The cost of repairing vehicles has increased sharply in recent years. This has impacted the do-it-yourself (DIY) repairer looking to fix their own car, garages trying to perform quality and cost effective repairs and insurers, where repair costs continue to increase, resulting in higher premiums to the consumer.
Reclaimed Original Equipment (ROE) parts offer a quality, cost effective and sustainable solution to this growing problem. But with the increased use of ROE vehicle parts, comes the increased risk of a dangerous and potentially fatal recalled part, due to faulty manufacture, being fitted to cars.
A bit like a recall in the food industry or any piece of safety equipment such as child safety seats, car parts demand by law, that a recall system is in place. But with high profile failings such as Takata Airbags, the recall system appears to be flawed and does not always protect drivers. The public needs to understand how to safeguard themselves.
Chris Daglis, Australian and International leader in the automotive parts industry and leading independent advisor to some major Australian and International insurers on alternative parts’ strategies, said buyers of any product need to be aware of this increased risk and know how to protect themselves. He explains that the single most important question every driver should be asking right now of their mechanic, insurer or seller of parts is: “Do you know if this car part is safe and not the subject of a recall, and can this part be traced to my vehicle should it be recalled in the future?”
The Vehicle Recyclers Association UK (VRA) has worked closely with All Auto Recalls to develop a mechanism through which automotive recyclers in the UK can identify and remove recalled components from inventory. The collaboration has enabled the development of an efficient tool that is now available to all VRA members.
With the introduction of the UK certification program being launched in the middle of 2020, the VRA has foreshadowed a need for this service and through All Auto Recalls can now deliver it.
Chas Ambrose, secretary of the Vehicle Recyclers Association UK (VRA) stated, “VRA is delighted to be working closely with Chris and the team at All Auto Recalls to make available to UK vehicle recyclers a user-friendly facility to identify any parts in their stocks which are still subject to outstanding recalls. This will make the challenge of dealing with rising numbers of recalls a much more manageable task. Furthermore, not only will this ensure that vehicles dismantled in the future are screened for outstanding recalls in real time but will allow recyclers to retrospectively screen their existing parts stock for current and, significantly, future recalls.
Effective recall management really is integral to the ongoing professional development of the UK reclaimed parts sector and will make a valuable contribution to ensuring reclaimed parts are safe and operate correctly, but also demonstrate the commitment of UK recyclers to building consumer confidence in reclaimed parts and their suppliers.”
All Auto Recalls has been developing the capability since early 2018 and is now servicing multiple stakeholders. “Our purpose is to develop and provide traceability solutions to the automotive industry that reduce risk, increase confidence and ensure customer safety” said Chris Daglis, managing director of All Auto Recalls. “It’s not something many of us would give a second thought to – you have been in a collision, or your car is due routine repairs and maintenance and we pass our vehicle over, into the hands of our local collision repairer, garage or insurer. Once our car is returned, repaired and ready to drive, how many of us would question where the parts had been sourced and if they were safe? How would we know if one such part, was in fact a dangerous part on the recall register? And how would we know if it were to be recalled in the future; could the part be traced to us and our vehicle?” said Daglis.
Reclaimed original equipment parts for collision repair are used in high volume across the globe making up approximately five percent of all parts used. However, with the unprecedented demand following the outbreak of the Coronavirus, being driven by cost pressures on insurance claims and the environmental benefits that can be derived from using reclaimed parts, experts are already seeing the effects and are expecting to see demand rise dramatically, beyond 20 percent.
•Australia currently uses circa 10 percent of such parts, the U.S. 12 percent, New Zealand a whopping 40 percent and the UK around 2 percent.
•Manufacturers recalled 29.3 million vehicles in 2018, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data (NHTSA).
• Between 2014 and 2016, the total number of vehicles affected by recalls spiked – reaching 50.5 million in 2016.
•There are millions of insurance claims each year in the UK, with parts making up circa 50 percent of a vehicles’ repair cost.
•Over a million vehicles are repaired due to road accidents every year with more going to mechanics for routine repairs.
The impact of Coronavirus on UK car drivers is somewhat alarming; we must know if a part that has been added to our vehicle is from a licenced automotive recycler and more importantly, that they have a lawful and robust recall process in place. The recall process must go beyond the time it is added to our car; it needs to go for the life of the car and the time we own it. If this information does not reach either the owner or the mechanic that fitted the part, there is zero traceability. And this applies no matter where it was sourced and by whom it was fitted.
“It is critical for mechanics, collision repairers, insurers and any on-seller of parts, to have a recall checking capability so that they can alert their customer to a safety problem on their vehicle. Sometimes these recalls are critical; they are death traps – in the Takata airbag scenario, we are talking about some airbags being in vehicles that are now 24 years old, yet they were only recalled 3 months ago. The All Auto Recalls UK system offers the Auto Alert function – this will alert the auto recycler if any of the vehicles they have entered into the system, have a recall against them at any time in the future. Remember, a vehicle may be clear today, but recalled at some time in the future,” explained Daglis.
Published in the September 2020 Edition
