OEM vs. Aftermarket Body Parts

[kschachn]

I have a question about body parts (not the horror movie type) in regards to OEM vs. aftermarket. My daugther smacked up the 1996 Honda Accord I just got for her and it needs a new hood, new radiator support, headlights, bumper cover, radiator, and condenser. For the sheetmetal parts like the hood you can either buy a Honda OEM part for $300, a "standard" quality aftermarket hood from Rock Auto for about $100, or a Certi-Fit replacement for about $50. The same price comparisons exist for the other needed parts.

Anyway, considering my daughter is 16 and this could happen again but also considering I don't want to spend endless hours trying to get cheap parts to fit, what does anyone suggest I do in this situation? I found a horror-story site about aftermarket hoods here that also drags you into the whole topic of CAPA certified parts:

http://www.autoclaimshelp.net/more jack-in-the-box hoods.htm

So bottom line is that I don't know what to do. This is my first foray into autobody work, although I've done a lot of mechanical work on pretty much everything else in the past.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[JHZR2]

I suppose the biggest question Id have is if the corrosion protection on the non-OEM stuff is as good, better, or worse than the OEM parts.

Beyond that Im not sure, and cost might well be a driver so long as the car isnt intended to be kept much longer - and if you assume your daughter will mess up again.. Those are your problems to doa cost/benefit analysis.

Id mainly be concerned with issues arising shortly afterwards because of poorlyprotected or inferior parts.

JMH

 

[John_K]

My wife's Sonata got hit last year, and the insurance company insisted on a couple nonOEM parts because they were cheaper.

Well, you guessed it--those nonOEM parts are the ones we've had to back to the body shop to get replaced. So I'd be careful.

John

 

[mstrjon32]

I put a $35 fender on my 1997 Monte Carlo after a little accident. After a professional paint job you couldn't tell the difference from the OEM part when it was installed. Of course the metal was a bit thinner and the edges were sharp, but once it was installed this was all irrelevant.

 

[chief]

With out 4 kids we bought the 2 girls used Nissan Altimas and the 2 boys used Nissan Frontiers. They hit deer, other cars, stationary objects, even a police car, and cleaned out more dirt road ditches than the county motor graders. Even had one that the insurance company totaled out and I fixed it back with a salvage title. I fixed all of them myself to keep cost down. I always used aftermarket parts. I figured they were going to tear them up again anyway, and they did. The only parts I had problems with was fenders. It took a little bit of work to get them to fit properly. However the cost savings offset the extra time involved. Bought plenty of radiators and condensers also but I got them from NAPA. Never had any problems with the NAPA parts and price was maybe a little higher but the quality was much better. Being she is 16 go with aftermarket.

 

[TurboLuver]

I bought a cheap aftermarket fender and headlight after hitting a deer several years back and the fitment was terrible, I had to enlarge all the mounting holes on the fender to even get it close to fitting correctly.

Fast forward a few years and I hit yet another deer (they are a huge problem here) this time I went to a local salvage yard and was able to get all the OEM parts I needed from a wrecked car for the price of the aftermarket parts. The fitment was perfect and it just so happened the parts were the same color as my car.

 

[mechtech2]

You can get lucky with cheap aftermarket parts, and they can be just fine.
But at least, give them a coat of some rust preventative inside.
Spray Rustoleum would be great.

 

[mrsilv04]

I've always heard "Certi-Fit" referred to as "Sort-of-fits".

I'd get as much as I could from a junk yard, making sure that you are getting OEM parts.

 

[GMBoy]

Don't forget the crash worthiness and corrision. OEM meets strict guidelines whereas cheap aftermarket does not. Add up the time to make 'em fit and it's not worth the money in many cases if your car is a later model. For just a beater maybe.

 

[03cvpi]

I'd go with mrsilv04, we had a 1 ton dodge van that scraped a bollard and the boss wanted to fix it cheap. We ordered the sortafit parts and they where 40% the cost of OEM, but we ate the difference up fitting it. Thin metal, cheap primer, bolt holes misaligned and not quite the right shape. We would have been hours ahead buying from a junk yard.

 

[NYEngineer]

A few years back, the dealer had my truck for a transmission repair. While they had it, they had an accident and had to replace the hood and grill, all without telling me. As soon as I got the truck back, I noticed two dimples in the front edge of the hood. It was from someone closing the cheap aftermarket hood with their thumbs. At first, I didn't put it together, but my insurance company contacted me about the accident and spilled the beans. You can be sure I made them replace my metal with the factory stuff like it had when they got it from me.

In some cases, the chinese stuff is probably fine, but it is thin.

 

[Audioquest]

I am an automobile appraiser with a very large insurance company in Canada. Our guidelines on aftermarket parts vs oem is that the aftermarket part must meet the same performance specs and have the same fit and finish as the oem part being replaced.

I have seen all types of aftermarket parts. Some are complete garbage. Some are as good or in some rare instances, even better (better bracing in hoods) that oem.

Our company DOES NOT specify the use aftermarket radiator supports or bumper reinforcements as these are structural parts.