The New Jersey Assembly passed the Motor Vehicle Owners’ Right to Repair Act (A.B. 803) Monday by a vote of 49 in favor, 22 against and 8 abstaining. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration. Introduced by Assemblyman Reid Gusciora (D-Mercer), the legislation is designed to ensure that New Jersey independent repair shops have the same access to service information, tools and software that vehicle manufacturers make available to their new car dealers.
Automotive Service Association (ASA) President Ron Pyle warned this week that the legislation could do more harm than good for consumers.
"Already facing a high cost of living, New Jersey vehicle owners would
see an increase in vehicle repair costs with the passage of the ‘Right
to Repair’ legislation," Pyle said Tuesday. "The bill will drive up costs with the addition
of a state regulatory agency in the service information marketplace and
the fact that the bill also encourages litigation."
Passage by the Assembly came a few days after the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee approved the bill by a 3-2 vote. During the hearing, independent repairers testified about problems they’ve experience in obtaining access to information and tools needed to repair their customers’ vehicles. Shop owners claimed that they often are forced to tell their customers that the dealer is the only place to go for certain repairs or, in some cases, they will take the vehicle back to the dealer themselves rather than tell the customer they cannot complete the repair.
Aaron Lowe, vice president of government affairs for the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA), testified that the service and parts business is becoming a growing percentage of car companies’ profits and therefore, independent repair shops are becoming more dependent on car companies and their dealers for tools and information.
“The commercial interests at stake in the vehicle repair market demand that right to repair legislation be enacted to ensure a level playing field where consumers continue to have a choice of where they have their vehicle serviced,” Lowe stated.
The ASA, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) oppose Right to Repair legislation. The groups maintain that independent repairers do have equal access to vehicle information.
"Unfortunately, this legislation is a solution looking for a problem," said Charles Territo of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said this week. "The U.S. Congress, the Federal Trade Commission and
every other state legislature that has considered this legislation has
rejected it. Its passage will discourage research and development and
encourage counterfeiting. At a time when the industry can least afford
it, this bill puts auto industry jobs and customer service at risk."
Groups in favor of the bill included the Alliance of Aftermarket Service Providers of New Jersey (AASP-NJ), New Jersey Gasoline-Convenience-Automotive Association (NJGCA), Citizen’s Action, National Federal of Independent Business (NFIB) and AAA.
For more information, visit www.righttorepairnj.org.
