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Recycled, Reliable, Ready: Why Smart Shops Are Turning to Recycled OEM Parts
Recycled, Reliable, Ready: Why Smart Shops Are Turning to Recycled OEM Parts
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About this episode
The Automotive Recyclers Association’s Vince Adevon and Shannon Nordstrom explain why recycled OEM parts are becoming a go-to option for repair shops—especially when supply chains are tight. They break down how parts are sourced from insurance salvage, professionally inspected, VIN/option-coded, and prepared with industry interchange systems and shipping standards to protect fitment and reduce cycle time. The conversation also tackles quality misconceptions, certification programs (including gold seal), and how third-party sourcing can disrupt estimates if quality isn’t matched to price. They argue the real win is faster completion, lower costs, and measurable carbon savings.
Topics:
recycled oem parts sourcing
inspection and certification standards
fitment and interchange systems
cycle time and parts availability
quality vs price in electronic sourcing
warranty and return expectations
avoiding junkyard reputation
shipping networks and parts consistency
carbon footprint savings
shop sourcing tips for first-timers
Cars:
Toyota Camry
What if the part your customer needs is already built, already tested, and already on a truck headed your way? In this episode of Ratchet+Wrench Radio, Vince Edivan and Shannon Nordstrom unpack the real story behind recycled OEM parts—how they’re sourced, certified, and delivered—and why forward-thinking repair shops are using them to protect margins, reduce cycle times, and offer customers good-better-best options that keep cars (and relationships) on the road.
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Toyota Camry
"...know, if you put a recycled engine in your Toyota Camry, that's the equivalent to the amount of carbon en..."
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Welcome to Ratchet and Wrench Radio, produced by Endeavour Business Media, a division of Endeavour B2B, bringing you strategies and inspiration for auto care success.
Welcome back to Ratchet and Wrench Radio. I'm your host editor, Christine Schaffrin. When auto repair shops hear recycled parts, questions about quality, reliability,
and cycle time often come to mind. But today's professional automotive recyclers are far cry from the junkyards of the past. Using advanced inventory systems, rigorous inspection processes, and nationwide logistics networks, recycled original equipment is helping shops control costs, source parts faster, and give customers more affordable repair options.
In this episode of Ratchet and Wrench Radio, I sit down with Vince Adevon and Shannon Nordstrom of the Automotive Recyclers Association to break down how recycled OEM parts are sourced, certified, and delivered, and why more repair shops are embracing them as a smart, sustainable solution for today's repair challenges. Let's listen in.
Welcome to Ratchet and Wrench Radio. I am joined this afternoon by Shannon Nordstrom, President of the Automotive Recyclers Association and Executive Director, Vince Adevon.
Thank you.
We're here today. Thanks for joining me, guys.
Glad to be here.
Thanks for having me, Christine. It's good to be here.
Yeah, we're here today to talk about the possibilities when it comes to embracing recycled original equipment. Now, for listeners who may not be as familiar, can you guys just give us a quick overview of what the Automotive Recyclers Association does and your role within the organization?
Who wants to start?
Shannon, do you mind if I start?
I was just going to say you can start, Vince, because you know I'll talk plenty once I get going.
I got to get my piece in first, right? So yeah, thanks, Christine. We're thrilled to be here. And it took us a while to get this coordinated, but it's well worth the effort.
We got to chat for a few minutes before we started recording, and I'm looking forward to the conversation we're going to have.
The Automotive Recyclers Association has been around since 1943, and we are the only trade association for automotive recycling.
Like most trade associations, we hold the responsibility of advocating. We do that on a state and federal level to protect the rights of automotive recyclers.
We provide training. We have certification programs for our members. We have an annual conference, which is one of the biggest conferences in this industry each year.
And so yeah, that's our role. My role as executive director. I've been with ARA for almost eight years.
I've been the executive director for about a year and a half, and Shannon is part of our volunteer executive committee, and he's currently president.
So go ahead, Shannon.
Yeah, I took on the mantle of president in Birmingham, Alabama at our convention and became the ninth president of the Automotive Recyclers Association.
I am leading the executive committee. There's a team of five that are actively engaged with the support and policy decision making for the association.
And this is my fourth year in a five-year commitment to the association.
And so my role this year is to lead and to make sure we are staying on track with what's current in the industry, watching out for our members' best interests and reporting those things through our committee structure.
We've got a really great volunteer committee structure that brings all the different aspects of what we do as professional automotive recyclers to the forefront to, as Vince said, to advocate for the reuse
and proper utilization as best possible of used automotive parts, recycled original equipment, as we like to say, because the manufacturer made it.
The manufacturer said it was good enough for them, and we harvest and recycle that and bring it back so customers can use it in the same way as the manufacturer intended.
So let's talk about that a little bit. When we say recycled OEM parts, what exactly do we mean? How are these parts sourced and prepared for resale?
Tell me a little bit about the process.
Yeah, no, I'm a salvage facility, for some might say. You can use the junkyard word. We don't like it. We have very sophisticated businesses.
I'm in South Dakota, and we have just short of 80 employees, and we are constantly purchasing insurance salvage.
We are constantly professionally grading it, picturing it, categorizing it, dismantling it, and making those pieces available to our customers,
whether that be via electronic trading, by telephone, email, pat on teams, whatever it might happen to be, making that available to our customers.
There's many different business models in our industry, and we support all of them that are our members because they all do different things.
When it comes to the professional automotive dismantler and reselling to collision shops, mechanic shops, the people that are the professional repairers,
we have a goal to build relationships with them to use the product that has been harvested, inspected, and then made available at a cost savings.
And also, we don't want to lose in the conversation at the carbon savings of reusing something that doesn't have to be manufactured again and making it available for the repairs.
And I guess Vince, from your perspective, what's driving the growing interest in this market? What's the allure? Is it the cost, the sustainability, supply issues, auto shops are having,
is there any one that you would pinpoint, or is it a mixture of all the above?
Yeah. No, Christine, you named it. I mean, it is a, for us, it's a beautiful combination of all of those things, right?
And sadly, I mean, nobody was thrilled about COVID, but one of the things it did was highlight the availability of recycled original equipment.
So when there became supply chain issues, and people couldn't get parts, and even to today, you know, sometimes people are still struggling to get parts.
Those parts are readily available through the recycled market.
And so we, you know, we see that all of those factors play a significant role in creating value.
There's, I think, the one that continues to be more, it's not more important, but I think it's growing.
Like, if you were to look at all those things that you just pointed out and consider each one of them as kind of a market reason for using recycled parts.
Sustainability is the one it's, people, how much do Americans consider sustainability when they make purchasing choices?
I don't know what the value is, but what I do know is the value is greater today than it was yesterday.
And it's going to be even greater tomorrow than it is today.
So that is an area that's becoming increasingly more focused on.
And it's an area that we've studied.
We've contracted with the Worcester Polytech Institute, Massachusetts.
They've done in-depth studies on specific parts to give us a carbon footprint savings.
We've done two studies with them. The first one we did several years ago, and they determined that the automotive recycling industry is a carbon negative industry.
And then we did another one a few years ago where they studied specific parts and they assigned a carbon savings to those parts.
You know, if you put a recycled engine in your Toyota Camry, that's the equivalent to the amount of carbon energy it would take to charge 140,000, something similar to that.
That's an area that's getting increasingly more focus.
And, you know, we're sitting here. We've got all these parts. You don't have to go remake them.
Now, there's listeners out there who are thinking, oh boy, I don't know what kind of quality am I getting?
What kind of fitment issues am I going to have?
I know that there's a process that these parts do have to go through.
Yeah, we do this every day. And I will have to add that every facility as they become further into the food chain, I'll call it of automotive parts supply,
realize the comparisons between the other parts that are used.
And I will start off by saying, and I was going to say this earlier before I go into the quality control process,
there are parts that don't make any sense to buy as recycled.
I'm just saying this as somebody that's known that there's not enough pricing there to have savings to make it qualify for the time it would take
for some of the refinishing that would need to be taken place in certain circumstances and things like that.
So at our facility, we've got just some very well-lit areas that the vehicles are inventoried by professional inventory technicians
that look at, I have three people looking at cars all day long and they're looking at the panels on the collision side
to make sure they don't have too thick of paint mills. They're looking for previous body repair.
They're looking for good quality parts. They're making sure that, say the vehicle had an accident on the left front,
they got to make sure that that didn't carry through into any of the panels that appear good on the left side of the car yet.
You're looking for just what the options are.
If it's a case of a door assembly, somebody's trying to match options.
And all of this is categorized in our systems.
And we utilize a very extensive interchange system in the industry called the Holliner Interchange System.
And that Holliner Interchange System allows us to categorize which parts are available to know what fits what and what it can be applied to.
We've got VIN numbers attached to everything that we do.
We've got the option codes. We're getting all the time deeper into that on how we have the ability to get down right to, in some cases,
we can't say it's a direct swap but having the right paint code if a person's looking for that so that it cuts down on the jamming time.
We're never going to say hang and go because we don't want to be held to somebody else's shading and painting standards.
But when you've got a part that you can potentially get that's got even the same color jamming by paint code,
that can save an extensive amount of time for somebody.
And we look at those pieces, each one of them, and then we consider the value proposition based on supply and demand,
just like any other industry would, and make them available to our wholesale professional customers.
And we also sell to the do-it-yourselfers. There's plenty of them.
But in our business, we're 75% to the professional repairer that has a sales tax license and 25% to the do-it-yourselfer.
And so we're always trying to make sure we match the mark for our customers.
And I know I'm running on just a little bit here. I'll just say one more thing.
As we get further into that part supply chain, we try to get our people to be more educated about what the shop needs,
what the professional shop needs, what is their expectation.
And we got to make sure those match because sometimes we'll get folks that are in the repair side of things
that maybe came from another business background and they know business very well,
but they may not know the parts usage availability.
And so they start to have some some interpretations if there's any flaw.
And the realism is, is that flawless is not realistic.
We just don't want to have unnoticed damage or unnoticed problems that can't be identified to let the shop know what they're getting.
And so they can make a decision on their usability prior to it even getting there.
The advent of technology has helped us so much.
Pictures can fly around like crazy.
Most everybody in the professional arena on our side of the fence has got a quality control process
that allows a part to be stalled in the process if it's not matching so they can reach out to the shop to ask them,
you know, here's what we found. Is this going to be okay?
And trying to eliminate those down times and the cycle time problems that we don't want the shops to have.
Trying to make sure we keep things on track for them.
All right, well, let's talk cycle times a little bit because that's a huge, huge problem for auto repair shop owners
is obviously being able to source parts in a timely fashion.
That's probably according to our research, the number one issue people are having right now.
How do these parts impact cycle time and customer satisfaction and all these things that shop owners are looking for?
Well, I know right now if you have availability of a clean 50 aluminum fender for a newer truck,
you could probably sell it to 14 people in five minutes because they need that part to finish the job.
It's not about finishing the job in two days versus one day. It's about even finishing the job.
You can't finish the job without the fender.
And that goes back to what Vince said earlier during COVID.
I think a lot of folks rediscovered the professional automotive recycler because they just couldn't get parts
and they were reaching out for some that hadn't for a long time and they were accessing our inventories
and we made a lot of great relationships that have stuck through post COVID because they realized that
maybe that automotive recycling industry has changed a little bit since last time they took their sample size
or maybe they've made their sample size based on a couple of bad experiences
and never revisited it to see what potential is out there with qualified vendors.
And there's programs out there in our industry like the ARA. We have the Certified Autoracycler Program
and on top of that we have the Gold Seal Quality Assurance Program
and these are the types of things that are making promises with the customers
on the way we're going to behave in our transactions and how we're going to handle things,
how we're going to handle returns, how we're going to handle payments,
all these different things that are available to make a service level agreement
with somebody that we're working with on how we want to do business together.
Part of the challenge in this comes in with electronic sourcing of parts
and I'm guessing that I haven't listened to all these episodes
but I'm guessing that it comes up often that in the electronic sourcing of parts
when the insurance companies start putting multiple parts from multiple vendors
of recycled parts onto estimates, they're probably working hard to accomplish their goal
of bringing the estimate down but that's really not helping the professional shop in their cycle time
when they start having parts coming from multiple different vendors
and sometimes when they start doing that if they're not paying attention to the quality aspect
of the part that's offered and the price becomes the issue
it puts the professional repair in a bad position because they may have picked a part
that had a lower price point but not realize what the quality standard was
and then the shop has that estimate to work with
and then they find that that part was not of quality
either when they check on it to buy it
or they order it and find out that it wasn't what they thought it was going to be
and those are huge disruptors in cycle time
and I think that we would definitely be in the camp to say
let's try to get as many parts sourced close to me as I can
so we're not getting parts also sourced into a larger regional footprint
that becomes problematic where it's, I'm sorry I'm wandering here
and just going on but it's such an issue for shops
I feel their pain and so we're trying to cooperate with shops
to let them know that we want to help them through that process
if they happen to get something on an estimate that doesn't make any sense to them
is there a way we can help them figure that out with the inventory that's closer to home
Yeah, for people who have the perception
I guess that use might mean less reliable quote unquote
how would you respond to them?
I want Shannon to answer since he's an owner-operator
but we can talk all day about warranties and quality
so go ahead Shannon
Yeah, 100%
you know when we bring the vehicles in
we are whenever possible, however possible
run testing that vehicle and checking the components
we're taking a YouTube video going around the vehicle with it running
and showing the dashboard
our inventory techs have access to scanners that they use
if there's check engine lights to see what might be causing that
something related to the accident from the car we got it from
or did it have a previous problem
there is obviously as we go through our processes
we utilize car facts
we utilize whatever service records we can get our hands on through that process
to help us find out if the vehicle had replaced components
as it had warranty work done
in our mechanical arena part of the certification standard
for being recall certified
we run each vehicle through a recall check
at the inventory process at the dismantling process
and on certain components of the sale process
to make sure that we're not selling recall parts
and the level that we go to
and we teach to at the professional side of things is quite high
now I'm going to just temper myself back
not all of our members take things to that level
that another member might
it doesn't mean the other one's wrong
they just might run a different business model
and that's why it's important if you're a shop owner that's listening
and I know there's some that are going to be listening
that have wonderful relationships with automotive recycling facilities
and they lean on them a lot in the mechanical world to help them
and there's going to be others going to say
ah that never worked for me
they were always a problem
they sent me junk
it has always bent dirty stuff stuck on it that I had to torch off
I mean that's out there
I'm not going to deny
but that's where you look for members of the Automotive Recyclers Association
you look for people that have got the certified auto recycling
certified automotive recycler standard
people that are in the Gold Seal program
we're currently working with another one of our industry
sisters and brothers in the industry
the United Recyclers Group
putting together a quality assurance program
that will be a combined effort between both groups
that will take that to another level yet
and that's something that's coming out here in the next half a year
the process is in place
but there is a big big desire
for what we do at a professional level
people want the parts
and we have a desire as a Recyclers Association
to teach and promote our members to be able to reach those standards
and not everybody's going to make it
but you know at the same time
as you have listeners and owners
there's some owners that have got everything figured out
and it runs like a well-oiled machine
they got employees they've had for 15 years
and everything works great every day
and there's other ones that don't
and they have challenges
they're trying to figure out
and so we're no different
we're trying to run profitable businesses
but we want to make ourselves great partners
with our shop customers
so we want to know what they need
and try to match that
offer great warranties that have labor allowances
so if something doesn't go right
there's labor reimbursements
that's all available if you find the right partner
and Vince this is something that we talked about
a little bit before the show
shop owners have a
not all shop owners
but shop owners in general
are fighting this reputation within the industry
of being crooked
trying to
rip off their customers
and things of that nature
Vince you had alluded to this industry
dealing with that same reputation
and trying to prove
tell me a little bit about what we're
I would say to
shop owners who are listening
who've had a bad experience
with an auto recycler
look like Shannon said
there are professional auto recyclers
and then there's junkyards
and unfortunately
we exist in the bubble
we know exactly how to determine the difference between the two
but I would say that if
some of the people listening to this
would say the same thing about
their peers
you've got responsible, ethical
auto repairs that have integrity
and are focused on customer service
and they probably know a half a dozen people
who they wouldn't trust
and so it's the same thing
but how do you tell the difference
between a trade association
a training certification
everybody knows what ASC is
and you look for those standards
within the auto repair industry
it's no different in the auto recycling industry
you've got to look for those standards
and yeah we do fight against it
we're a trade association
we provide this training that we're talking about
we provide the certification tracks that we're talking about
but we don't force it on anybody
it's there
and if somebody wants to become a member
that they're interested in elevating their business
if they become a member and then they want
to become a certified automotive recycler
that's another level of significance
that shows that they're investing in their business
and their reputation
at the end of the day everybody's got to do their homework
and make sure that they're doing business
with businesses that are
interested in more than just
the transaction that takes place
across the counter but they're actually
working in their business to build a reputable
business with ethical standards
so what is the best way for a shop owner
to start confidently
sourcing especially if they've never done it
before where do they start
yeah so probably a good place to start
is there's a couple of ways
to start if you have a
relationship with a local auto recycler
most of the auto
I would say I'm saying most because I can't definitively
say all but I would
suspect all of the auto recyclers
who've gone through the process of becoming
a certified auto recycler
are going to broadcast that
you're going to see that
first of all you go to their website
and you should see that they're a member of the
Automotive Recyclers Association
that's kind of the first level that you go
okay these people are investing
in their trade association that's a good sign
then you see that they're a certified
automotive recycler and maybe they have a few endorsements
like high voltage vehicles
and recalls and airbags
and you can say okay these people are at the top level
they're gold seal certified
at the top level of their industry
and that's a really good
indicator that you're dealing
with a professional automotive
recycler and you can build that relationship
and by the way one of the things we
didn't touch on when we were talking about
sourcing in cycle time but one of the
fantastic things that's happened within this
industry over the past 10 or 15 years
is we there
is the so we have some
fantastic third party
vendor people who
have amazing businesses amazing
technology and tools
that connect auto recyclers
so we've got a trucking
network it's third party it's its own
thing that connects
auto recyclers like
it's like our own industry FedEx
or UPS I can be in Virginia
and I can call my local
auto recycler and ask him
for a part and he will look in his system
and he may not have that part in his
inventory but he can now see the
inventory of one of the auto
recycler in Buffalo New York and he can
get on the phone with me and go yeah I've got your part
I'll have it here tomorrow really
yeah and that
it's definitely been a game changer
for the industry to be able to move
parts around the country efficiently
because that is one of the challenges
that we know we face is that
and I said this earlier when you compare
the distribution networks
of an auto manufacturer that has been
established for a long long
time and logistically
perfected for years as long
as they have product they're pretty darn good
about getting the parts when people meet
them the big box companies
that are out there they've got very
good systems amongst their
buildings and if they
they need to get something moved around the country they've got a pretty good way to
do it our industry has been able
to match that now with Team PRP
is the affiliation that we have
many members do and we're able to
use that trucking network and there's
another set of quality standards there
that ARA is the quality standards
body we hold the standards but together
Automotive Recycle Association
Team PRP and URG
have put together the parts
preparation and shipping guidelines
and so our goal
with this program is that
no different than ordering a Big Mac
in New York and a Big Mac in South Dakota
and it's made by different people in different buildings
you usually get a pretty similar Big Mac
our goal is that if you order
an engine in New York
and you order an engine in South Dakota
that the people that are preparing it
are going to remove it and prepare it
and have it ready for you in the same manner
and this has been an effort
undergoing for a number of years
and it continues that Automotive Recycle Association
has ARA University
that's our own training industry
that is an online university
that our members use as part of their membership
to be able to get trained
on the parts preparation and shipping standards
to be able to get not just the owners
this is for the employees to be able to get trained
and this has been a
very big big deal
we also have safety training on there for our members
but all these things have helped raise the bar
considerably in the industry
for part access and part consistency
are there any misconceptions
that are out there that you
kind of would like to clear up
about the process or about sourcing
recycled parts
earlier when you were talking about
professional repair shops that are listening
just offering them a thought
and that thought would be
is that if you have a customer that comes in
and they need a repair done
I'm not telling anybody something they probably don't already know
but I'm just going to say it out loud
is that if you're a
independent and you have a customer in your shop
the best thing you can do
is figure out the best way to take care of them
and keep them in your shop
letting them be able to be satisfied
they know you gave them a series of options
and that those options gave them good enough options
that they felt comfortable that you were trying to
be fair with them
and you gave them the best opportunity to repair their car
if they come in
and they need an analog brake assembly
for their vehicle
and that new analog brake assembly
is from a Lexus or something
or a high-end Toyota
and it's $2,700 new
and it's going to be another
$500
for diagnostics and installation
you're looking at an individual with a $3,500 repair bill
or $3,200 repair bill
that's a lot of money
the credit card is probably already full of the customer
if you could still have that
job in your shop
and profitably source
a recycled original
equipment ABS module
from a lower-mudge vehicle that crashed
and what this part was not involved in the accident
and you get that in there for say $500
you still put on a reasonable markup
on it
you put it in for the same labor
you should use the same techniques
as you would putting in a new one or a remanufactured one
because it's a different part
you want to salvage and save the part
by using the same techniques
that you're supposed to use for installation
you've all of a sudden got a customer that walks out your door
for let's say $1,200
and their car is working good
and that's the difference between
some people being able to repair a car
and have to take the bus
because some people can't
take pay $3,200
so you've given them an option
that makes them realize that
this shop really does care about me
they're trying to make sure and get me back on the road
and not just get in my pocket book
it's the same thing we face
well like you said not everyone can afford
a $3,500 repair
the guy I used to take my car to
would say it was a matter of good, better, best
and it really was a matter of what I could afford
at the time
first car didn't have a lot of money
he would source parts
and he would give me options
on what I could afford to keep my car
running for me
so I can make it from point A to point B
without having to buy a new car
and there are lots of people in that situation
that can't afford to run out
and buy a new car
when they have a major expense
that they just can't afford
so you bring up a very good point in that vein
along those same lines
are there particular vehicle segments
that you see an increased
demand for these types of parts
whether it's EVs
late model vehicles
well historically
motors and transmissions
have always been the number one and number two parts
by volume sold by
by all the recyclers right Shannon?
yep they're right at the top of the list all the time
and I will tell you that every one of those V8s
that was made ends up in a
recycling yard and they're there
they may be
struggling to find these drivetrain components
and it may be because they're just
not looking in the right place because
they're out there
Shannon you might know the
statistic on this better than I do
but I would say an extremely
high percentage of vehicles
end up at the end of their life
not because of mechanical failure
but because of collision damage correct?
correct and there again when you build that relationship
you're going to find out what kind of vehicles
that professional auto recycler
is sourcing they're
if they're lying a business and we've got
people in our industry that do really good with this
cars that are 10 years old
to 15 years old you end up with more
opportunity for problems because you're getting
to the end of that life cycle
but there is a good
majority of the people in our industry that are working with cars
that are literally brand new
back to stuff that's 10 years old
and we're working with vehicles that have got
30,000 miles
70,000 miles
and that have been well cared for
they just had a bad last 5 feet of their life
and they were not planning
on getting rid of that vehicle until they had an accident
and you'll occasionally get
a problem but that's why we have inspections
and that's why we have warranties
but I can tell you that
at our facility we also sell
a lot of remanufactured
options to go along with our
recycled product we've got a number of lines
that we've brought in to go alongside
of our recycled product
and the recycled motors and transmissions
warranty and failure rate is
similar or less than the remanufactured
items using the recycled original equipment
and these are my own statistics
point being is that things happen to things
and they break
but they don't all break and so
you got to know what to look for and you got to know
what the vendor
cooperation is but there are
wonderful parts out there just waiting
to be installed and take care of a customer
I think there's something that
I said Shannon that is
worth repeating and that is
for the people listening
you need to understand that there are different
types of auto recyclers out there
of course there's full service and self
service right self service pay a few bucks
you go take a part off yourself those are generally
going to be 15 year old
cars and older but then
for what I would
imagine most of the people who would
listen to this you're going to want to find
a good late model
auto recycler somebody who's buying those
newer cars that Shannon was talking about
the cars that have low miles and he said
30,000 miles we all know
for a fact that people wreck cars at 5,000 miles
right and I mean so there are
there are extremely low mileage
cars out there that that auto
recyclers are buying and harvesting
these recycled parts from so
knowing what you're looking for knowing
the type of recycler that you
that you're looking for to buy the right
part to service your customers just
is very important and that's yet
another good point is you know
just because it got into
an accident doesn't mean all of
the components are dead on it it just
means that obviously that car is
inoperable but it could have a life somewhere
else yeah if that were the case
they wouldn't be fixing cars would they
right if all parts were deemed
no good because a few
parts got damaged then why would they
repair cars at all that's a good point
to that's a good point to
know as we've dismantled
cars I've yet to find an expiration date
on a car I hope yeah thanks
I hope as there becomes more awareness
of the sustainability component
the fact that we don't
need to harvest raw
materials and continue to make
as many I'm not saying any I'm just
saying as many new replacement
parts because people become
more confident in the recycled
parts and they feel good about it so
we I like to say it's good for you it's good
for your environment it's great for your wallet right
and people start buying parts
so I would like to see greater utilization
of these parts and building bridges
with with people like the people
who are listening to this show people who are
in the collision repair industry you know
we've got we talked about this before
we started rolling here we've got
to mend some fences right so you know
some of the bad
reputation that our industry has
was earned right now
but we've spent a lot of time and we've spent
years overcoming that and we still want
to have these conversations to
and I think that what was at the crux
of what Shannon was saying is it's
all about relationships and I think
any independent repairer that's
listening to this understands that
like having a relationship
with your partners is key
and having those conversations
like Shannon said so I think
I think the more people realize
what a value option
that recycled original equipment is
the more we'll see usage of it
give me a success story
that someone's come to you with that
really stands out in your head
a few years ago we were doing
we did a reality show
it was kind of a fun infotainment piece
that the ARA did and it was
we would go into auto recyclers
and we would just dig through cars
and find stuff and it was just fun
but I would always whenever we had
the film crew on site I always stuck around
and I would interview customers
I would interview a lady
who was at a self-serve
place and she was getting a door
for her S10 pickup truck
and I asked her about that door
I said you know why are you here doing this
she says because I'm going to save a lot of money
I said well how much money are you going to save on that door
she said well I called and this door
they wanted like $850 for this door
I said what are you paying for this door
she said $57
I'm not kidding you
she was at a self-service facility
she's taking
her and her boyfriend were taking the door
off themselves and carrying it up
this is so important
not to forget
this is keeping
people's cars on the road
who otherwise they just
don't have the choice
they can't spend $850 on a door
and then have to paint it
and then put all the components on it
that truck's not going to get a door
at that home it's just not
right if they don't have this option
so the bottom line is as long as people
have options
they can
know the options they're going to be a happier customer
because they can make a choice
and it doesn't feel like it's a high pressure
choice it's still a hard choice
because they're spending money they weren't planning on spending before the car broke
they didn't wake up that we can say
alright this week we're going to spend $1200
on our car are we everybody ready
that's not reality they wake up and say
okay we got to get the groceries we got to get this
oh crap the car broke
and they're trying to figure out how to fix it
and so having those options is a big deal
and then also being able to sell the idea
and I'm not saying sell it because it's a reality
we have the proof that they're buying
a sustainable option that
the carbon savings equivalent is
substantial every time you reuse a part
you're saving money you're saving
the environment you're saving peace of mind
we really believe in our product
alright finally guys
where can people go to learn
more about the ARA
such a good question I'm so glad you asked
let's talk about it
I know we have some podcasts out there
and I know there's all kinds of information
available like we do so we
we have a website who would we be
if we didn't have a website and it's
ash.org
and that's our website there's a whole lot of
information on there about
everything that we've talked about right
certification membership our events
we have we have an annual conference
every year my my information
you can contact me through
there and man would I would I welcome
I'd be thrilled to get an email
or a chat or something from somebody
said hey I heard you on on the show
and they want to reach out because I would love to
have that conversation call me up beat
me up I don't care because it gives me an
opportunity to either address some issues
or overcome them right but we
have we're pretty
we have a pretty big
social presence so we're on Facebook
we're on Instagram we're on LinkedIn
we we are on YouTube we have a
YouTube channel Automotive Recyclers Association
we have a podcast
called ARA Unscripted
which is just long form
conversations with people in the industry
and people adjacent to the industry
I think you cover a lot of bases there
Vince and I'm thrilled
that we had this opportunity to talk
but I would encourage the people listen if you've had
a had a rough experience or
you've got a stereotype in your mind
or you've you've listened to somebody else
that had a terrible experience
have your own seek out a vendor that
that you can work with and
look for the Automotive Recycler Association members
and if if you don't find one
give us a call and we'll try to
find people in your area so you get some choices
you may not be considering. Absolutely.
And Vince as we said earlier
if we do get inquiries either to Ratchet and Wrench
or the ARA and people have
questions or people bring up topics
that they want to know more about
I'm happy to come back together
and talk it out. Absolutely.
Thank you. I'd love that opportunity. Thank you, Christine.
Yeah, thank you guys for joining me.
It's been a pleasure. Thank you.
That's going to do it
for us today at Ratchet and Wrench Radio
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