Came across an interesting article the other day in Collision Week. They talked about how the IIHS doesn’t endorse the use of aftermarket parts. Read more below:
By Collision Week
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) says it does not recommend the use of aftermarket structural parts because there is no system in place to guarantee that they would perform the same way the original parts would in a crash.
David Zuby, chief research officer for the IIHS, was quoted in Consumer Reports Thursday saying, “The vehicle structure is part of a complex system designed to protect people in crashes, as well as hold up the engine. There’s a lot of engineering that goes into making a crash protection system. You can’t willy nilly change those parts, because the system won’t work the way it was designed.”
The consumer Reports article was prompted by reports from Ford about possible safety problems with some aftermarket structural parts. Following its demonstration at the Collision Industry Conference on Wednesday condemning unsafe aftermarket parts (see related story below), Ford motor company released its findings to mainstream media outlets.
The IIHS told Consumer Reports that it has not crash-tested aftermarket bumpers, frame rails, or other safety related parts, however, “it does not advocate their use because there is no system in place to guarantee that they would perform the same way the original parts would in a crash.”
“There’s too much unknown to recommend them,” Zuby told Consumer Reports.