The 2023 ABP Club State of the Body Repair Industry Report provides invaluable insights into bodyshop attitudes to, and use of, reclaimed parts. It is encouraging to see that 78% of bodyshops are using reclaimed parts and that 67% confirmed their use of reclaimed parts had increased in the last year. The 2022 ABP Report findings were similar, citing 79% use and 74% increased use over the 12-month period; suggesting the market has maintained its position and potentially experienced some plateauing.
Our experience at Silverlake Automotive Recycling [Silverlake] has been very different. In the 12 months November 2022 to October 2023, we have seen a 596% increase in sales of our reclaimed parts and a 535% increase in active bodyshop customers. We were proud to be awarded Recycled Vehicle Parts Supplier of the year at the ATF Professional Vehicle Recycling Awards in November 2023 and we believe our success story can be attributed to our partnership approach with our bodyshop customers.
Over half of the bodyshops responding to the ABP Report saw parts availability as a significant or huge threat to their business over the next 12 months, with the leading drivers for reclaimed parts usage cited as 77% when the new part is no longer available and 76% when the new part is not available in a reasonable time scale. Bodyshops also reported the detrimental effect that price rises on new parts are having on their businesses. Yet, reclaimed parts, which can realise savings of between 35 – 50% on RRP of new OEM parts, make up an average of only 2.5% of total parts volumes. Seeking to understand why more reclaimed parts are not being fitted, inconsistent quality tops the list at 59%, followed by the requirement for too much rectification work at 49% and poor availability at 44%. If you combine the 33% of respondents citing poor quality with the 59% citing inconsistent quality you hit 92% with quality issues.
Silverlake is ISO 9001,14001 and 27001 aaccredited and certified by the Vehicle Recyclers’ Association [VRA] to the UK Standard for Reclaimed Parts, meaning our parts are quality graded, warranty assured and come with full provenance history. Bodyshops buying their parts from uncertified suppliers are gambling on quality. However, whilst that VRA industry certification is awarded following a robust audit, Silverlake recognised that to build further confidence and trust in the quality of our product with our bodyshop customers, we needed to go one step further. As part of our partnership approach we invest in ongoing inhouse and inter-company cross training with bodyshop customers, to understand how their business works, to demonstrate how we work as an automotive recycler and to establish best practice for supply of parts tailored to their needs. 2024 will also see us introduce job swap opportunities to the mix to help with further in-depth familiarisation.
Good communication and expectation management is also pivotal. Many of our bodyshop customers are prepared to take a panel from Silverlake that requires rectification – for example a damaged Grade B & C panel under the VRA grading scheme – rather than wait for a pristine Grade A panel, in order to reduce critical key-to-key time. This is because we clearly communicate the panel damage in advance, so they know exactly what to expect and can factor in rectification works when making their buying decision. Our partnership approach to pricing ensures the damage is reflected in the price, helping a better supply of panels.
Addressing concerns about poor availability, we apply bespoke analytics to inhouse and market data ensuring we buy the right vehicles/models for dismantling, in order to meet the parts needs of our bodyshop customers. Our 1000 m2 panel warehouse stores in excess of 6,000 panels and 50,000 online parts which are continually restocked, supporting ongoing fulfilment as we supply increasing volumes. We are also proud to be members of the e2e Total Loss Vehicle Management network, affording our customers access to a further 500,000 quality graded, warranty assured and provenance tested reclaimed parts, contained within a growing network of quality assured partners. We understand the impact of parts delays on bodyshops and Silverlake parts are delivered within two working days, nationwide and by our own delivery fleet to ensure no damage occurs during transit.
It is rewarding as an industry to see that policyholder resistance to reclaimed parts has fallen 7% in the last 12 months, from 44% in 2022 to 37% in 2023. Time and effort has been invested by insurers, bodyshops and automotive recyclers in reassuring and educating consumers on the benefits of reclaimed parts and this will need to continue in 2024.
27% of bodyshops cited work provider resistance as a reason for not using or increasing their use of reclaimed parts, whilst 61% report they fit reclaimed parts at the request of the work provider and 39% to avoid a total loss at the request of the work provider. Insurers remain at different stages in their journey of adopting a reclaimed parts strategy, with some still only using the cost effectiveness of the parts to avoid a total loss claim. Wholescale adoption of a reclaimed parts solution across the entirety of a motor insurer’s book of business is not yet standard practice. We are hopeful for more consistency and clarity across work provider instructions in 2024 as the market matures further and the cost savings, productivity gains, shortened motor claims life cycles, carbon reduction gains and customer experience benefits become even more compelling.
