The Verge reports that a bipartisan group of U.S. senators has penned open letters to a list of automakers, calling them hypocritical for opposing right-to-repair laws while selling user data to insurance companies and other third parties. In addition to a letter to GM CEO Mary Barra, similar letters went out to the heads of Ford, Tesla, and the North American divisions of Honda, Hyundai, Subaru, Stellantis, Toyota, and Volkswagen. All are signed by three senators: Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Josh Hawley (R-MO).
“Right-to-repair laws support consumer choice and prevent automakers from using restrictive repair laws to their financial advantage,” the senators write. “It is clear that the motivation behind automotive companies’ avoidance of complying with right-to-repair laws is not due to a concern for consumer security or privacy, but instead a hypocritical, profit-driven reaction.”
The right-to-repair movement encompasses consumer electronics like phones and laptops as well as increasingly software-dependent vehicles like cars and farm equipment. Right-to-repair advocates encourage tech companies and automakers to make digital information available to the public, maintaining the status quo of allowing owners and independent shops to repair electronics and vehicles. When such information is kept proprietary, it effectively forces drivers to get their cars repaired at dealerships.
Legislative steps have been taken in some states in line with the right-to-repair movement. However, some automakers like the ones called out by this trio of senators have opposed such laws on a federal level on the grounds of cybersecurity. The senators claim cybersecurity concerns are “based on speculative future risks rather than facts.” The letter cites an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that found “no empirical evidence” to the claim that independent shops are more or less likely to compromise user data than authorized dealers.
“We’re pushing these automakers to stop ripping Americans off,” Warren said in a statement to The Verge. “Americans deserve the right to repair their cars wherever they choose, and independent repair shops deserve a chance to compete with these giants.”
Comments
Wow! Warren and Hawley on the same side for this one. Get them guys!
Of course you should have the right to repair what you own. This is just more “you’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy” BS from the WEF.
“Right to repair” is a false slogan to stir people up. Similar to “Don’t say gay.”
The issue is diagnosis, which is unfortunately extremely complex in modern vehicles. So much so, that dealer service techs are required to take a lot of training and have special diagnostic equipment. Anyone can go to their dealer and get a diagnosis and then do the repair on their own or at an independent repair shop. Every manufacturer sells parts and repair manuals to the general public. I’m very disappointed in Josh Hawley for jumping on this false bandwagon.
Sure, Mary.
After you buy if it’s yours, you should be able to do your own repair and I don’t think any company should be able to follow you around and sell your information
Ken! YES! this is a spiraling Rat Hole that’s just another way to control the masses! Been in the aftermarket parts world my whole life! ..so a dealer will install a set of headers on your C8 Corvette! love to see that! These governing idiots couldn’t even find the hood latch….
The equipment needed to diagnose and repair modern electronics would cost far more an individual owner could afford. Independent repair shop would face a huge investment in training and equipment to perform some of the more complex issues. Yes the info required to perform these tasks post warranty should be made available to the industry in general.
And then, when an untrained independent with minimal tools hacks the car to bits, who is going to straighten it out? Who does the car owner go to for help? The government? I don’t think so. Something no one ever talks about is that the dealer is the best source of help and the investment made is the reason the dealer “costs more”. You get what you pay for!
Dave, I agree with most of your statement except, the information required to perform these tasks (post purchase) not post warranty
should be made available to the industry in general.
In NYS. Repairs done outside the dealer does not void your warranty.
Safe Motoring, and merry Christmas and happy New Year to everyone.
There wouldn’t be a problem if everyone would get off the idiotic bandwagon of over-the-air access to the electronics. Everything should be closed systems, with keyed internal access ports, that require a physical cable connection. Then any shop can have to tools and no one gets hacked, as long as the repair shop is on the up and up.
Over the air updates, no. Get it right the first time. And if not, warranty work at a repair shop. All the current OTA software systems are garbage these days as their is no incentive to get it write the first time.
right not write
IMO all updates should be required to be done physically in a shop someplace, NOT over-the-air.
Yes taking the vehicle in is a pain. But we’ve all see too many PC/Mac/phone updates go bad to trust any of them. Last thing I need is to go to a parking ramp at midnight, and discover a botched infotainment update left my vehicle inop.
I bought a new Blazer EV and it spent 3 1/2 months in the dealership with untrained mechanics trying to fix it. Dealers get paid by the factory to work on these vehicles. At a time when sales are down the dealer needs to make money somewhere.
Dealerships are reimbursed from the factory for warranty work, recalls, Etc.
Mechanics at the dealerships are not paid by, or work for the factory.
Nice to see the government on the side of the little guy for once. Or at least pretend to be.
So, here is a real world scenario that happened to me… the LED display in the dash of my ATS shot craps. Speedometer and tach were just fine. I could buy a replacement dash for $100 and replace it in about an hour. Unfortunately, it is locked to the vehicle and requires the dealer to update its data. Even the various folks on the internet did not have the necessary tools to clone my data to the new part. So, instead of $100 and an hour of my time, I had to pay the dealer over $1000 to fix it for me. Go Warren, Hawley, and Merkley! WHaM!
The comments about how much the dealerships invest in equipment and training ignore the fact that an independent shop can do the same. There is no incentive or a dealership to train technicians to provide a better service if there is no competition from independent shops that can do the same work.
Who is left holding the bag when the vehicle owner goes to the dealership and their technicians are not qualified and able to repair a defect out of warranty? The consumer gets poorer service for more money.
Who is GM hiding their systems from? Who are they trying to protect? Remember, GM only builds vehicles. Their customers are dealerships.
If I OWN the vehicle, and outside of warranty, if I want to fiddle with any item on that vehicle it is mine to do so as I please. GM preventing me from tuning the PCM is them sticking their nose in a place it doesn’t belong.
There are only two reasons to encrypt the information; to protect warranty costs and dealer services.
The whole idea behind obd2 was to make people able to diagnose problems by having access to engine and other codes Automotive companies then started using proprietary codes outside the realm of the obd2 standard to control what vehicle owners have access to. This gives dealerships an advantage in the ability to have information only available to dealerships or service shops that pay a hefty price for a subscription to the information. Some dealerships still misdiagnosed troubles that were repaired by independent quality repair shops .
I got quoted 900 for a one axle brake job which I completed for 100 by using software that was able to service the brake system. Otherwise I would have been stuck paying 900.