A shop should explain OEM and aftermarket parts as a choice it walks the customer through, not as a ranking: what each term means on the shop's own estimates, when the shop recommends one or the other, how the warranty on each differs, and when the customer decides. Used, rebuilt, and remanufactured parts need their own plain labels, because the FTC has guides on exactly how those parts may be described.
Parts questions usually surface at the estimate, when a customer sees two prices for what sounds like the same repair. The automotive services hub covers what federal warranty law says about independent repair; this page is about the parts conversation itself.
This is a content question for shop owners and service managers. It is not advice to drivers about which part to buy, and it is not legal advice. Parts disclosure rules vary by state, so bring your written parts policy to counsel before it goes on the site.
Define the terms the way your estimates use them
The same word can mean different things at two shops. The FTC's Auto Repair Basics guide describes salvage parts as "used parts taken from another vehicle without alteration," and says the terms remanufactured, rebuilt, and reconditioned "generally mean the same thing: parts have been restored to a sound working condition." The FTC's parts guides, discussed below, draw a tighter line. Your page should define each term as it appears on your estimates, then say when you use each one.
| Term on the estimate | What the page should say | Who confirms |
|---|---|---|
| OEM | Who makes it, how the shop sources it, and typical availability | Parts manager |
| Aftermarket | Which suppliers the shop uses, by category, and why | Parts manager |
| Remanufactured or rebuilt | Which components the shop offers this way and who did the rework | Parts manager |
| Used or salvage | When the shop offers it, if ever, and how it is labeled | Owner |
| Warranty | The coverage on each type, from the supplier and from the shop | Service manager |
Many shop sites name a few parts brands and stop there. A parts brand is not a parts policy. What a driver wants is the reasoning: when the shop would put an aftermarket part on a car, when it would not, and whether the driver gets a say. If the shop never installs used parts, say that too, since a clear no answers the question as well as a yes.
What the FTC guides say about used and rebuilt parts
The FTC's guides for the used auto parts industry, 16 CFR Part 20, call it unfair or deceptive to "represent, directly or by implication, that any industry product is new or unused when such is not the fact." They expect the not-new status to be disclosed clearly and conspicuously "in advertising, in promotional literature, on invoices," and on packaging. The guides describe the FTC's views and say they "do not operate to bind the FTC or the public," but they show how the agency reads these words. A shop's website is a form of advertising, so a service page promising "factory parts" on a job where the shop installs remanufactured units creates exactly the gap the guides describe.
The guides also set conditions on the words themselves. "Rebuilt" requires, among other things, that the part was dismantled and that all impaired or substantially worn parts were "restored to a sound condition or replaced." "Remanufactured" and "Factory Rebuilt" add that the work was done at a factory generally engaged in rebuilding such products. Where advertising names the original manufacturer of a part someone else reworked, the guides call for a disclosure such as "Rebuilt by other than XYZ Motors." Before publishing, ask your parts manager a simple question: "For each remanufactured component we install, do we know who did the rework, and does our wording match what the box says?"
Warranty questions drivers attach to parts
Parts questions and warranty questions can arrive together. The FTC's consumer page on auto warranties says "Your warranty stays in effect if you use aftermarket or recycled parts," and that the manufacturer or dealer "must prove the aftermarket or recycled part caused the damage" before denying coverage. The same page notes that when a warranty covers work for free, the dealer or manufacturer "can make you use repair facilities it chooses." A page that keeps both points in view is more accurate than one that only reassures.
The FTC's repair guide adds that "Your state may require repair shops to tell you if non-original equipment will be used in the repair." Find out what your state requires and describe your disclosure step on the page. Then separate the factory warranty from the part's own coverage, and both from the shop's labor warranty, which our page on writing about warranties on parts and labor covers.
A fictional parts explainer
A fictional independent shop in Minnesota that works mostly on Japanese imports wanted one page that answered the parts question before customers asked. It illustrates planning, not any real shop. The page opens with a two-sentence answer: the shop quotes OEM parts by default on certain systems, offers named aftermarket options where it has used them long enough to stand behind them, and lets the customer choose whenever both are on the estimate. It then lists, by system, where the shop's default differs, how each option appears on the estimate, and the warranty that comes with each.
The estimate itself has to match the page. A line reading "front pads, aftermarket, ceramic, supplier warranty 12 months" lets the customer connect the paper to the explanation, while a line reading "brake pads" does not. If the shop's estimating software prints part codes, the page should explain them, or the shop should change what the estimate prints.
None of that can be written from a parts catalog. Which systems get OEM by default, which suppliers the shop trusts, and how long each warranty runs are facts the parts manager already holds, and the writer should not be making them up to fill a section. Collision work raises a separate set of parts questions, because the insurer is often part of the decision; see how a collision center should explain working with insurance.
Hudson South's four steps start from those facts. The Authority Asset gathers approved business knowledge and evidence, such as the parts policy, supplier warranty terms, and estimate samples. Hudson Twenty-One records how the shop communicates across 21 dimensions, so the explanation sounds like the advisor at the counter. Market Intelligence researches the parts questions drivers in your market ask, and AEO Creation turns those inputs into answer-first pages.
Find the parts questions your site leaves open
On a free 30-minute call, Hudson South walks through where your site and competing shops' sites differ in explaining parts choices to drivers.
Get your free competitor analysisSources
- Auto Repair Basics. Federal Trade Commission. Read 2026-10-16.
- 16 CFR Part 20: Guides for the Rebuilt, Reconditioned, and Other Used Automobile Parts Industry. eCFR, Office of the Federal Register. Read 2026-10-16.
- Auto Warranties and Auto Service Contracts. Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Advice. Read 2026-10-16.