floridaseabee

I'm getting my 09 AWD repaired after someone decided to play Dukes of Hazzard and park her Pontiac Vibe on the hood.... the insurance company (USAA) is insiting on aftermarket CAPA-certified parts on the car since its over 2 years old and saying 'Well, its in the policy...and all the other companies are doing it'.

Anyone have any success in getting OEM parts on their car?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^yes, its your car, demand OEM parts.

you are the customer.


unless, you are okay with aftermarket parts.
I know the 3G TL's OEM front bumper has the word ACURA engraved in the front.
The Aftermarket bumpers dont have the engraved 'ACURA'

floridaseabee

No, I'm not ok with it...but the insurance company USAA is fighting me tooth and nail for it and pretty much refusing to budge. Trying to get a hold of the adjustor right now, but hes out until next week.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

agreed that it gets tiring fighting them.

you do not have to sign for the car...
until you are satisfied.

tell them this..
tell them, the work would have to done over again doubling their labor cost and the cost for your rental car.

tell them it has to be done correctly the first time.
remember, you are the customer.

Ive also learned that a shop that you know will fight for you.
I had the toughest time with the insurance company's 'approved' body shop

potmilkz

aftermarket = sometimes does not fit well..

floridaseabee

Agreed. I'm going by the body shop today to go over the estimate with them. I've had work done by them in the past and have had good result.

Its hard to fight them as they don't have to budge on anything and apparently tons of insurers are going this route as well.

floridaseabee

In looking online, I am able to find genuine parts from dealerships with online parts stores that are cheaper than the aftermarket. Example would be USAA saying a headlamp assembly is 584 aftermarket, but the genuine is only 511. I'm approaching USAA about getting these and somehow meeting in the middle.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

why meet in the middle when the OEM parts are in fact cheaper.

please demand OEM parts for your car.

floridaseabee

I suppose thats 'meeting in the middle' was a poor choice of words. Meeting in the middle as "Hey, you agree to get these OEM parts and I'll show you where to get them at". I'm bringing this to them and showing that they can obtain the OEM parts for even cheaper than the aftermarket and to push forward on this.

C8N

Someone can correct me if I am wrong but my understanding is that insurance are supposed to repair the car back to its pre-accident form. Unless your car had aftermarket parts before the accident, I would demand OEM parts regardless of price.

floridaseabee

They are, but they used two lines of logic with me:

1) My policy and the at-fault policy has 'aftermarket for cars over two years' written in.
2) Heres where the logic goes south.....They said that technically all parts on my car are considered used, and that detailing new parts would mean putting 2013 parts on it (not procuring OEM parts that fit 2009), which isn't part of the policy. So they will put the car back into the pre-accident form, but they consider putting NEW aftermarket parts on the car better than leaving busted/used parts on the car.

My head almost exploded hearing this come out of the phone speaker.....tried to make it seem they were doing me a favor.

C8N

Here is something you might be interested

Convincing Your Insurer to Use OEM Parts

Although most insurers prefer to use aftermarket parts, you may be able to convince your insurer to pay for the use of OEM parts. There are some situations where the insurance company will pay the additional cost to use OEM parts--if you can show that the aftermarket parts as specified in the insurance company's estimate are inferior to the OEM part alternative. The insurance company is required by law to use the better component. Therefore, if you are skeptical about an aftermarket parts quality or fitness, you should seek the advice of a qualified car body or collision experts in your area and ask if they will give you a written statement to that effect.

http://www.carsdirect.com/car-insura...ermarket-parts

thePearl

if its not to late - take the car to the body shops that your nearby Acura dealerships works with. They "might" fight for you and since they are the "go to" shop for the dealership I will expect that they will get better pricing and use OEM parts.

queens207tl

I'm going through the same situation as you. My insurance wants aftermarket/reconditioned parts for my car currently being repaired. Like you, I did not want aftermarket parts on my car and was astonished to hear that my policy states it's ok for them to use these aftermarket parts if the car is older than 1 yr. I'm trying to convince the adjuster to use OEM parts but not very optimistic. I''m still going to get the OEM parts but will probably end up paying the difference in price for them.

As you have already found out, you can find new OEM parts cheaper than the prices quoted for the aftermarket parts. The only problem is so can these body shops, and they rely on getting the parts at discounted pricing to build their profits. For example your insurance quoted $584 for the aftermarket headlight assembly, your body shop can get that same aftermarket part for about $408 (30% off). So that's $180 in profit for them. Now you go to them and say I want this new part for $511, well that's $100 in profit they just lost. Your best bet is to find a body shop willing to do the work with OEM parts for the amount the insurance provided. I wasn't able to do that as I couldn't take my car shop to shop as it wasn't driveable. Goodluck. Let us know how it turns out.

User Error

The question is who was at fault? If the other party is at fault you screwed up going to your insurance co. You can make those demands to the at fault drivers policy if it's the other party as they have to replace you to where you were preloss... if you're at fault you're bound by the policy you signed and what was stated within... it was that 30-50 page document you prolly didn't read as most don't. Oh yeah I kinda own an insurance agency... PS most bodyshops have price matching deals worked out with the supplyers to get OEM parts at the same price as aftermarket so if your body shop doesn't you may wish to remove the car and take it elsewhere...

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

not only do you not have to settle with your insurance company, which will drag things out until they give in, which they will since they want to settle the case....but you should have the option to take the car where you want to have it repaired...use an acura dealership to have the repair done...

then dump your insurance company....

i am prior military, and i dont and wont use usaa, i have heard way to many complaints on them with both home and auto....

floridaseabee

Did that and they aren't able to price match the cost of the parts. The dealership here is part of a family owned structure of Honda/Acura/Ford and has their own body shop but for the movement of the parts from the Acura side to the Ford side (where their body shop is at), they are wanting to add 25% to the cost of the part from the Acura side...basically pricing me out immediately.

Talked to one of the adjustors and he isn't able to make the changes, have to talk to the main adjustor who did the estimate. He also said that they keep track of all the parts that are returned due to damage/fit/etc to the supplier (Keystone) and the amount is around 2% of all parts and even listed times where A/M fit better than OEM, but he understands where I'm coming from. He also said that the af-fault company is responsible for repairing four cars (1 hit 2, 2 went nuts and hit 3 and 4 (both parked)) and may be hitting spending limits as well and that may be why the A/M parts are there as well....which I would need to talk to USAA claim side to get that contact and then contact the at-fault insurance.

This is eating up a ton of my effin' time.

Good thing is that the dealership that I bought the car from is helping me out with the diminished value claim.

My orginal thread is here (https://acurazine.com/forums/4g-tl-2009-2014-123/advice-whether-its-totaled-replacement-901760/). Cost came out to 6.9K.

floridaseabee

The policy does state that yes...for cars older than 2 years...you get the wonder of A/M parts. I am trying to contact the claims right now to see about the at-fault springing for those parts (or contacting the at fault company directly), but if the guy is running up against his coverage limit, as there are 4 cars to repair....I may be screwed over.

I am going to verify the OEM price match, but have been told that Acura is one of the few that does not match A/F prices.

With the amount of voicemails I'm getting, I'm thinking people won't be back in the office until 30DEC13. With USAA, I'm hearing that they are the lesser of evils when it comes to insurance. Kinda reminds me of voting for our illustrious elected officials....all options suck but which one sucks the least?

shurik74

floridaseabee .... I'm going through second 4G TL fix up frond end, I bought CAPA certified fenders and bumper, they don't fit properly (usually CAPA is good), had to return them and get OEM from dealership with 20% discount via bodyshop account.

Here is some OEM parts pricing with discount that I bought:
Fender: $263
Front bumper: $268

I would recommend to fight with insurance for OEM body parts, even if they came from other car (used)...

You can visit www.parts.com for appx $$$ with discount that kinda matches dealer's $$$

shurik74

Also... fight for depreciation value drop compensation if accident reported to Carfax (VIN database)

thePearl

Do you know this for a fact or did the adjustor told you? Do you know the AF insurance coverage? Keep in mind, lots of people now days also have an Umbrella Policy. Keep on fighting for those OEM parts, if not, maybe start the process of lawyering up (I hate going this route) but EFF the insurance companies.

thePearl

Can someone explain what this means to me? is this for lease's?

shurik74

I believe for buy, not lease... if car leased, doesn't make sense to ask. Anyone correct me if i'm wrong...

thePearl

You are right, I have been researching this for a while... I learned something new!

Thanks!

Quigaboo

Wait... You're saying that YOUR insurance company is not going to shell out the money for OEM parts? You clearly stated that the person parked on your car so THEIR insurance should be responsible to pay for the cost of your repair. It does not matter what YOUR policy states because you were not at fault here!!!!!!


Am I missing something but the last time one of my cars got hit, the person who hit me was responsible to pay and I received a check from his company for cost of repairs!

Quigaboo

Oh.. And my wifes 2004 Lexus RX 330 was hit in a lot over the summer and the insurance company paid for ALL OEM parts (bumper, fender and headlight). The headlight alone through Lexus is about 700. There is no reason that you need to settle for aftermarket when someone else hit your car!

PinotGrigio

Im having the same problem.. they estimated the repairs at 11k aftermarket , hopefully I'll end up with the Oem.

PaulAWD

Sorry to break the news to you but you can not demand OEM parts. If USAA is your insurance company you have signed the policy that you agree to let them put on A/M or Used parts. A body shop can try to demand OEM all they want but they have less of a chance talking the insurance adjuster into it then you do. You need to pay the little extra money and get the OEM parts upgrade on your policy, period. USAA is right, every insurance is putting A/M parts on every car involved in an accident. It's just the way the auto repair world is going. The parts aren't all that bad either. Usually the body man will have to spend some extra time to fit the part correctly and you most likely will never be able to tell the difference. I know I will be blasted by every person that has never worked in a body shop that I am wrong but in California I have work with all the big DRP companies for over 20 years. Things might be easier to get away with in other states but I would find that hard to believe. Every year they have new and improved ways to find ways to save money.


Good luck and try not to stress over it. Your repair job will have a lifetime warranty through USAA and should be lifetime through the body shop too so your should be doubled covered.

PaulAWD

I think USAA is the OP's insurance company and he will have to follow their guidelines. If he goes directly through the at fault drivers insurance he would be able to demand OEM. The at fault drivers insurance may not be the way to go in this case with a 4 car accident due to the limits of repair cost they have on their policy, ect.

HeartTLs

iTrader: (5)

Paul a few things about the statements you said above regarding aftermarket parts and warranties on repairs.

1) They do not fit the same because they're intentionally made marginally different to avoid patent infringement.
2) Why give/spend an hour on extra labor at $65-90 to make a part fit when the part that fits is only 65-90 more?
3) Who's going to reimburse the customer for his time, gas, toll, wear on vehicle for every time he has to have the work warrantied; example the clear where the paint was blended is flaking etc. What if he needs a rental why said shop is warranting the vehicle? Good luck getting that.

I don't work in a body shop, but the field I'm in has bestowed a ton of 2nd hand experience on the benefits of OEM vs AF, besides my extensive (unfortunately) 1st hand experience. JnC who's worked on more headlights than anyone I can think of can attest to the difference between OEM vs AF as well.

I've learned the hard way time and time again, you get what you pay for. For those of you with GEICO and the like, that 15% you're initially saving might be the most expensive and infuriating 15% you've ever saved.

floridaseabee

Parts different for the hood, bumper, Rt Fender and headlight come to around $325 which I may just pay and go after theAt Fault insurance for it. Still trying to get a hold of USAA and seeing if a lost customer is worth $325 to them...even when they aren't paying the final bill (the At Fault is....)

HeartTLs

iTrader: (5)

When I had problems with GEICO I'd go up the chain of command till I reached someone with enough sense to see the big picture.

floridaseabee

Thats what I'm hoping to do, whenever someone decides to answer a phone or an email.

I know I'm going to go OEM on the repairs so I'm giving the body shop the go ahead to order the OEM parts, and I'll recoup it either from USAA (when they pull their head outta their ass), or from the At Fault when we negociate the diminished value claim. Not sure if small claims court is worth $325.

This entire process sucks.

thePearl

i hope they really pay for them! i was considering getting them.

floridaseabee

From the horror stories I'm hearing about aftermarket...I'll eat the cost up front and hope for the best. I'll feel better knowing that when I'm looking at the car, that the paint isnt covering up 3rd rate parts.

Dealership that I originally got the car from says that the cars value went from 23k to 17.5k by virtue of the accident. Ouch. Looks like a starting place for the diminished value claim.

HeartTLs

iTrader: (5)

Ouch, that's a huge percentage of the cars value.

It's hard to get someone on the phone at usaa? I've only heard good things about them. My conversations with geico were something like this: adjuster gives me a bullshit quote, I speak to his supervisor. The supervisor is the idiot who trained the adjuster so I call the district supervisor. District supervisor has "his hands tied"? Great, the regional supervisor will untie them for him haha. Once you start getting up the chain of command it's so strange for them to be receiving calls of that nature, that if you're reasonable they just want the problem to go away. Hard ass low level dudes are low level dudes because they're minds are in the trenches. They're penny counters that'll think they did a good job saving geico $300 and losing a $2000 account forever.

floridaseabee

That what I explained to the claims handler....and once she heard the price difference (300 dollars on top of 7k), she agreed and will work with body shop to get those parts. I already told the body shop to order the OEM parts, so hopefully she will approve those parts.


Will know more after the New Years....and will post.


It's been hard getting in contact with people, but I have to keep in mind that these people enjoy time with their families too and take time off.

PaulAWD

Yes you are correct with your statements Heart. I was trying to be positive for the OP. And I am glad he is putting the OEM parts on his car too. I hope he gets his money back from the at fault insurance.


Without detail I will answer some of your questions in the insurance frame of mind. A/M do not fit the same as OEM, EVER. The shop has to spend more time to fit it correctly at their expense. The insurance doesn't give a crap if they spend 3 hours to do it either as long as the insurance saves $15. The Insurance and shop will warranty the work and the insurance does not give a crap how much time or gas or effort the shop has to spend making the customer happy to repair the car correctly to cover up the fact the insurance saved a few dollars. Oh yeah and if a rental car is needed do you think the insurance will pay for that? NO EFFING WAY! The shop get to so they can cover the insurance companies ass. The A/M parts company (Keystone) will guarantee all their A/M parts to fit perfect to the insurance company. So when something goes wrong the insurance points the finger to Keystone to help the shop which they rarely do or make it so troublesome the shop just deals with it. This is just the way the insurance companies have taken the industry. Personally I have the OEM upgrade on my insurance policy. I would never put an A/M body part on my car. So in a nut shell the insurance company wants to save money and their employees get paid bonuses for making that happen. They have heard every excuse in the book over the years from the shops why A/M parts don't work and little by little the insurance companies stopped listening and don't care anymore. It's all about the bottom line and getting a bonus or promotion. But also in the last few years A/M parts have greatly improved. There are A/M (crappy) and CAPA certified A/M ( a lot less crappy) parts now. Head lamps, radiator supports, grille, ect I think still have a ways to go but the metal parts aren't all that bad.


The insurance companies don't run their business like a normal person. They didn't find a way save money and be more efficient and deliver the same great product at a lower price. They found a way to take advantage of part suppliers and body shops and cover their cost at the expense of others. That being said, without a DRP insurance company the shops will starve to death. DRP's pay the bills and make the shops a lot of money by referring their business to them. The trade off is dealing with their BS. But all in all it's still worth it. And I have repaired a lot cars with certified A/M parts and you would never tell the difference after the job was done. A bodyshop would not survive if ever car with an A/M part had to be reworked. You spend a little extra time to fit it correctly and it's done a gone and ready for the next one. AAA doesn't allow the shops to charge for a car cover or to tint the color when we painted cars. That's $50 on ever car savings. The shop still has to cover the car and tint the color. It's just what you do to stay in business.


Anyways I hope I clear up a little and Happy New Year!!!!

HeartTLs

iTrader: (5)

Thank you for the in depth response Paul. How do they make these parts fit? Heat gunning and trimming where there's excess? What about if the part is marginally smaller buy creates a larger than normal body line gap. How do they fix that?

floridaseabee

As an update, USAA decided to pay out the extra $366 to get all OEM parts on the repair. Had to reason with my claims manager a bit, but didn't require much and I kept it extremely civil and polite. She didn't know what the price difference was, and I had to tell her (its the price the body shop gave me) Nice to know that beyond all the 'Its in your policy, there is no overriding this', that you can still get good parts back on the car.

When my policy is up for renewal, I'll ask for the OEM upgrade to it.

Now for the Diminished Value Claim from the At Fault insurance...this should be fun.

Things I'll remember:
1) Clear bra doesn't protect against cars landing on it.
2) You have to do all the leg work on price differences and contacting body shop and insurance
3) Call, call, and call some more.