This should be interesting....
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/04/dodd_right_to_repair.html
By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com
April 30, 2010
The move to pass the automotive "Right to Repair" bill has picked up another powerful Senate sponsor --
Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.
"We want to thank Sen. Dodd for supporting this very important piece of pro-consumer and pro-small business
legislation," said Kathleen Schmatz, president and CEO of the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, which is
championing the measure.
The Right to Repair Bill
would require carmakers to provide independent repair shops with the same access to the same safety alerts, technical service
bulletins, diagnostic tools and repair information they provide to their dealer network.
The sponsors say the bill protects motoring consumers from a "growing and potentially
hazardous vehicle repair monopoly" by requiring that car companies provide full access at a reasonable cost to all service
information, tools and safety-related bulletins needed to repair motor vehicles, thus leveling the competitive playing field
between dealerships and independent repair shops. They say consumers would benefit because in many cases, independent repair
shops provide service at a lower cost than dealerships.
The measure currently has bipartisan support.
"The
Right to Repair Act does not cost taxpayers money, does not create a new agency and, more importantly, does not ask taxpayers
for a bailout," said Ray Pohlman, president of the Coalition for Auto Repair Equality. "This bill keeps motorists
in the driver's seat by making sure that they, and not the vehicle manufacturers, have the final say on where a car is taken
for service."
'Solution in search of a problem'
Some other automotive groups have a decidedly different view, with
one calling the bill "a solution in search of a problem."
"Automakers already provide affordable access to the necessary information to diagnose and service vehicles,"
said Ron Pyle, president of the Automotive Service Association, a group representing automotive service businesses. "All
automakers maintain service information websites and make factory scan tools available to the independent repair community.
The information is the same as that provided to franchised dealers and the tools are capable of performing the same functions.
By investing in proper equipment and training and subscribing to service information providers, repair shops can gain access
to everything they need to repair a motor vehicle of any make or model."
Automakers don't support the legislation either. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
says proponents have been pushing for the legislation at both the federal and state levels for nearly a decade.
"The U.S. Congress and all other state legislators have consistently
rejected their claims," Alliance President and CEO Dave McCurdy said. "No state has ever adopted the so-called
'Right to Repair' legislation."
The House
version of the Motor Vehicle Owners' Right to Repair Act (HR 2057) was introduced by Reps. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Anna Eshoo
(D-CA) and George Miller (D-CA) and currently has 61 cosponsors.
