California warranty standards proposed in New Mexico

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The New Mexico Department of the Environment has proposed standards that, if passed, would implement the California Clean Car vehicle emission standards, including the super warranty. The proposal directs the state to implement global warming and smog-forming emissions standards for vehicles. Additionally, the bill would impose the expansion and extension of warranties.

The Automotive Service Association (ASA) opposes the proposed standards in New Mexico. Although ASA supports clean car programs, the association believes such programs can exist and prosper in states without expanding or extending warranties at the expense of independent repair facilities.

“Independent repairers in New Mexico perform approximately 75 percent of all non-warranty repairs. Allowing repairs to move only to franchised new car dealers for warranty repair will arbitrarily limit the repair marketplace in the state of New Mexico,” says Bob Redding, ASA’s Washington, D.C., representative, in a letter to the New Mexico Department of the Environment. ASA asked that the Department of the Environment conduct an evaluation of the impact of such regulation on independent repairers before moving forward with the proposal.