In response to this week’s announcement of an agreement between “independent auto repairers” and automakers, the Auto Care Alliance stands opposed to the arrangement and questions why one of the parties to the “pact” has flipped positions after being vehemently opposed to Right to Repair for over 20 years.
The Automotive Service Association has repeatedly voiced its opposition to Right to Repair, and their reasons for opposing in the past have not been addressed in this new pact between ASA, SCRS, and the Alliance for Automotive Innovation.
"This is history repeating itself once again. Their actions are slowing down much-needed legislation and enforcement the automotive industry has needed for decades."
The Auto Care Alliance supports a Right to Repair agreement for which all the industry partners agree with the legislation, not a select group that is speaking on behalf of the industry which has differing views.
The concerns are that in 2003, after a large amount of effort on the part of the aftermarket repairers and industry, we were gaining ground on Right to Repair legislation when ASA entered into an agreement with manufacturers which lacked enforcement.
The agreement that was struck in 2014 as the initial memorandum of understanding between the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, Coalition for Auto Repair Equality, Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, and Association of Global Automakers has not demonstrated that its enforcement mechanism has been honored by the parties, despite requests for dispute resolution.
Now in 2023, ASA and SCRS have executed this voluntary agreement that has hindered our industry’s efforts toward legislation that would have a compliance component.
”This is history repeating itself once again. Their actions are slowing down much-needed legislation and enforcement the automotive industry has needed for decades,” stated Ron Turner, director for Mid-Atlantic Auto Care Alliance. "There is no evidence that this new agreement involving different parties provides any remedy to the types of issues that have been reported or which parties are now responsible for enforcement."
This concern can be confirmed by accessing NASTF’s Service Information Request database to see the numerous outstanding information requests that have not yet been responded to by various manufacturers, despite having an agreement with NASTF as well. It is also increasingly clear that many automakers are restricting repairs by limiting security access and critical diagnostic tool functions available to independent repairers.
“This is a critical time in our industry that associations need to be acting together instead of executing agreements on their own that fail to address important concerns voiced by many throughout the industry, especially when these organizations represent a minority of the industry’s total number,” stated Sheri Hamilton, executive director for the Auto Care Alliance and Midwest Auto Care Alliance.
