So, if you're not an OE certified shop, you are a 'back-yard hack'? Not much middle ground with you.

There may be plenty of body shops around you, but there are not very many left in the rural areas. The insurance companies and their OE allies have made it nearly impossible to operate a body shop. With all of the demands and restrictions put on them, we only have a handful of certified shops left in our area. And it is going to get worse. One of our best shops just got his rebuilder's license with our help. In the coming year, they plan to move away from insurance work and on to rebuilding their own units. May be less money, but certainly much less hassle including some of what you speak. They can not possibly go through the certification process for all the brands out there and cannot be a 'specialized' shop either. Just not enough volume of any single brand. They just had to do the aluminum thing and most are chafing at the thought of doing even more 'certifications'.

No matter what you or VW or any one else says, the OEs cannot possibly ensure the quality of work being done to their cars outside of their warranty process. And frankly it's none of their business. That is the domain of the regulators. In the end, as long as there are auto wrecking yards, the parts will be available. So in some ways, the OE's position on structural parts could actually make the situation even worse. But they don't care about that, do they?

I do have one question; What is the hourly repair rate at your 'certified shops'?