Well put. Some aftermarket parts are good and some are not good. My experience as an agent includes the following – the local body shop knows that my company would prefer a less expensive aftermarket part if possible, but will leave it to the bodyshop if they say they can\’t find a suitable aftermarket part, and my company will approve an OEM part no problem. Also, someone asked for honesty about after market parts. Our auto policy clearly states we retain the right to use after market parts when reasonable. So, if the body shop can find them, about 5% of the time, and they are good, the body shop will use them. The other 95% of the time they use OEM. And for that we get sued. I know other lesser companies arent that accomodating, but for us thats how it works. Oh yeah, my company was the first to lose a court case over aftermarket parts. The rub? No client of ours ever testified that they suffered in any way as a result of our contract. The plaintiffs were ford, chevy and dodge.
The Working American looses across the board AGAIN.
Will we ever get a fair break?
Every time I sent my Mercedez Benz into the shop, it came back broken.
It went in for well visits and came back broken.
Scam after Scam after Scam.
Had your air bag stolen lately?
Another Scam.
This is like the courts saying generic drugs are not the same as retail. A generic of the same kind of drug is the same just less expensive. I have a new car and prefer my company put after market parts anytime they can. I recently put a new tail light (aftermarket) on my wifes van. It looks and works exactly the same as the OEM on the other side. Why on earth do we want to give the auto manufacturers a monopoly. If they get their monopoly, they are sure to raise their prices even higher. We all will pay in the form of higher premiums. By the way, for the most part we are talking about body parts not engine and mechanical parts. As a consumer, you should be able to tell pretty quick if a body part does not look like the rest of the vehicle. This is not a matter of anyone looking out for us. It is yet another case of greedy lawyers sticking it to John Q Public. They will get millions in atty fees and the plaintiffs will get a gift certificate for a free oil change or similar value.
Shut up Ralph.
So not to tax your reading ability, here are the cliff notes:
1. Many aftermarket parts are not as robust as OEM.
2. Some are.
3. You should be an active participant in the repair process.
4. I have years of experience repairing cars, and I\’m speaking from the heart.
5. Not all parts are the same, and OEM parts of (usually, not always) higher quality.
I think it\’s different than generic vs. name brand drugs, but since I have no experience in the drug industry I could be wrong.
I\’m guessing you don\’t have a lot of experience installing either body or mechanical parts.
A body shop can install an inferior part and make it look good. You won\’t know the difference until it starts rusting, bends/dimples under light pressure, or the paint starts cracking from excessive flexing.
That\’s not taking into account used or poor quality parts being billed as new or high quality.
Using one tailight on your wife\’s van as an example is asinine.
I\’m drawing on 6 years experience turning a wrench for a living, and that experience says that not all parts are created equal.
I put my money where my mouth is and use OEM parts on my personal vehicles, particularly body parts.
I\’m glad your taillight works fine, but please don\’t punish other policy holders based on that one example.
Car was under warranty with Mercedes Benz,
and the dealership was the one I had to bring the car to have serviced.
No longer a problem because the car is in my driveway exactly where I left it when Katrina hit. Under water for 3 weeks.
I have a picture that someone took by boat and you can\’t even see the top of the car, the water was 11\’deep in New Orleans. I live 2 miles from Lake Pontchartrain by West End Blvd.
5 payments left @ $750 each.
My Insurance company has not picked up the car and now I am going to charge them $20 day storage fees.
Plenty of people put signs on the car wanting to buy it but I could not sell it because the Ins co was the new owner.
A MS dealership stole my air bag and battery when they were called for a tow.
The mechanic was a crook. He charged me $500 to by pass the air bag and it was years later that we realized what he did.
Personally, I don\’t think it\’s right for insurers to stipulate that only after market parts be used for covered repairs. I also don\’t think it\’s right to legislate that insurers pay for OEM parts.
In a fair world, the insurer should pay for the OEM part in cases when after-market parts are not \”just as good,\” and trust the mechanic doing the repair to know the difference.
When I\’m paying for a car repair out of my own pocket, I trust my mechanic to recommend whether or not to use an after-market part.
I know I\’m willing to pay the insurance premium to cover honest repairs done right.
Uncle Sam- sorry to hear about that. I may be rude about some things, but no one likes to get taken advantage of.
In defense of Mercedes, unless the dealership is different from every one I\’ve ever seen the tow truck driver that ripped you off is an independent contractor, not a dealer employee.
That doesn\’t make it right, but it\’s important to me that people understand that dealer does not automatically equal crook.
As far as crappy service at your dealer goes, if the vehicle was under factory warranty, that warranty will be honored at any dealership in the contiguous 48 states.
That means that you had the option of going to any dealer you wanted to in the NOLA area.
If the vehicle was under some sort of aftermarket warranty, you may very well be limited to the selling location.
Either way, good luck, and sorry to hear about your car.
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Well put. Some aftermarket parts are good and some are not good. My experience as an agent includes the following – the local body shop knows that my company would prefer a less expensive aftermarket part if possible, but will leave it to the bodyshop if they say they can\’t find a suitable aftermarket part, and my company will approve an OEM part no problem. Also, someone asked for honesty about after market parts. Our auto policy clearly states we retain the right to use after market parts when reasonable. So, if the body shop can find them, about 5% of the time, and they are good, the body shop will use them. The other 95% of the time they use OEM. And for that we get sued. I know other lesser companies arent that accomodating, but for us thats how it works. Oh yeah, my company was the first to lose a court case over aftermarket parts. The rub? No client of ours ever testified that they suffered in any way as a result of our contract. The plaintiffs were ford, chevy and dodge.
pray for a successful appeal.
The Working American looses across the board AGAIN.
Will we ever get a fair break?
Every time I sent my Mercedez Benz into the shop, it came back broken.
It went in for well visits and came back broken.
Scam after Scam after Scam.
Had your air bag stolen lately?
Another Scam.
Do we need to report the $ 36.75
as Income for that year?
This is like the courts saying generic drugs are not the same as retail. A generic of the same kind of drug is the same just less expensive. I have a new car and prefer my company put after market parts anytime they can. I recently put a new tail light (aftermarket) on my wifes van. It looks and works exactly the same as the OEM on the other side. Why on earth do we want to give the auto manufacturers a monopoly. If they get their monopoly, they are sure to raise their prices even higher. We all will pay in the form of higher premiums. By the way, for the most part we are talking about body parts not engine and mechanical parts. As a consumer, you should be able to tell pretty quick if a body part does not look like the rest of the vehicle. This is not a matter of anyone looking out for us. It is yet another case of greedy lawyers sticking it to John Q Public. They will get millions in atty fees and the plaintiffs will get a gift certificate for a free oil change or similar value.
Shut up Ralph.
So not to tax your reading ability, here are the cliff notes:
1. Many aftermarket parts are not as robust as OEM.
2. Some are.
3. You should be an active participant in the repair process.
4. I have years of experience repairing cars, and I\’m speaking from the heart.
5. Not all parts are the same, and OEM parts of (usually, not always) higher quality.
I think it\’s different than generic vs. name brand drugs, but since I have no experience in the drug industry I could be wrong.
I\’m guessing you don\’t have a lot of experience installing either body or mechanical parts.
A body shop can install an inferior part and make it look good. You won\’t know the difference until it starts rusting, bends/dimples under light pressure, or the paint starts cracking from excessive flexing.
That\’s not taking into account used or poor quality parts being billed as new or high quality.
Using one tailight on your wife\’s van as an example is asinine.
I\’m drawing on 6 years experience turning a wrench for a living, and that experience says that not all parts are created equal.
I put my money where my mouth is and use OEM parts on my personal vehicles, particularly body parts.
I\’m glad your taillight works fine, but please don\’t punish other policy holders based on that one example.
Car was under warranty with Mercedes Benz,
and the dealership was the one I had to bring the car to have serviced.
No longer a problem because the car is in my driveway exactly where I left it when Katrina hit. Under water for 3 weeks.
I have a picture that someone took by boat and you can\’t even see the top of the car, the water was 11\’deep in New Orleans. I live 2 miles from Lake Pontchartrain by West End Blvd.
5 payments left @ $750 each.
My Insurance company has not picked up the car and now I am going to charge them $20 day storage fees.
Plenty of people put signs on the car wanting to buy it but I could not sell it because the Ins co was the new owner.
A MS dealership stole my air bag and battery when they were called for a tow.
The mechanic was a crook. He charged me $500 to by pass the air bag and it was years later that we realized what he did.
Having your airbag stolen isn\’t a scam, it\’s theft. Theft is punishable by law, and should have been pursued by the courts.
If you kept taking the car to the same place, one has to ask why it took you so long to learn they weren\’t any good.
If you got the same crappy service at multiple places, one wonders why you didn\’t change brands.
Personally, I don\’t think it\’s right for insurers to stipulate that only after market parts be used for covered repairs. I also don\’t think it\’s right to legislate that insurers pay for OEM parts.
In a fair world, the insurer should pay for the OEM part in cases when after-market parts are not \”just as good,\” and trust the mechanic doing the repair to know the difference.
When I\’m paying for a car repair out of my own pocket, I trust my mechanic to recommend whether or not to use an after-market part.
I know I\’m willing to pay the insurance premium to cover honest repairs done right.
Uncle Sam- sorry to hear about that. I may be rude about some things, but no one likes to get taken advantage of.
In defense of Mercedes, unless the dealership is different from every one I\’ve ever seen the tow truck driver that ripped you off is an independent contractor, not a dealer employee.
That doesn\’t make it right, but it\’s important to me that people understand that dealer does not automatically equal crook.
As far as crappy service at your dealer goes, if the vehicle was under factory warranty, that warranty will be honored at any dealership in the contiguous 48 states.
That means that you had the option of going to any dealer you wanted to in the NOLA area.
If the vehicle was under some sort of aftermarket warranty, you may very well be limited to the selling location.
Either way, good luck, and sorry to hear about your car.