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Aftermarket auto parts are high-quality, safe, affordable alternatives to similar
components sold by car companies known as original equipment manufacturers or OEM'S
Typically priced twenty five to fifty percent lower
aftermarket parts are engineered to meet the quality of the OEM parts
and are often produced by the same manufacturers that supply the car companies.
With competitive pricing and widespread availability
aftermarket parts have carved out a significant amount of market share.
Today fifteen percent of crash parts, those most often repaired following auto accidents,
are produced by the aftermarket
As the OEM's have lost their near monopoly and seen their own sales
of repair parts decline
they have grown increasingly critical of the competition, challenging the quality
of aftermarket parts even as their own vehicles face unprecedented numbers of
recalls and serious safety concerns.
Yet tests consistently demonstrate aftermarket parts not only meet the
public's needs but also deliver the quality and protection their consumers
demand and deserve
Some aftermarket critics have used saws to cut through parts suggesting that
different materials used in OEM and aftermarket parts may impact safety
however the only conclusion to be drawn from those theatrics
is that motorists should avoid slowly driving into madmen wielding reciprocating saws.
This video shows that when both OEM and aftermarket parts are subject to a saw
applying the same pressure
it takes an equal amount of time to cut through both.
Merely chopping up parts though, tells you nothing about how they will perform in crashes.
In the real world, part performance, quality and safety are measured using
scientific instruments and sophisticated tests and analysis, so that's just what
the Automotive Body Parts Association or ABPA did.
The results consistently showed aftermarket parts meeting the same
crash worthiness criteria as OEM's.
Two 2007 Ford Mustangs were crash tested at 5 MPH.
One vehicle featured an aftermarket bumper reinforcement bar
and the other
an original equipment supplied equivalent.
At this speed the aftermarket equipped vehicle performed better.
As expected, air bags did not deploy in either vehicle
and while both parts effectively absorbed the impact and protected the vehicle's occupants,
a piece of the bumper fell off of the OES outfitted Mustang.
Two repair shops calculated the cost of repair,
one gave an identical estimate,
while the other estimated it would cost $200 less to repair the
aftermarket equipped vehicle than the one with original equipment parts
which sustained more damage.
A high-speed crash test at 35 mph provided valuable data
related to the impact of aftermarket parts
on vehicle dynamics,
air bags sensor response,
and most importantly occupant safety.
This test is the same procedure used by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
to assign the star safety rating to new cars
Two 2006 Toyota Corollas were used. One equipped with a high quality
aftermarket bumper reinforcement bar
and the other unmodified from its original factory condition.
The side by side video
is precisely timed
and shows the impact, crush and deployment of the air bags
when engineers compared data from both cars' onboard instruments
they found the numbers essentially equivalent.
The first set of analyzed results involved vehicle crush
along the center line of the cars.
The measurement of six hundred one millimeters on each car was identical.
The timing of the airbag sensors was evaluated down to the 1000th of a second.
Airbag response occurred at 7.5 milliseconds.
The timing for both cars was identical.
When it came to occupant injury
the aftermarket equipped car performed essentially the same
actually slightly better numerically than the OEM.
In terms of head impact the aftermarket vehicle was 36%
and the OEM was 45% of the maximum allowable limits.
Chest deflection is another key measure of injury in a crash.
The aftermarket and the OEM results were identical at 29%.
In the end an average of eleven occupant injury criteria revealed
that the aftermarket equipped vehicle performed slightly better than the OEM
As with the previous tests these numbers are essentially equivalent.
Both cars delivered occupant safety performance
well within the allowable limits for crash certification established by NHTSA
under the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards number 208.
Auto makers have suggested
only car company branded parts should be used to repair vehicles.
Yet despite an estimated eight million annual crashes in the U.S
So despite claims by car companies, the 35 MPH tests in laboratory conditions
demonstrated that these aftermarket parts are safe and crashworthy
In fact,
the aftermarket and the OEM equipped vehicles used in this test
fell well within government established safety standards for occupant protection.
Based on the results of tests at both low and high speeds, consumers should feel
secure about using aftermarket parts to repair their cars
the ABPA invites you to visit our website at:
and learn more about the benefits of aftermarket parts at: