The Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA)
testified in support of Proposed Bill No. 160, introduced by
Senator Martin Looney in Connecticut, which would require car
companies to share diagnostic codes with independent repair
technicians. Aaron Lowe, AAIA vice president, government
affairs, urged the Joint Committee on General Law to approve
the bill in order to ensure that independent shops have the
ability to repair today's highly sophisticated computer-driven
vehicle systems.
"Today, nearly every vehicle system, from air bags to tires,
is controlled or monitored by on-board computers," Lowe said.
"While these computers provide important benefits in terms of
safety, fuel efficiency and convenience, they also have
provided the vehicle manufacturer with the ability to control
who perform repairs."
Lowe stated that Right to Repair legislation that is now under
consideration in many states and Congress would require car
companies to make available, at a fair and reasonable cost,
the same tools and information that they make available to
their franchised dealers, thus ensuring that consumers can
have a choice on where they bring their vehicle.
"The basic concept behind Right to Repair is that a car owner
who spends an enormous percentage of their household savings
to purchase a new or used car, should have the ability to
determine who repairs their vehicle, whether it's the new
dealer or the independent shop. In the current scenario, the
company has all of the power to make that determination," Lowe
said.
Lowe took issue with allegations made by the car companies and
their dealers that testified that Right to Repair would
require car companies to expose trade secrets.
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"Right to Repair legislation provides extensive protection for
car company trade secrets and the car companies have never
been able to point to a provision in any of the current bills
that has the potential to violate their intellectual property
rights," said Lowe.
Lowe also disputed claims by the Automotive Service
Association (ASA) and the car companies that all of the
information is available. Lowe told the committee that
independent shops continue to be frustrated by the fact that,
despite their extensive investments in information, tools and
training, they continue to run into roadblocks when attempting
to complete repairs on many vehicles and are forced to either
tell the customer they need to return to the dealer or they
take the car to the dealer for the customer, so as to not
jeopardize the car owner's trust in that shop.
The National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF) also
testified at the hearing regarding the need for the
legislation.
"NASTF is a one-person operation aimed at resolving a big
problem," Lowe said. "It often takes weeks or months to obtain
a resolution from the manufacturer and often that resolution
is a response that the information is not available or we are
working to resolve that issue. A shop that has a car in one of
its service bays needs to have that car repaired the same day,
or at worst, the next, or will lose that business permanently.
That is why the organization is rarely used by independent
service facilities."
In addition to Connecticut, Right to Repair bills have been
introduced in Massachusetts, New York and Oregon. AAIA expects
that a Right to Repair bill will be reintroduced in the
current session of Congress sometime early this
year.
