The Engine Repower Council strongly supports the Motor Vehicle Owners’ Right to Repair Act (S 3181/HR 2057) to ensure that car owners and their trusted repair shops have the same access to safety alerts and repair information as the franchised new car dealer network.
“Engine repowering extends the life of a vehicle and is good for the environment and the pocketbook. The Right to Repair Act ensures a competitive automotive repair industry where car owners, not car companies, can decide who repowers or repairs their vehicles,” said Ken Carter, chairman of the Engine Repower Council.
The Right to Repair Act 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.
The legislation, however, also provides car companies with strong protections for their trade secrets, only requiring them to make available the same diagnostic and repair information they provide their franchised dealers to the independent vehicle repair market.
The Right to Repair Act has bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress. The Senate version of the bill (S 3181) was recently introduced by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Sam Brownback (R-KS) and has 4 co-sponsors. The House version (HR 2057) was introduced by Reps. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and George Miller (D-CA) and currently has 69 co-sponsors.
“We support each motorist’s right to patronize the auto repair facility of their choice and encourage all vehicle owners to visit www.righttorepair.org to send a letter to each of their congressional representatives urging them to support the Right to Repair Act,” concluded Carter.
