I am not seeking to promote anything here, just opening up your eyes to what the rest of the world is doing. The OEs do not have the power to deny anyone the ability to repair anything. They can only deny some of the best possible parts available for a repair. But if you think for a single minute that their denying parts to someone will cause them to abandon that repair.......well, good luck with that.
Your OE's stance on those parts have more to do with control than with concern over a properly repaired vehicle. How else have they demonstrated any concern on that subject? But they have certainly demonstrated their desire to control the ability of anyone other than themselves to work on YOUR vehicle. This is just another step in the same light of the origin of this thread. The OEs have given up on earning our repair business. They cannot compete. So they are trying new ways to FORCE us into their 'stealerships'.
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.
