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According to a smoking gun document, Mercury pays its repair shops incentives to use aftermarket parts.
Consumer Watchdog has obtained an internal Mercury document that exposes the company's practice of paying its recommended auto repair shops incentives -- up to $750 -- to use aftermarket and reconditioned parts and penalizes its repair shops for using original manufacturer parts. According to the Rate Agreement, Mercury pays body shops 20% more than the shop paid for non-manufacturer parts, while it pays 5% less than the body shop's own cost for original manufacturer's parts. Incentivizing repair shops to use inferior parts when repairing policyholders' cars endangers policyholders even if it may save Mercury money and increase profits. Consumer Watchdog believes that the internal document was issued recently and reflects the current arrangement between Mercury and its body shops.