Warren, FTC Chair Khan Visit Auto Shop to Discuss Right to Repair

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan visited an independent repair shop in Watertown, Mass., Feb. 22 to discuss the state’s auto right to repair law, which passed more than three years ago, as well as the growing need for consumers to be able to have choices when determining where to get their vehicles repaired.

In 2020, 75 percent of Massachusetts voters supported giving independent repair shops and their mechanics access to wireless vehicle data for needed repairs. While Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents the original equipment manufacturers, has brought the issue to court on “cybersecurity” concerns, Khan said that the FTC found “that more often than not, there was really nothing behind these claims and that oftentimes they were grossly inflated” and manufactures were “using scare tactics to try to deprive independent shops from getting access to this data.”

Advocates are frustrated by the legal battles playing out at the state level and said federal agencies, like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, are delaying implementation. This specifically occurred when NHTSA “warned” the Massachusetts’ right to repair law could clash with federal law, then said it could be implemented with certain changes. Notably, Warren called for a federal law protecting consumers’ rights to fix the items they own but added that the states have to play a role until Congress “steps up.”

Khan said that without right to repair laws, automakers could use their control over software as a way to force consumers to use only company-authorized repair shops. “As you see more and more digitization,” said Khan, “it’s actually giving more and more opportunities to create blocks to competition.”

NAMIC helped get the REPAIR Act introduced this Congress and continues to encourage lawmakers to support the bill. The REPAIR Act would preserve consumer access to high quality and affordable vehicle repair by ensuring that vehicle owners and their repairers of choice have access to the necessary tools and data they need as vehicles become more advanced.