The Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA) warns of multiple e-commerce sites that may falsely identify non-CAPA-certified automotive replacement parts as CAPA-certified.

According to a press release, third-party sellers may list counterfeit items on e-commerce platforms without any oversight by the platforms, nor any independent verification of the legality or authenticity of third-party seller product claims.

“Misrepresentation of non-CAPA products as being certified by CAPA is not only an infringement on CAPA’s trademarks, but it also does a disservice to the entire automotive industry,” said Clark Plucinski, CAPA Board of Directors chairman, in the release. “Now more than ever, it is critical to know how to identify a genuine CAPA Certified part. For counterfeit parts, claims of safety, quality, or comparability cannot be substantiated for infringing parties.”

Along with unauthorized use and trademark infringement of CAPA’s name, logo, and other images, CAPA says it’s aware that third-party seller product descriptions may highlight CAPA certification on parts not eligible for certification within the CAPA program, and on parts not produced by CAPA-approved manufacturers.

CAPA says it continues to investigate and will endeavor to identify and stop unauthorized use and infringement, including by contacting the e-commerce platforms directly. It will also issue public notices on its website to bring more awareness to the industry of the specific issues it identifies, according to the release.

“This is a reminder to the industry to look for the CAPA Seal and confirm it’s a genuine CAPA part,” Plucinski said. “Whether you’re selling, purchasing, receiving, or installing CAPA parts, make sure the part has the yellow and blue CAPA seal.

“The CAPA website is the best resource to determine the legitimacy of the part – from looking up the CAPA Seal number or part number to confirm CAPA certification, to verifying that the part manufacturer has been approved by CAPA.”

When asked by Repairer Driven News if there is a way to tell if supplier parts are truly CAPA-certified and/or certified in general, CCC responded that CAPA certification status comes directly from the part supplier’s system. Mitchell International and Audatex were asked the same question but didn’t respond by the publication deadline.

At the November 2024 meeting of the Collision Industry Conference (CIC), Stacy Bartnik, Intertek’s transportation technologies industry relations manager, explained that CAPA’s certification program is “a procedure by which an accredited agency such as Intertek will assess and verify the characteristics of a product, in this case parts, to make sure that they’re in accordance with an established requirement or standards.”

“And this involves independent testing,” she said. “We’re going to make sure it demonstrates compliance to the standard that’s written, and that standard is written to be functionally equivalent to the OE service part. Also, if there’s any federal regulations, we have to make sure it meets those as well… We are certifying that it’s functionally equivalent to the standard that we have developed with our engineers; that it’s functionally equivalent to that OE service part.”

For more information about CAPA, visit capacertified.org.

Images

Featured image: CAPA booth at NACE 2016. (Repairer Driven News file photo)