Original Equipment Manufacturer Policies

By John Yoswick for Auto Body News - May 14, 2019

OEM procedures and equipment are available nationwide under the 2014 right to repair memorandum of understanding between the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, Coalition for Auto Repair Equality, Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, and Association of Global Automakers, and may also now be the direction Tesla is headed, click here.

A similar debate is arising regarding advanced driver assistance systems and related calibration, which is fundamentally tied to the topic of OEM procedures...

OEM Legislative & Regulatory Action Around the Nation

"...the insurer may not direct a body shop to repair the motor vehicle until the insurer has presented the insured with a written notice that meets the requirements ..."

Language in HF 2919 also prohibits insurers’ ability to “disregard a repair operation or cost identified by an estimating system, including the system’s procedural pages and any repair, process or procedure recommended by the OEM of a part or product.”

By Chasidy Rae Sisk for AutoBodyNews - June 6, 2019

"The Act states that the Arepair cost@ to be used in the calculation is that dealer=s own retail charge for the same work on the date the repairs were made. Only new, original equipment manufacturer parts may be used in connection with these repairs."


The Washington Independent Repairer's Association initiated OEM related legislation in 2020, with more of a focus directly on the contract between an insurance company and vehicle owner. Click here for their policy statement.

In addition to insurance industry interests, the automotive parts industry has raised questions regarding OEM legislation, with particular focus from manufacturers of non-OEM parts; however, many states with legislation have shown movement toward clarifications that OEM parts are not to be included in any mandate for OEM procedures. Click here for a summary of concerns from the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) and click here for LKQ, Inc.

At the same time the automobile industry debates original equipment manufacturer repair procedures, with some national agreements in place regarding the sharing of technical specifications for such repairs (click here), there is a similar debate occurring regarding industrial machinery and computerized technology repairs.

By Claire Bushey for Crain's Chicago Business - May 10, 2019
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