Car repair is nowhere near what it used to be even just 5 years ago. The days of dropping your car off at the shop and trusting that the technicians would perform the right repair are a thing of the past. The advancements of the technologies in today’s cars have made car repair exceptionally complex. A wrong repair can severely damage and can actually cause the advanced safety features your car is built with to no longer work properly.
What is the real difference between repair parts? Aren’t they all the same when it comes to car repair? The answer is no, and we’re here to let North Carolina drivers like you know exactly what the difference is between OEM and Aftermarket parts.
But before we do, we know you want only the best repair out there for your car. If it’s been a while since you’ve needed car repair, you might be a bit confused. Especially when you hear things that have to do with your car and you don’t know what it is. Your insurance company also wants you to get your vehicle back to you as soon as possible. It sounds like all of these things would be working together, right? Wrong.
Your insurance company wants the fastest repair possible because it’s also the most affordable. Fast repairs don’t necessarily mean the best repairs and corners often get cut in the repair process when this happens. But before we go into that, here are the most important things that you need to know about OEM and Aftermarket Parts.
What is OEM?
OEM stands for “Original Equipment Manufacturer.” These are the parts that are made by the vehicle’s manufacturer and are the best parts for your car. Because they are direct from the factory, they are the highest quality and the safest for your car. As we mentioned above, car repair is nowhere near the same as it was even just a few years ago. This is due to the advancements with car technologies, such as ADAS safety systems.
ADAS stands for “Advanced Driver Assistance Systems.” These are the advanced safety technologies built into most modern cars and are engineered to keep you safe on the road. These features used to only be seen in luxury vehicles, but almost every new car comes standard with ADAS features.
Some of the popular ADAS systems in cars are:
-Blindspot detection
-Lane departure warning
-Rearview camera
-Forward collision warning
-Emergency driver assist
-Lane change assistance
And much more!
Auto repair technicians require a specific skill set to be up-to-date on the latest repairs that follow these OEM repair procedures. In fact, if they don’t follow the strict repair procedures directly from the car manufacturer, then it could cause more harm than good to your car. North Carolina is a state that doesn’t require technicians to have a license to operate on your car. You only want to take your car somewhere that is trained in performing OEM repairs and knows the importance of following OEM repair procedures.
What are Aftermarket Parts?
Aftermarket parts are a fancy way of saying used parts. In fact, several repair shops still use these parts since many insurance companies will only pay for the use of NON-OEM parts. In addition, when shops are feeling the pressure to perform faster repairs, they might cut corners in the repair process and use aftermarket parts.
In addition, OEM parts are the most expensive part in the market. Aftermarket parts are significantly less expensive insurance companies want the cheapest repair out there. What you may not realize is the use of OEM parts can actually cause structural damage to your car and potentially destroy the safety features cars today are built with (such as ADAS). For example, if your ADAS system was damaged in a crash and wasn’t repaired with OEM parts, then those advanced safety features will no longer work. If that happens, you would be that much more susceptible to being involved in an accident.
Now, there are certain scenarios where using aftermarket parts on your car are acceptable. This is very rare, which is why you only want to have your car repaired following OEM repair procedures.
Who can I trust to repair my car the RIGHT way?
Here at Statesville Collision Center, we are committed to providing North Carolina drivers with the highest level of collision repair they deserve. Our team of technicians is all I-CAR Gold Class certified, which only about 10% of auto repair shops achieve. This means that our technicians have received the highest level of training and know what it means to repair your car the right way. We are always checking OEM repair procedures and know what it takes to give you the best possible repair out there!
Our motto is, “we may not be related, but you’ll feel like we’re family!” This is because we genuinely care about North Carolina drivers receiving the highest level of repair possible for their vehicle.
Feel free to give us a call at (704)-881-0410. If you’d like to schedule an estimate or get an online quote, we’re more than happy to help out! We offer these on our website to make the car repair process as stress-free as possible!
We look forward to hearing from you!
