Are Techs Getting the Information They Need?

GAINING ACCESS - PART IAre Techs Getting 
the Information They Need?It depends on whom you talk to. CLEVELAND - In the technician's toolbox, there's one critical tool that many say is missing: information, the elusive strings of data required to fix a majority of systems on today's automobiles. Tim Waters and his wife, Michele, owners of TMK Auto Repair in Gilbert, AZ, say a freer flow of repair information from the OEMs is essential with today's higher-tech vehicles.  "It's unfair to customers to be locked into the dealer," Waters says. "Essentially, the dealer is holding the information hostage. The customer bought the car; shouldn't they have a right to information access?" Jeff Lasecke, from Plains Auto Parts and Service Inc. in Strasburg, CO, says programming computerized components can be especially vexing. "We've found some of the information to be one big loop" as they seek electronic solutions, he says, recounting a particularly troublesome job involving a Ford. "We just kept going around in circles. We spent a whole day on that stupid truck." "I think what's hurting the industry's effort is the lack of substantial data to prove this issue one way or another."- Steve Handschuh, president/COO, AASA

The technician's quest for repair information logically could be traced to the birth of the aftermarket, but today's vehicle technology brings to this search a new sense of urgency. 

With a task force charged with overseeing the dissemination of repair and diagnostic information to aftermarket repairers, as well as the federal and state Right to Repair legislative proposals, a number of organizations and interest groups have drawn lines in the sand as to how this information should be distributed. 

But before looking at the different philosophies, it's important to note that basically the entire aftermarket has the same goal in mind: to get information to the independent technician so drivers can get their vehicles repaired where they wish. 

"I don't think you'll find any disagreement that the consumers should have the right to choose where they take their vehicle to be repaired," says Steve Handschuh, president and COO of the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA). He says everyone in the industry supports a "right to repair." But where he and others part ways is when the subject of legislation is broached. 

And from the AASA's standpoint, the group is not the "neutral" party some claim, Handschuh clarifies. AASA, a division of the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA), says there are intellectual property (IP) rights of automakers that must be protected. What constitutes IP also has been the source of debate. 

"We don't feel that we're neutral," adds Handschuh. "I think what's hurting the industry's effort is the lack of substantial data to prove this issue one way or another." 

For example, legislators were presented last year only with what they refer to as anecdotal evidence that a problem with obtaining diagnostic and repair information exists. "I think the aftermarket would agree that a better job needs to be done at quantifying the issue," Handschuh notes. "That is not an easy task. All the aftermarket can ask for is to be able to access all the information the franchised car dealer has."

"I think the manufacturers will get the big picture when we as independent repair shops start suggesting to our customers what cars not to buy because they are too difficult or too expensive to repair or information is not available - kind of like we are doing now."
- Douglass Kirchdorfer, owner, Downing Street Garage, Denver

According to a survey released last year by the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) that polled more than 1,000 independent repair shop owners, service managers and technicians, $5.8 billion in service and parts sales are lost annually because of the independent repairers' lack of repair information and tools. Additionally, independent repair shops turn away approximately 1.2 million consumers each year because of technicians' insufficient access to information. 

Those who oppose legislation dispute the validity of those numbers, however. While believing complaints about access to information are handled expeditiously, opponents to legislation say information is out there - and that service professionals either don't want to pay for it or aren't looking in the right places. 

Seeking legal footing A governmental Right to Repair mandate would provide the legal clout necessary to ensure the National Automotive Service Task Force's (NASTF's) stated goals would be achieved with complete, ongoing compliance from every OEM selling cars in the United States, according to Aaron Lowe, AAIA vice president of government affairs. NASTF, of which Handschuh is a board of directors member, has been charged with making sure carmakers share diagnostic and repair information, addressing any gaps in the information available to the aftermarket.  Right to Repair measures this year so far have been introduced in a number of states - including New Jersey, Maine, Nevada, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and Florida, whose bill died in the legislature - and will be reintroduced during the current Congressional session. "Congress and the states are keeping their eyes on it," Lowe points out, adding he could not divulge as of press time who would introduce federal legislation this year. "It puts pressure on the OEMs to provide the information." Another important point is that not all associations have had the same stance since the beginning. Ron Pyle, president of the Automotive Service Association (ASA), reminds us that contrary to the association's current stance against Right to Repair legislation, at one time ASA was an avid supporter.  "A lot people ask us why we oppose Right to Repair. They really have not looked at the history of the association and its involvement in Right to Repair from the beginning," he explains. "If it had not been for our part in the initial coalition and the testimony we gave in support of the issue of Right to Repair, it would have never moved in." In 2002, once the OEMs agreed to furnish repair information and sign agreements stating as such, the ASA dropped its support of Right to Repair legislation.  "We had assumed, and we were wrong, that others would join us," says Pyle, who's also a NASTF board member. "We had assumed others would see it's a valid approach, but it didn't materialize the way we thought it would."What the techs are saying If a technician can't get the information he or she needs, the power of suggestion to the consumer can be considerable. "I think the manufacturers will get the big picture when we as independent repair shops start suggesting to our customers what cars not to buy because they are too difficult or too expensive to repair or information is not available - kind of like we are doing now," says Douglass Kirchdorfer, who with his wife, Rebecca, owns the six-bay Downing Street Garage in downtown Denver. He says he does not support a Right to Repair mandate from on high. "I would be if we were having more of a problem," Kirchdorfer reports. "But not at this time. The problem with legislation is that some manufacturers will comply and some will not. Then we, as an industry, will have to police the problem. There are already too many laws that we all have to follow. Techs Sound OffHere are some comments gathered from a recent Aftermarket Business and Motor Age online poll regarding diagnostic and repair information and Right to Repair legislation: