Some owners question the quality of such hoods.
When Peggy Frey picked up her newly repaired Ford Mustang from the body shop recommended by her insurance company, she found the hood didn't fit and the headlights were loose. Frey of Indian Shores, Fla., spent the next year battling with State Farm Insurance Co., contending it forced the shop to use substandard replacement parts when fixing her car after an accident. Next week a jury will begin hearing dozens of complaints like Frey's as it considers a class-action lawsuit that could fundamentally change the way insurance companies pay for car repairs. The case marks the latest chapter in a debate over auto parts that has gone on for more than a decade. It involves door panels, hoods, fenders and other parts modeled on original equipment produced by automakers, but made without benefit of the original specifications.