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Automotive News & Views Right To Repair - A Hot Issue or Big Problem?
133 messages, Last post on Oct 06, 2009 at 3:25 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
Should have no effect on how a car is repaired. There has already been legislation dealing with this very issue, at least in California. If the manufacturer and dealer have full control of warrantee repairs they can charge whatever they want for normal servicing. They already have a parts monopoly for at lest the first year and in some cases even longer than that. Mechanics and their ability are already controlled by state certification. I can only hope the dealers, who have not been part of the manufacturing process, are not allowed unfair privelage to the information necessary to repair a persons car after that person has spent their money buying the product. For those of us living some distance from a dealer that would be like a double tax.
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during the warranty peiod of the intial release, then they are stuck paying for the repairs anyway. Give 'em an extra six months from the expiration of warranty on the first vehicle inservice date, and let the indies go at it then. Who's going to take a warrantied vehicle to an independent for warranty service anyway? Of course, the poor indies have to buy the tech from someone anyway, don't they? |
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Let the independent buy the info. The people that developed it have a right to benefit from their efforts, so charge substantial prices for it, but sell it. We pay MicroSoft license fees for WINDOWS(tm) why not car makers for their intellectual property? Harry |
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| Should the do-it-your-self market be abandoned? | |
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anything else that the backyard mechanic can do, apart from changing the fluids and brake pads? Shade tree mechanics are rapidly becoming a thing of the past with the tech that is increasingly commonplace in today's cars.  I think at the very least anything that relates to a state standard (thinking of smog checks here) should be available to indies right from the get-go. What if, as someone else said, you live 100 miles or more from a dealer and there is a problem in the emissions system? I mean, these automakers are not selling products in a vacuum, they are closely regulated and required to pass inspections in most states every couple of years.
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Replying to: nippononly (Feb 06, 2007 10:27 pm) As for independent shops---I think IF the tools required to fix the car become punishingly expensive, there might be cause for legal action or a regulatory process, e.g., if Dell Computers forced all independent repair shops to buy a $100,000 diagnostic tool, that would just about force all Dell owners to buy new computers rather than fix their old ones.... Uh-oh, have I just unlocked a new conspiracy? 
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That once the manufacturer has sold the product we should not be "forced" to use the dealer mechanics over and independent mechanic. I know that from a personal perspective living in a small community it is much easier to develop a trusting relationship with a neighborhood mechanic than it is with an impersonal dealer mechanic where you do not know from one week to the next who might be working on your car. There also seems to be a cost difference to the consumer. The dealer mechanics did not invest in the R and D so why should they reap the rewards the manufacture may be entitled to rather than the independent mechanic. Like I mentioned earlier in our state you can not be forced to have scheduled services done at the dealer. You only need a proof that the service was performed at the proper times. There was a time when we had to go to state certified smog control stations and that proved to be a pain in the back. At least today independent mechanics can be certified to smog our cars for us. |
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| My last car was an Audi with "free" maintenance (aka I paid for it in advance) so I used the dealer for oil changes etc. My new car is a VW. I will go there for warranty work, but otherwise I will use my own mechanic. If the time comes that auto dealers have a monopoly on repair work, I think I will take the bus. | |
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Feb 07, 2007 8:35 am) Amber means minor fault keep driving. The computer might make the necessary adjustments and fix the fault on its own. Amber Blinking means moderate fault: Call the dealer and set up appointment. RED Means severe fault: Stop driving right away call road side assistance. I would like it if you could get a more complete listing of the faults on the NAV screen. There is a diagnostic mode that can be accessed on the NAV screen by pressing invisible buttons on certain menu pages. The techs use it and anyone else could too but most people don't know it is there. |
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Feb 07, 2007 8:35 am) Oh absolutely, they should have had something like this for a long time now, AT LEAST since the advent of OBDII in '96. I have always suspected that the reason they don't is (a) to make dealerships more money in their service bays, and (b) because they (the EPA etc) are afraid that if we drivers actually know what the fault is, we will ignore it in most instances (because with that knowledge we will worry about it less) which might lead to more cars being out of smog compliance. Giving the consumer more information is a BAD thing! I don't see a problem with automakers being forced to reveal technical information on their vehicles as long as indies have to pay licensing fees to get it. The problem here of course is similar to the old Napster - once the info is out, it will start being spread around and the licensing fees will stop coming in.
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