According to local repair shop owner and Palm Beach County Commissioner Sara Baxter, federal legislative solutions like the SMART (H.R. 1707) and REPAIR (H.R. 906) Acts are needed to “ensure that vehicle owners, not corporations, are in the driver’s seat when it comes to vehicle repair.”
In a new op-ed for local Florida publication The Town-Crier, Baxter outlines how unfair original equipment manufacturer (OEM) repair restrictions are “driving up costs” and “negatively impacting” her shop’s ability to serve their customers. She discusses a recent example where OEM restrictions contributed to dramatically increased repair costs for one vehicle owner:
“Our customer had his car towed into the automotive repair shop that my husband Brian and I own because it wouldn’t shift into drive. The software needed to analyze the problem, which we are forced to buy from the manufacturer, revealed a faulty transmission control unit. However, we had to inform our customer that the required repair part could only be purchased from the dealership. To even purchase the part, we had to obtain a costly special license. This made a $250 part skyrocket to $1,400, a cost that independent service shops like ours must pass on to the client.
This must stop. Vehicle owners need a federal right-to-repair law that will ensure they can choose where and how they get their car repaired, that will prevent automakers from holding patents on common parts for unreasonably long periods — which would allow aftermarket parts makers to compete — and that would give car owners more control over access to their car’s data and software needed to fix problems. This will spur competition, keep repair prices down and end automakers’ increasing control over your car and its data.”
– Sara Baxter, Palm Beach County Commissioner; co-owner of Foreign Auto Specialists
As Baxter notes, the bipartisan SMART and REPAIR Acts will put an end to OEMs’ anticompetitive conduct and enable a competitive car repair marketplace that protects independent businesses and consumers:
“These bills are common-sense measures that would ensure that consumers have more options and transparency when it comes to repairing and protecting their cars. They would also create a level playing field for independent repair shops, which employ Americans and support local economies…It’s time to end the automakers’ control over our vehicles and how they are repaired. Consumers need a national vehicle right-to-repair law, and Congress must pass the REPAIR Act and SMART Act.”
– Sara Baxter, Palm Beach County Commissioner; co-owner of Foreign Auto Specialists
Tell your representative to advance these commonsense bills today!
