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Letter to the Editor
Friday June 24
AASP/NJ Applauds Consumer Aftermarket Parts Bill
The Alliance of Automotive Service Providers of New Jersey (AASP/NJ) has expressed appreciation for the efforts led by Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D- Middlesex); sponsored by Jeff Van Drew (D- Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland); and supported by co-sponsors, Assemblymen Gordon Johnson (D- Bergen); John Gibson (R- Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland); and John Burzichelli (D-Cumberland, Gloucester, Salem); for approval of Assembly Bill 3682 by the Assembly Transportation Committee.AASP/NJ recognizes that this bill, while significantly altered from the original version, retains disclosure benefits for the collision repair industry and for insurers that provide better insurance coverage. More importantly, it provides critical information and control for the consumer. A similar bill sponsored by Senators Byron Baer (D- Bergen) and Andrew Ciesla (R- Monmouth, Ocean) is pending in the NJ Senate.
"When lower cost repairs are in the consumer’s interest, aftermarket collision parts can and do provide a valuable cost-saving alternative to OEM parts, when agreed to by the repairer and consumer. Many insurers, though, have been forcing the use of aftermarket collision parts and potentially lower quality repairs on the consumer for decades now," said Charles Bryant, Executive Director for AASP/NJ. "The consumer is often unaware that imitation parts are being used in an insurer-controlled repair, thanks to ambiguous and misleading insurer terminology such as 'Quality Replacement Part.'
"The result, when these parts prove at times to be of less than equal quality to OEM, is a poor quality repair, increased repair cycle time, a vehicle not returned to pre-accident condition, and diminished value. AASP/NJ’s concern’s about after market collision parts are supported by the experiences of the thousands of repairs performed by our members as well as tests performed by Consumer Reports ('Shoddy Auto Parts, Bumpers that Shatter, Fenders that Rust and Parts that Don’t Fit" February 1999').
"Insurers that force the use of lower quality parts, and the sellers that benefit from the forced use of these parts, would have us believe that this bill will hurt the consumer. On the contrary, this bill is a big step forward for consumer choice, in that it requires that the consumer approve, in writing, the use of aftermarket parts. Competition in the NJ auto insurance marketplace is currently vigorous, with several new insurers having recently entered the State. True competition can only happen when there is informed consumer consent. With passage of this bill, insurers will be able to compete on a more level playing field, based on the quality of their product and service," Bryant concluded.
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