DATE: August 14, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Automotive Recyclers Association Disagrees with GM’s Position Statement Prohibiting the Use of Recycled Parts
Manassas, VA – The Automotive recyclers Association (ARA) is disappointed in GM’s updated collision position statement, Use of Genuine GM Original Equipment Parts, which strictly prohibits the use of recycled original equipment motor vehicle parts. Recycled original equipment parts give vehicle owners access to affordable repair parts at a time when repair costs continue to climb. With the average vehicle on U.S. roads now approaching 13 years old, automotive recyclers are increasingly becoming the only source for OEM parts as a vehicle ages.
ARA’s Executive Director, Vince Edivan notes that, “The ability for vehicle owners to choose recycled parts is becoming more important every year. Without that option, vehicle owners may be unable to afford to keep their car on the road. We believe GM’s position creates an important contradiction. If ADAS components can remain in service after a collision when they pass OEM inspection, diagnostic, and calibration procedures, then an undamaged OEM component from another vehicle should be evaluated under those same standards. If prior collision exposure alone makes an ADAS component unsafe, then all ADAS components should be replaced after every collision repair, regardless of condition or calibration results. If inspection and calibration are sufficient to validate a component already on a collision-damaged vehicle, those same principles should apply to properly inspected and validated recycled OEM components. We support repair decisions based on safety, testing, and objective evidence, not blanket assumptions about the source of a part.”
ARA is closely monitoring whether GM’s updated position will affect vehicle owners’ ability to repair their vehicles with recycled parts. ARA has historically, and successfully, opposed state legislation that would mandate the exclusive use of new OEM parts in vehicle repairs. GM’s updated position statement highlights the importance of ARA’s advocacy and its role in protecting consumer access to a competitive replacement parts market.
Since 1943, the Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA) has represented professional automotive recyclers, a vibrant and important industry within the automotive supply chain and vehicle recycling infrastructure. Professional automotive recycling facilities play an important role in the vehicle repair market by providing vehicle owners with cost-effective alternatives to more expensive new original equipment manufacturer replacement parts. Professional automotive recyclers provide vehicle owners with the ability to choose recycled automotive repair parts, thereby ensuring competition in the replacement parts market and providing vehicle owners with the ability to repair their vehicles with recycled original equipment manufacturer replacement parts.
CONTACT: Vince Edivan
