Do Auto Insurance Companies Use New or After Market Parts?

Auto claims · The estimate follows the policy, not the showroom

OEM, aftermarket, and recycled parts are different parts. Which one the insurer pays for is in the policy, not in a statewide rule this page will invent.

OEM parts come from the vehicle maker or its supplier. Aftermarket parts are made by someone else to fit the same place. Recycled parts, sometimes called like-kind and quality or LKQ, are used OEM pieces from another car. Collision pays a covered crash to your car, up to actual cash value if the insurer totals it. Comprehensive pays theft, hail, and the other non-crash losses. Neither one is a promise that every part will be factory-new. Many personal auto forms let the insurer settle with parts of like kind and quality. Some forms, or an endorsement you paid for, require OEM. Read the declarations and the repair section before you authorize the shop.

You can often ask the shop to install OEM and pay the price difference yourself. That is a choice about the repair, not a second claim. A direct-repair shop is a network the insurer prefers. Using it is not required unless your policy says the claim is payable only there. The shop you pick does not change an exclusion. Mechanical wear is still not collision or comprehensive. If the repair cost is high relative to the car’s actual cash value, the insurer may total the car and pay ACV minus the deductible instead of fixing it. There is no single percent in this article, because the form and the state rule are what control that call. Aftermarket parts often cost less on the estimate. That is not a discount on your premium, and it is not a guarantee the part fits the way the original did.

What the policy is paying: what Texas car insurance covers and Colorado collision. Working the claim: Texas auto claim tips. A disagreement about the amount of a covered loss is not the same as a cancellation: can a company drop you. Parts background, without a number from this page: the Insurance Information Institute on repair programs and generic parts. Where the car gets fixed is a separate decision from which parts the estimate lists: Texas body shops.

Ask for the parts type in writing on the estimate before the work starts. Ask an agent or get a quote.