Right to Repair Act reintroduced
Right to Repair is again making its rounds in Congress. Reps. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and George Miller (D-Calif.) introduced the Motor Vehicle Owners’ Right to Repair Act (H.R. 2057) into the 111th Congress.
The bill seeks to require car companies to make the same service information available to independent repair shops that they provide to their franchised dealer networks. Opponents of the bill, such as the Automotive Service Association (ASA), say this information already is provided to repairers throughout the country.
In fact, ASA President Ron Pyle said in a recent blog that the only thing more predictable than an automatic Congressional pay raise is the annual re-introduction of Right to Repair (R2R) legislation.
“However, this perennial favorite is losing steam because it is becoming more and more obvious that the voluntary solution created by the industry, for the industry, is working,” Pyle wrote. “The old argument that the threat of legislation is necessary to keep the automakers honest is, in effect, dishonest since the threat has diminished significantly. The support in congress for R2R peaked three years ago at 117 co-sponsors in the House of Representative. This year's version has two co-sponsors.”
The National Automotive Service Task Force addresses service information issues cooperatively, without the expense of government-mandated regulations, Pyle said.
The Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) favors R2R.
“We want to thank Reps. Towns, Eshoo and Miller for taking the lead and supporting this very important piece of pro-consumer and pro-small business legislation,” says Kathleen Schmatz, president and CEO of AAIA. “As car dealers close service bays at unprecedented rates and more motorists look to neighborhood repair shops to service their vehicles, it is important that these local shops have the same access to the most up-to-date information, tools and software as the new car dealer network. Right to Repair ensures that trusted neighborhood shops have that access so they can continue to maintain and repair their customers' vehicles.”
The need for Right to Repair legislation has become apparent due to the increasing use of computers and electronics, which control nearly every vehicle function from safety and emissions to entertainment, AAIA said.
Although these computers provide many benefits to motorists through improved fuel efficiency, comfort and safety, they also provide increasing opportunities for car companies to lock out access by car owners and the independent repair shops where they choose to obtain service for their vehicles, according to AAIA. The Right to Repair Act would mandate that car companies provide full access to all tools and service information needed to repair motor vehicles, thus leveling the competitive playing field between dealers and independent repair shops.
“This legislation is really about who owns the vehicle’s repair information, the car owner or the car company,” says Ray Pohlman, president of the Coalition for Auto Repair Equality (CARE). “Without the Right to Repair Act, millions of motorists would be forced back to fewer dealers for service. Consumers spend thousands of dollars to purchase their vehicle and should not be told where they should obtain those repairs by the manufacturer.”