I've spent more than half of my life directly involved with the collision repair industry on a daily basis. I am familiar with what goes on. I've got all of my ASE certs, a ton of I-CAR training, etc. in order to stay on top of what's going on in this rapidly changing industry. As I mentioned before, a shop does not have to be a dealership owned shop to be an OE certified shop. My friend's shop is a good example. I'm 100% in agreement with you about being forced to use a dealership. I never use one once the warranty is expired, unless it's for a recall. One thing to keep in mind is that the OE's who limit the sale of some of these parts do not necessarily do so on every make/model they sell. For example, Audi did it only on their cars with an aluminum structure (A8, TT, R8). Anyone could buy a rocker panel or a frame rail for an A4.

There are plenty of opportunities to use used parts without compromising a repair, and on plenty of cars, too. But deviating from OE repair procedures by using them when the OE specifically says not to is not an acceptable repair. Example - for years, GM has said not to use used quarter panels on most of their cars. This dates back at least 15 years, and has nothing to do with OE certification. Yet, there are hacks out there who will do it because they have no regard for the safety of the people in that vehicle. The people who design and build the car are the absolute authority on how to fix the car, as they should be. They definitely know more than some guy in his backyard garage who thinks that making the panel gaps even equates to a quality repair. That's a separate issue from whether or not the OE has a right to dictate who has access to the parts necessary to fix the car, or what the OE's motivation is for doing so. [/quote]





i have spent my entire working life in bodyshops. my first real paying job was at 12yo sweeping floors in 1976. i lied about my age and told them i was 16. back then you could get away with things like that.
i reached my full I-Car certifications in the early 90's, probably 92-3. i have probably attended well over 200 training classes over the years. i currently attend about 1 a month with online training. the more high tech car become the more training classes i have to attend

there is nothing wrong with using salvage parts. as not a charger states FOLLOWING MANUFACTURERS repair procedures is 100% absolutely important.

some background on I-Car for the those not familiar with it. it is a national organization comprised of car manufacturers, insurance co and repair shop organizations. they assist on keeping shops updated and cars repaired properly.

it has been mentioned before. THERE IS NO GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS regarding autobody repairs. this is covered thru LIABILITY LAWS. no one "DICTATES" on how cars are repaired. but if you stray away from factory repair procedures and someone get injured in a crash on your repaired car. be prepared to pay big $$$$ and spend years in courts. in the end the only people with $$$ in their pocket will be the lawyers.

this is where I-Car serves it purpose. they help establish thru working with the auto manufactures repair procedures called SOP aka standard operating procedures. some people might call this dictating on how a car is repaired. i myself see it differently. .with the insane $$ of cars these days owners keeping them longer and longer. certified shops and SOP's will give owners assurances that their car was repaired properly and will last a long life. also with rapidly evolving cars and new technology appearing daily making sure your repairer is up to date on SOP is important
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the biggest thing is extensive uses of high strength and ultra high strength steel in cars. this requires specific techniques to safely repair properly. VW extensively uses high and ultra high strength steel in structural body parts. this is why they are sales restricted to only bodyshops.
in my opinion CERTIFIED bodyshops are the only one you should visit if you were in crash more than a minor fender bender. actually there are probably more certified independent bodyshops than dealer bodyshops

in MY OPINION in the future the car re builders will be regulated more and more as cars evolve. currently they are allowed to improperly repair and then sell AS IS thru auctions transferring liability to the guy who just bought it .in the future it wouldn't surprise me to see some of this repair liability being transferred back to the original repairer thru updating liability laws.


end of rant and back to the original topic.
something not mentioned earlier about subscription services. a lot of people don't know this, most of these services run on 3G wireless service. i know most VW built in 2018 and before are this way, a LOT of other manufacturers do also. 3G wireless will be eliminated soon. not only will you be looking at paying subscription services you might have to pay to install them AGAIN also.