thus saving you a little on your rates). As the saying goes, you get what you pay for.

 

If you are not happy, take it back and have them fix it. Assuming it is a reputable shop, they will realize you are an unhappy customer and put a better skilled body guy to fix your car. Good luck.

I actually had this discussion with my body shop guy the other day. This is both the insurance companies fault and also the body shop's fault.

 

The insurance company is trying to save money. They put body shops on preferred lists that comply with their demands for repairs (ie putting cheap aftermarket parts on, certain deadlines to meet for repair times, half assed paint jobs that look "decent" to most people, and cheap paint) They really put the body shops in a bind because if they don't fall in line with your insurance company's demands, they don't get preferred status and have a difficult time doing business. Hell, they even get dinged if they don't return a car fast enough back to the customer even when the insurance company states they have to buy certain parts and those parts are backordered from the supplier.

 

HOWEVER... The body shop should fight for the customer to give them the best job possible. They are serving the customer, not the insurance company and a shoddy job makes them look bad. Shame on them for not standing up for whom they are serving.

 

In the mix of all of this, the body shop's insurance rates are going up too. Workers comp, theft insurance, etc. Also, the government is cracking down on the paints they can use and forcing them to purchase new paints, paint equipment, filtration systems, and training to send their employees to. They are really being held by the balls here...

I have no idea what Subfan or CaptJack are talking about.

 

Probably everywhere but at least in the state of CA it is stated IN YOUR INSURANCE POLICY if you get OEM or aftermarket replacements.

 

The shop that worked on my car has stacks of AMG, Lambo, Ferarri and Porsche and is in Hollywood, CA servicing the stars. Thats their dessert. Their bread and butter is Progressive Insurance in the area.

 

Any shop has to use the parts that the insurance company will reimburse them for. The shop is not the customer of the insurance company, YOU ARE.

YOU are responsible for fighting to get what you want, not the shop.

 

A shop that works with a large insurance company will do whatever work the insurance company approves. They (typically) will warranty their work so you can go back and get it fixed if there is an issue or they dont do the best job the first time.

 

When a body shop botched a job on a friends car and he thought he was clever NOT to go to the insurance company's preferred company he ended up losing because they would not fix their shoddy work.

 

When a body shop botched a job on my car after going to the preferred carrier, they redid it. I simply showed them and the insurance adjuster. When they tried to claim damage was not from the accident, the shop explained their opinion (agreeing with me) but I assure you, I was the one doing the fighting to get everything I was entitled to.

I have no idea what Subfan or CaptJack are talking about.

 

Probably everywhere but at least in the state of CA it is stated IN YOUR INSURANCE POLICY if you get OEM or aftermarket replacements.

 

I just poured over my policy and no where does it state that they may use OEM or aftermarket replacement parts. It only states that it has a "lifetime workmanship guarantee". I'm curious as to the wording of other's policies if they would care to post them.

 

Any shop has to use the parts that the insurance company will reimburse them for. The shop is not the customer of the insurance company, YOU ARE.

YOU are responsible for fighting to get what you want, not the shop.

 

True, ANY shop does, but a GOOD shop will make sure the parts they use are good parts that fit well and will give a good outcome(OEM). In the end, if a person goes to XYZ body repair because ABC insurance says they should and their car comes out like crap, they are going to tell their friends that the body shop does crappy work. They are not going to say ABC insurance sucks. The majority of people just want the big dent to go away. They don't care as much about body lines that don't match as people like us. They just want their shiny car back, dent removed.

 

A shop that works with a large insurance company will do whatever work the insurance company approves. They (typically) will warranty their work so you can go back and get it fixed if there is an issue or they dont do the best job the first time.

 

In the end, yes... Unfortunately... Again though, a GOOD shop will fight with the insurance company to spend the money to do it right the first time.

 

When I spoke with the body shop owner, he told me a story about a car that came into his shop. Someone backed into a Grand Am. The car was three years old, but only had 20K miles on it. He wanted to put an OEM fender on it. The insurance company said they would only allow an aftermarket because of the age of the car. The difference in price was $30. The adjuster is ultimately the one that makes the final call. He can say "you know what, you're right, we should put an OEM fender on because the car has low miles". The body shop argued his point that the customer still has a lot of miles left in this car. The OEM part is going to fit better and give better longevity than an aftermarket part. He won his plea and the car was returned in like new condition.

 

This video has been a huge discussion in the auto body repair industry:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPly9QFteso]Comparative tests of Genuine Ford structural steel collision parts versus aftermarket. - YouTube[/ame]

If I was in the same situation I would really have wanted to at least been able to get informed and approve of the replacement parts before it was executed.

 

And if it's not to your liking there are entities like the BBB and lawyers that loves things like this.

 

As for Aftermarket parts - some of them are actually made by the same manufacturer, but gets different branding and pricing. But you can't tell if it is or not without really knowing.

The video confirms what most any backyard mechanic can tell you just by looking at the OEM and Aftermarket body parts.

I just poured over my policy and no where does it state that they may use OEM or aftermarket replacement parts. It only states that it has a "lifetime workmanship guarantee". I'm curious as to the wording of other's policies if they would care to post them.

 

I've gotten a couple of PM's educating me about the wide variance of of insurance clause writing and how much it can vary from state to state. Its pretty confusing but indeed but my policy covers aftermarket parts (progressive insruance) and not OEM replacement.

 

Look for an edit update with the exact verbage and note that my entire driving career has been spent as a licensed CA driver. I have NO clue whats up out of state.

But it may be a good idea to check what local laws says too - if the replacement parts makes your car less safe (for you or others) it may end up being a legal issue instead.

As for Aftermarket parts - some of them are actually made by the same manufacturer, but gets different branding and pricing. But you can't tell if it is or not without really knowing.

 

This is true! OEM's have overruns that they sell as replacement parts. Overruns are production line parts that they have too many of. If GM orders enough fenders for 50k cars, but only enough AC compressors for 49k cars and people only want cars with AC in them, then they have 1k cars worth of fenders to get rid of. They used to shred them and use them to produce more fenders, but they realized this was stupid, sold them at a discount price to an aftermarket vendor.

They got me as well only difference was I fought them for OEM, they (Darcars and Geico) said they were going to use the OEM parts as a betterment to me blah blah so i breathed a sigh of release. Get me car out of the shop fit and finish is TERRIBLE.

I've gotten a couple of PM's educating me about the wide variance of of insurance clause writing and how much it can vary from state to state. Its pretty confusing but indeed but my policy covers aftermarket parts (progressive insruance) and not OEM replacement.

 

Look for an edit update with the exact verbage and note that my entire driving career has been spent as a licensed CA driver. I have NO clue whats up out of state.

 

Yeah this is a common trend amongst cut rate insurances vs the main 3 (SF, NW or AS) It is partly due to the high demand for cheap "good" insurance and greed. The thing is 9 out of 10 car owners would not think twice about their car after getting it back form the shop so people like you and myself are the minority, a group that even if we do complain the insurance companies have no problem blowing off:cool:

Farmers won't even give you aftermarket parts, they replace with "comparable mileage junkyard parts".

 

The ass hat that hit me had farmers (century 21 was bought by farmers) and they bent me over and told me what I was getting. I had to fight to tell them that the f'd up headlights they were trying to force me to accept were in worse condition than the ones that were on my car.

 

F farmers. I will never give them or any of their affiliates a dollar of my money.

 

The crappy part is, you're required to have insurance, but you're not required to have GOOD insurance. So even if you have great insurance, the person who hits you may not, and you still end up having to go through your company and your rates go up.

 

Insurance is a joke. Govt. intervention is needed in this industry just as much as in healthcare and gas pricing, but that's never gonna happen.

If I ever find myself being forced to accept non-OEM, I would draft a document holding the insurance company liable for any injury/death that may result from the substandard performance of the non-OEM part and demand they sign it. I did something similar to that w/ my home builder and they accomodated my demands rather than sign the doc.

Hey guys. I have an update.

 

I went back to the auto body shop and voiced my disappointment in their not suggesting I could have had an OEM panel installed if given the choice.

 

I then asked them how much more an OEM panel would have cost. You may want to sit down. I had to. For $70. more, I could have had OEM. When I asked why it wasn't suggested to me (given the meager amount more) buddy says... "We only offer OEM to some of our customers."

 

No wait. Did he really say this? Yes....he did.

 

I called my insurance guy, and was told there is nothing I can do about it. He said he was surprised OEM wasn't offered to me. That is all. I really doubt I would stand a chance in small claims court, or thru the BBB, or even with a lawyer by my side.

 

With that all said, I will be getting a do-over. I just hope it's a better job. As in, no over-spray, the *same* color as the rest of the car, and no chips in 5 months time. One thing I didn't mention in my OP, I had to take the car back the next day to have a nut (in the door) cinched up, as it was interfering with the up/down of my window.

 

Poor customer service and workmanship, Mr. auto body shop.

 

Still, I should have inquired as to the extra cost of OEM. Very tough lesson learned.

Lesso learned and there isn't much if anything you can do at this point but do liek I did and pay to get the OEM parts installed

 

Also did you notice how they steer you away from getting it fixed at the dealer ? I mention to my adjuster that I wanted Subaru to fix it, she quickly said " well the dealer may not be able to turn the car around as fast as our "certified" repair shop can.

And if the car fails inspection on a bad repair - who's responsible then?