If your car ever sustains damage, then it’s only natural to want high-quality repairs made. You don’t want any parts or materials to be used in the repair process that might negatively impact the safety or performance of the vehicle. As special type of auto insurance benefit called original equipment manufacturer (OEM) coverage will make that wish a guarantee.

OEM coverage ensures that aftermarket parts won’t be used when making repairs to your vehicle. It ensures that your vehicle will be fixed only with products that are designed for it. That way, not only will the car perform optimally, but you also won’t have to worry about aftermarket parts dragging down the resale value of your vehicle.

What is OEM Coverage?

Sometimes, when you have vehicle repairs made, your mechanic might opt to use aftermarket parts throughout the process. Aftermarket parts are those that are not made by the vehicle’s manufacturer. In effect, they are what you might think of as generic parts that will work on most vehicles.

However, when you want to keep your vehicle in prime working order, you might find that aftermarket parts simply don’t provide a high quality of performance. Therefore, if you want to ensure that original manufacturer parts are used when making repairs (and that your insurance will pay for them) then you will need to add the OEM endorsement to your plan.

Though your auto insurance will cover repairs to your vehicle if you have the right coverage, most plans don’t mandate that a repair service use OEM parts in these repairs. However, by including an OEM endorsement on your policy, you mandate that repairs must be made using original parts. Therefore, your insurer is bound to pay appropriately for the cost of using those particular parts. All in all, this helps ensure that you have repairs made using the highest-quality materials.

Are There Limitations on Coverage?

Most major insurers offer OEM endorsements for auto policies, but drivers usually must meet certain qualifications before they can buy the coverage. These include:

• Usually, only newer vehicles can qualify for coverage. It might only remain a part of your policy until the vehicle is five years old, for example.
• Because your mechanic cannot use aftermarket parts in making repairs, this might slow the overall repair process as the mechanic waits for the right parts.
• Though repair services cannot use aftermarket parts, they can sometimes opt for used OEM parts if there are no new parts available.

Please note, to qualify for this coverage, you must have physical damage insurance (collision & comprehensive coverage) on your policy. These are the benefits that require your insurer to pay for damage to your vehicle in the first place, so you must have them before you can add the OEM endorsement into the plan.

Call Stewart Kriese Insurance Agency Inc. for proper quotes and OEM auto insurance coverage today.