North Carolina House Insurance Committee Considers Anti-Motorist, Anti-Small Business Legislation, States Care

    ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 24 "The
Coalition for Auto Repair Equality (CARE), a national organization
representing companies throughout North Carolina and the nation, is again
opposing North Carolina legislation that would create a vehicle parts monopoly
favoring the car manufacturers, restricting competition and thus eventually
raising the price on all vehicle parts, to the detriment of low-and fixed-
income motorists and small business," stated Sandy Bass-Cors, CARE Executive
Director.
    "Known as 'crash parts' bills and promoted by car manufacturers and many
body shops, these bills try to intimidate motorists into purchasing only car
dealer or Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) parts. House Bill 1329,
scheduled for a public hearing on Wednesday, April 25th, is just such a bill.
    "House Bill 1329 is designed to legislate business and profits to car
manufacturers and body shops by mandating that a consumer give written
authorization before accepting an aftermarket part. Although this sounds
harmless, it does not mandate that a consumer authorize the use of the same,
but higher-priced car dealer parts. This type of legislative language also
plants the seed of doubt in consumers' minds about the high quality of
aftermarket parts.
    "House Bill 1329 is also in violation of Federal law. The Magnuson-Moss
Act, passed in the U.S. Senate in the 1970s, prohibits repairs being tied to
the warranty of a vehicle, as this bill does. Forty-two states over the last
few years have introduced crash parts bills and 42 have killed them. Warranty
violation questions, monopolistic agendas, and anti-consumer legislative
language are only a few of the reasons these bills have been killed, including
last year in North Carolina.
    "The real reason the car manufacturers and body shops promote bills such
as HB 1329, is that aftermarket parts are the same parts, often made by the
same manufacturer, but aftermarket parts cost up to 50 percent LESS than car
dealer parts. And, most aftermarket parts come with life-time or long-term
warranties. This bill is about the dealers and body shops trying to have
business and higher profits legislated to them, not about quality parts,"
continued Bass-Cors.
    CARE's North Carolina member companies include: NAPA, Midas, CARQUEST-
General Parts Company (headquartered in Raleigh), AutoZone, Advance Auto Parts
and Jiffy Lube.
    "So far, the news reports on national recalls have been on car
manufacturer parts and problems, not aftermarket parts. All HB 1329 will do is
hurt the free-market system in North Carolina and raise the price on all car
parts for consumers," concluded Bass-Cors.

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