What does it mean if something is CAPA certified?
When it’s time to repair your car, you have to choose between an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) vs aftermarket part. Today, the quality of aftermarket parts has improved with reliability, finish, and quality that exceeds or matches OEM standards. Several aftermarket parts and also backed by warranties offered by the manufacturers. These benefits of choosing an aftermarket part over an OEM part have led to an increase in the demand for aftermarket car parts. But when it comes to choosing an aftermarket structural part for collision repairs, it becomes difficult to choose a quality product. This is where the CAPA certification is very helpful because it sets a standard in the aftermarket parts industry and provides the market with the ability to choose a quality part. In this article, we will learn about what CAPA-certified auto parts are and why they are important.
In this article:
1. What Is Capa Certification?
3. Are CAPA Certified Auto Parts Worth It?
4. How To Identify A CAPA Certified Part?
1 What Is Capa Certification?
CAPA stands for “Certified Automotive Parts Association”. It is an unbiased organization that tests the quality of aftermarket auto collision parts like bumpers, fenders, headlights, etc. to ensure they are equal to or greater than their OEM counterparts. With a plethora of aftermarket auto parts available today, it becomes hard for you to select a replacement part as safe as the original. Established in 1987, CAPA has been unbiasedly testing and inspecting the quality of these parts to ensure every aspect of an aftermarket part, including fitment, appearance, and durability is guaranteed. This has made CAPA a widely-recognized authority in the auto industry for the quality and safety offered by aftermarket replacement auto parts.
2 What Does CAPA Certify?
CAPA certification is the most effective quality assurance program that establishes quality and safety standards for auto components like headlights, bumpers, foam rubbers, plastic, and metal components. CAPA sets testing standards depending on the type of material used and follows detailed testing and inspecting procedures to ensure the quality of that part. These standards are continually improved with time as the technology advances to refine the testing of the parts they evaluate. CAPA certifies a range of auto parts that fall under different standards, which are as follows:
- CAPA 101 – It includes body parts made from metal that are primed and painted like hoods, fenders, pickup beds, quarter panels, wheel housing, tailgates, door shells, etc.
- CAPA 201 – It includes plastic body components that are painted, primed, unprimed, and are plated with metallic coatings. Some of these parts are bezels, bumper covers, front and rear fascias, header panels, fender liners, fenders grilles, etc.
- CAPA 202 – This is a standard for nonwoven fabric parts like fender liners, hood liners, etc.
- CAPA 301 – This includes automotive lighting components like headlights, side markers, high-mounted brake lights, and tail lamps.
- CAPA 401 – A standard for metal and plastic attachment parts like a bumper cover bracket, fender mounting bracket, lighting bracket, hood hinge bracket, and bumper bracket.
- CAPA 501 – A testing standard dedicated specifically for bumper parts, it includes bumper reinforcements, bumper energy absorbers, front bumpers, impact bars, rear bumpers, etc.
- CAPA 601 – Radiator Parts
- CAPA 602 – AC Condensers
- CAPA 701 – Car mirrors, mirror glass, and housing.
- CAPA 702 – For rearview cameras and side-view cameras.
- CAPA 703 – Testing standard for ultrasonic car parking sensors.
- CAPA 801 – Windshields and automotive glass.
- CAPA 901 – Replica wheels.
CAPA tests these parts for various requirements and factors like adhesive integrity, proper vehicle fit, correct size and dimensions, material composition, and mechanical and physical properties. Lighting parts are tested for the projected luminous area, projected life, durability, and FMVSS 108 compliance, which is analogous to Canada’s CMVSS 108 regulation. The regulation requires specific requirements for replacement lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment to ensure safety on the road. Furthermore, CAPA also carries out Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) testing of parts that feature electronic devices like headlamps, rearview cameras, and parking sensors so they don’t interfere with the normal operation of the vehicle’s onboard electronic systems.
3 Are CAPA Certified Auto Parts Worth It?
CAPA offers a quality assurance certification that helps in creating products that are as close to the OEM parts as possible, making them a viable alternative to the original equipment. The auto collision repair market is made up largely of insurance-covered repairs and the majority of them prescribe CAPA-certified auto parts. For example, the CAPA 501 standard for bumpers includes a series of dynamic crash tests to determine the strength and safety of your vehicle during a collision. The bumper part to be tested is mounted to a simulator and crashed into a rigid barrier to compare the performance of an aftermarket part to the OEM part. Because of these extensive testing methods and evaluation of safety-related aspects of structural parts, CAPA has raised its own bar over the years by offering quality aftermarket collision body parts. Therefore, while choosing between a non-CAPA and CAPA-certified car part, it is always wise to choose the latter as they are crash tested and inspected to ensure they meet or exceed the OEM safety standards. If you are replacing a bumper, reinforcement bar, or radiator support on your vehicle, it’s worth paying a little extra to get a part that has a CAPA-certified seal on it.
4 How To Identify A CAPA Certified Part?
After CAPA tests an automotive part, it attaches a CAPA Quality Seal to that part to confirm it meets the safety requirements and test standards. The CAPA Seal is a two-part seal and carries a unique number and a bar code. Once the seal is affixed to the inside of a part by the manufacturer, it cannot be removed and will get destroyed if any attempt is made. This ensures the seal cannot be transferred between two parts and prevents fraud. The CAPA Seal is proof that the part is functionally equivalent to an original manufacturer part and will fit and perform like the original one. While purchasing CAPA-certified car parts, an easy way to identify them is to check for the letter C at the end of the part number, for example, TO1000349C.
Let’s face it, it is tough to choose a quality bumper or headlight from a range of aftermarket parts available today. If you run a garage or an auto workshop, you must have dealt with poor quality parts, fitment issues, and safety offered by structural auto parts like bumpers and radiator supports. Although most of the aftermarket parts are cheaper compared to OEM parts, the quality is not guaranteed. This makes CAPA certification very important for collision parts like bumpers, headlights, and fenders because it ensures all parts are pre-tested to conform to the highest industry standards without compromising on quality and durability.
