Last week, U.S. Reps Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, and Neal Dunn, R-Florida, introduced the bipartisan Right to Equitable and Professional Auto Industry Repair Act (REPAIR Act).
The legislation is aimed at ensuring vehicle owners have access to important repair and diagnostic data needed for auto repairs, Gluesenkamp Perez stated in a news release.
Vehicle owners and small automotive repair shops must pay a fee to the vehicle manufacturer to access repair data generated by their car or truck, making it increasingly difficult and costly to fix one’s own vehicle or take it to a preferred local shop, the lawmakers stated in the release.
The REPAIR Act would affirm that the data belongs to the vehicle’s owner, not the manufacturer, making high-quality repairs easier for rural Americans and less expensive.
“Americans are tired of lip service about lowering prices or respecting the trades. We want to be able to fix our own stuff and to be stewards of our stuff and not reliant on a stream of cheap disposable crap. But auto manufacturers have made it increasingly difficult to exercise real agency,” Gluesenkamp Perez said. “It’s time for Congress to listen to ordinary Americans and pass right to repair legislation.”
Dunn said American consumers deserve full control over their vehicle repairs and maintenance data to ensure they can find the best service for their vehicle at a reasonable price. “Unfortunately, vehicle manufacturers are standing in the way of American consumers accessing their own data to use the repair shop of their choosing, limiting consumer choice,” Dunn stated in the release. “For far too long, manufacturers have championed anti-competitive practices by withholding crucial maintenance information, squeezing their customers and independent repair shops. Your vehicle belongs to you, not the manufacturer. I am introducing the REPAIR Act to provide a binding, workable solution to anti-competitive behavior in the auto repair industry to reaffirm consumer control over their vehicle maintenance data and empower them to work with repair shops big and small.”
Gluesenkamp Perez previously helped introduce the legislation in the 118th Congress, and it passed a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee markup but was not passed by Congress.
Read the full bill online at tinyurl.com/3wfr8yfv.
