In today’s world, the need for trusted industry rela- tionships are vital, says Darrell Amberson, currently Vice President of Operations for LaMettry’s Collision and also the chairman of the Automotive Service Association (ASA). “Of course we need to embrace new forms of technology that improve our speed, sophistication, and communication. Of course we need to increase the level of knowledge of the con- dition and availability of recycled parts. Of course we must have competitive pricing and service. But beyond that, we need a level of trust and dependabil- ity that causes us to not only ‘need’ to work with each other, but instead causes us to ‘want’ to work with each other.”

In Dan Risley’s opinion, Executive Director and President of the Automotive Service Association (ASA), there is no mystery on how automotive recy- clers can increase the utilization of recycled parts by repair and mechanical shops and get more support for recycled OE parts from the insurance claims community. “Continual evolution on part quality, delivery, and part descriptions is the key,” he says. In recent months, ARA has drafted responses to issues that have arisen at the state levels. Let this be a call to action, to get cer- tified, increase your quality, mod- ernize your systems, and unite with ARA so that one strong voice is heard to fight these issues.

West Virginia’s Battle Over One Word Greg Chandler was living the collision repairer’s

dream as the largest independent collision repairer in the state of West Virginia.

That was until December 15, 2011, when the State

of West Virginia, Office of the Attorney General Darrell V. McGraw, Jr. of the Consumer Protection Division announced, “Today, West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw sued Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and Greg Chandler’s Frame & Body, LLC (Greg’s Body Shop), for repairing vehicles with junkyard parts in violation of state law.” The suit, filed in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, alleged violations of the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act by Liberty Mutual and Greg’s Body Shop. McGraw’s office alleged that Liberty Mutual required body shops to repair vehicles with reconditioned, remanufactured, and used parts in violation of West Virginia law. In addition, the suit claimed that Liberty Mutual failed to provide the proper notices and written statements to consumers.

According to the December 15, 2011 press release, “McGraw’s office began investigating Liberty Mutual and Greg’s Body Shop after receiving evidence that new vehicles were being repaired with junkyard parts. The investigation by McGraw’s Consumer Protection Division confirmed that Liberty Mutual employed a policy that violated state law. McGraw’s lawsuit asks the court to enjoin the defendants from engaging in this unlawful activity in the future, seeks restitution for consumers whose cars were illegally repaired with junkyard crash parts, and asks for civil penalties.”

Once again, broad misunderstanding and misrep- resentation of recycled OEM parts negatively impacts automotive recycling. In January 2012, ARA sent a formal letter of com- plaint to West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw urging him to refrain from using the derogatory and misleading term “junkyard parts” when referring to recycled/salvaged automobile parts. “The Attorney General’s derogatory and misleading char- acterization of recycled/salvaged automobile parts does a disservice to consumers in West Virginia. Restricting legitimate choices for vehicle repair does not protect West Virginia consumers. Rather, restricting access to recycled/sal- vaged parts creates a monopolistic market, inflating the cost of vehi-

cle repair and increasing insurance premiums,” said ARA CEO Michael E. Wilson in those comments. “We believe that this statement infers that salvaged, used and/or reconditioned parts are somehow unsafe and inferior to new OE parts,” says Wilson. “This is simply false. Recycled/salvaged automobile parts are not ‘junkyard parts’ nor are they classified as such under West Virginia statute. We have asked the Attorney General to clarify this statement.” Ultimately, the battle was over one word in one law. The law provided that the vehicle owner has the right to insist on the use of only OEM parts for a period of three years, the year the vehicle was manu- factured and the two succeeding years thereafter, but it never specified “new” or “recycled.” Therefore, Liberty Mutual and body shops in the state author- ized the use of recycled OEM parts in repairs. The Circuit Court of Kanawha County found in favor of the Attorney General. Liberty Mutual decid- ed to appeal the ruling in the state’s Supreme Court, with Greg Chandler’s help. Last June, West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Liberty

March-April 2015 | Automotive Recycling 41