Insurance quote with aftermarket car parts -

[zulu01]

I recently was involved in a minor accident in my truck. My insurance adjuster came out and did the inspection and issued an estimate. His estimate included several aftermarket parts. When I questioned this, he said I could pay the difference and upgrade to OEM parts. WTF? In my mind, an aftermarket part does not return my truck to the factory condition and lowers the value. The accident is already going to affect the value enough. I don't want someone questioning the quality of the repair due to aftermarket parts being used.

I have had issues with aftermarket parts in the past and I would prefer to stay away. What do you guys think? Would you accept the aftermarket parts? Do I have any recourse to force the insurance company to pay for OEM parts?

I would expect this kind of crap from a budget insurance company, but we have Allstate. I feel like I'm paying premium prices for substandard repairs. When I had a claim with State Farm in the past, this wasn't an issue.

[Great-Kazoo]

Go higher up the food chain and complain. They don't want you to send less ins payment do they? Why get stuck with less then OEM

[Irving]

You can complain, but you're getting ahead of yourself at this point. Your policy states like, kind, and quality. The company won't buy you new parts, because you don't have a new truck. They will go OEM if nothing else is available. I say you're getting ahead of yourself because you don't yet know if the shop will be able to source used oem parts, or aftermarket. I'd talk to the shop first to see if they can put you at ease. The shop's work product is on the line here as well, and if you pick a good so, they're not going to just slap your car back together and shove it out the door.

[sniper7]

I'd definitely fight it. Unless you have a vehicle that it is hard to find OEM parts for or a custom vehicle, OEM is what I would expect put on my vehicle. That is of course unless they wanted to pay for some really nice aftermarket stuff like custom bumpers for my truck then I might oblige!

[MarkCO]

Read your policy. As Irving said, it likely says "like kind and quality". Fighting it, if that is what it says, likely will just raise your blood pressure and you will still have to pay to upgrade. Unless you have a classic or rare car, the accident affects resale a lot more than the type of repair parts.

[MED]

What year is the truck? Make/model? ...parts being replaced?

[Irving]

Fighting and running up the chain only cost you time and frustration, but if it works, it could be worth it. If it's just a fender and it fits like it should and holds paint Like it should, I can't see how that would affect the value of the vehicle.

[DenverGP]

You can complain, but you're getting ahead of yourself at this point. Your policy states like, kind, and quality.

My USAA policy has this. But after my wife went deer hunting with our fairly new GMC Jimmy, I made sure that the body shop knew that I wanted to inspect any aftermarket parts before they were installed and prepped for paint.

When the first aftermarket hood came in, the shop called me up, told me not to bother coming down, the hood wasn't even remotely acceptable. They ordered a second aftermarket hood, called me up said it wasn't bad, and to come down and look. Nothing they did could get it to align all the way correctly, and the metal was noticeably thinner than stock. They agreed, went back to USAA and a day later had a factory hood delivered.

So basically at least with USAA, they wanted to TRY the cheap aftermarket parts, but once I and the shop showed they were not the same quality as OEM, they gave me OEM parts.

[Dave_L]

^That is how most companies operate. The shop SHOULD be watching out for you too. Making sure that the parts meet the quality and fit good. If its below expectation, they can reject the part.

[Irving]

What they said.

[fullmann]

Insurance companies also do this because they assume that you will take the money and never bother with a fix.

Why write a check for $5k for the correct fix when they can write a check for $3500 thinking you'll just pocket the cash.

[Irving]

Insurance companies also do this because they assume that you will take the money and never bother with a fix.

Why write a check for $5k for the correct fix when they can write a check for $3500 thinking you'll just pocket the cash.

That's not true at all. More often than not a shop is involved and isn't going to just pocket anything. You write a check for the damages that you can see without taking the car apart, then expect a supplement for when the shop starts the work and can verify damages.

[Gman]

That's not true at all. More often than not a shop is involved and isn't going to just pocket anything. You write a check for the damages that you can see without taking the car apart, then expect a supplement for when the shop starts the work and can verify damages.
...or like my BiL, took the check for the hail damage on his Jeep and bought a rifle and a pistol.