The CAPA Seal

The Certified Automotive Parts Association provides consumers, collision repairers and insurers with a means of confirming the quality of crash parts. The steps below tell you what to ask for, what to do if you can’t get it, and what to do if it doesn’t work. Each seal has a tear-off tab with a unique number that can be used to verify the use of a CAPA certified part to your customer or insurance company.

Once the seal is affixed to a surface, it will self-destruct when removed. This ensures that a seal cannot be transferred from a certified part to a non-certified part.

Simple Steps to Quality Aftermarket Parts

1	Check the estimate for CAPA parts (most states require a designation of the kind of parts listed on the estimate).
2	Specify CAPA parts when ordering. Indicate that parts without CAPA seals will be returned.
3	Look for the CAPA seal upon delivery. Remove bottom tab and place it on the repair order.
4	Reject parts without CAPA seals -- return them to the distributor immediately for full credit.
5	Report quality problems to your distributor. Encourage the distributor to use CAPA's recall program when appropriate.
6	Use CAPA's Quality Complaint Form to report quality problems with CAPA parts.

CAPA Seal Placement - Where to Look for the CAPA Seal

These illustrations represent the recommended location of the CAPA quality seal, as well as the manufacturer's lot number and identification, on parts approved for certification by CAPA. This information should be put on all complaints regarding CAPA parts. Please look for the CAPA Quality Seal - only parts that have a CAPA Quality Seal should be considered CAPA Certified.

CAPA Seal Location for Part Types
with CAPA Certification Standards
and Parts Currently Certified


Hoods	Radiator Supports	Door Shells	Fenders	Tailgates

CAPA Seal Location for Part Types
with CAPA Certification Standards
and No Parts Currently Certified

The following items have certification standards but no manufacturer has certified the parts. No independent party has checked their quality. If body shops demand CAPA quality, manufacturers are likely to present these part types for certification.


Bezels	Grilles	Pickup Beds

WARNING: TAMPERING WITH CAPA SEALS IS ILLEGAL

The CAPA Quality Seal is a key element of the CAPA program and as such is owned by CAPA and protected by federal and state law. Only participating manufacturers are licensed to apply the mark after undergoing a stringent examination of their quality control procedures, thorough testing of a representative sample of the parts that they produce, and a rigorous, ongoing inspection program. Possession of CAPA Quality Seals by anyone other than the Participant to whom CAPA sold them or illicitly placing seals on parts is a legal offense. Discovery of parties engaged in either action will result in public notice of the offense and possible legal action.