(Ford)
Ford: Aftermarket parts often inferior
A comparison of aftermarket replacement parts for critical safety components such as bumpers and vehicle supports found they often are inferior to parts made by automakers, Ford reported last week. The company says it will push for some sort of review and standardization of aftermarket parts, as well as for consumer warnings when the cheaper, non-standard pieces have been used to repair their vehicles. The automaker compared copy bumper beams, bumper isolators, bumper brackets and radiator supports made for 2005 to 2009 Mustangs and 2004 to 2007 F-150 trucks and found some of the replacement parts were made from plastic instead of steel or magnesium.
--The Associated Press
The Chevrolet Captiva is a top seller in Brazil. (General Motors)
GM predicts sales spike in Brazil
General Motors expects sales in Brazil to grow by 68 percent to 1 million vehicles by 2014 as growth in Latin America's largest economy stokes demand for fancier cars, the automaker recently announced. GM is investing more than $2.8 billion in Brazil through 2012 when total car sales are expected to reach 4 million. GM is the third-biggest automaker in Brazil, just behind Volkswagen and Fiat.
--Bloomberg
6 Comments
By john in Kansas on July 30, 2010 4:04 PM
This is just a scam argument by car companies to capture monopoly profits.
Maybe there should also be a law about car manufacturers using cheap materials. My 10 year-old Subaru Forester has steel side panels with plenty of dents, but great upholstery. The new Subarus all use aluminum sheet metal and flimsy upholstery. Are buyers aware of this? I could hardly believe how much a simple press of the index fingure could deform these panels. I was going to buy one until I saw this, and instead i fixed up the old one.
I think there should be a government law warning buyers about OEM car materials being degraded year over year.
And by the way, if the car manufacturers would approve the proposed Federal legislation requiring them to release full tech specs to 3rd party repair shops, maybe some added competition and information would correct this problem, plus the customer might benefit from lower repair prices.
John
By Paul on August 2, 2010 2:59 PM
It is amazing how Ford is claiming that the aftermarket parts are inferior to parts made by the automakers. Ford needs to explain why they're having issues with accidental airbag deployment when drivers simply put the key in the ignition.. Maybe Ford should focus on more federal legislation to ensure automakers have higher quality standards off the assembly line.
By Ryan on August 2, 2010 10:21 PM
John and Paul,
Your arguments are outside the scope of this article. This article is not addressing year-over-year quality declines, but rather the very REAL issue of inferior aftermarket parts that are used to repair your insurance-covered vehicle in the case of a collision. The real scam here is that insurance companies have been profiting for years, by working with body shops to force aftermarket part replacements rather than OEM parts. The end result is poorer quality products, and in cases of critical safety components, can actually result in increased risks to the driver.
The real scam here is that I have to ask my insurance company and body shop to replace only with OEM parts... This should be the DEFAULT, I should not have to ask this.
By Will on August 3, 2010 8:05 AM
Ryan,
I disagree, you need to look beyond the smoke screen here. Ford and the OEM Parts Industry have taken some server blows lately in profits due to poor management and safety recalls (specifically down almost 18% in revenue in two years just in the aftermarket business). They are trying to shift the focus to the aftermarket industry and gain market share to boost revenue. This is just a carefully planned cheap way to sway sales their way through fear tactics.
By Roy Shultz on August 11, 2010 2:52 PM
Will, I agree... did you see that Ford had another issue with an EXPLODING gas tank on a Crown Victoria? I don't trust the auto makers PERIOD!
By John Cruise on August 16, 2010 4:11 PM
not only is Ford having problems with airbags releasing for no reason, there was a Crown Victoria in Florida that blew up when it was rear-ended! Maybe they should look into their own safety record.