The Right to Repair Battle Continues
By Seth Maiman
Should car owners have the right to access their vehicles’ information systems so they can choose their own repair shop? Or do automakers have the right to control their “proprietary” information systems? Are there legitimate security concerns—such as preventing cyberattacks and exposing personal information to criminals—that warrant limiting access to the information?
The Right to Repair debate goes beyond automobiles. The Digital Right to Repair Coalition, an “independent nonprofit organization advocating for freedom of choice and fair competition for repairing anything with a computer chip,” says that 46 states have introduced some form of right-to-repair legislation, and five states already have laws. Most state legislative proposals, however, do not include automobiles in their definition of “digital electronic equipment.”
The Great Massachusetts Debate
Massachusetts has been ground zero for the Right to Repair issue in the automotive space, and in 2020, voters in that state overwhelmingly passed a ballot initiative that updated an existing law. The update required cars of the model year 2022 and later sold in Massachusetts to utilize a telematics system and have an interoperable, standardized, and open-access platform. A mobile app would keep car buyers and their chosen repair shops informed about data collected by the vehicle.
The Alliance of Automobile Innovation (Alliance), a car manufacturers’ group, campaigned heavily against the initiative and brought federal litigation when defeated at the ballot box. The case was tried in 2021, but a decision still hasn’t been made. After years of delayed implementation, Massachusetts began enforcement on July 1, 2023. The court stymied a manufacturer’s effort to block the law from taking effect, but a final decision has still not been issued. On January 7, 2025, the case was reassigned to a different Massachusetts federal judge who has since ended the lawsuit, upholding the Right to Repair law.
The Massachusetts fight spilled over to the United States Congress when a 2023 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) letter to auto manufacturers advised them not to comply with the state law due to federal preemption and obligations under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act. The two Massachusetts U.S. Senators publicly challenged this, and NHTSA later walked back that letter.
The Conversation Spreads
In Maine, where voters in 2023 passed an initiative similar to Massachusetts’, the legislature requested a working group of attorneys general to address issues with the statute. The group faces a February 28, 2025, deadline to issue a report and draft legislation, even though the statute became effective on January 5, 2025. Maine Representative Tiffany Roberts, a committee member who will review the report and draft legislation, recently submitted a letter to the working group reiterating many of the concerns raised by the auto manufacturers in the Massachusetts litigation, further muddying the waters.
House and Senate legislators in Hawaii introduced identical bills to the Massachusetts and Maine laws in January 2025. They are just starting to move through the legislative process.
I have written about this issue before in this column (see July/August 2013, page 28), and how automakers’ fear of narrowing the scope of repairs to their dealers or networks is causing consternation inside the offices of auto glass companies.
Industry Advocacy
The Auto Glass Safety Council (AGSC) supports the Right to Repair and joined large coalitions of auto shops and consumer groups supporting the Massachusetts and Maine voter initiatives.
Safelite is also active on the issue, alongside others in the industry. At a January 22, 2025, Maryland Senate Finance Committee briefing on a consumer’s right to repair motor vehicles, Tom Tucker, Safelite Group Inc.’s assistant vice president for legislative affairs, spoke. He called the topic “an emerging issue that poses real questions about the future of auto repair and what rights [the consumer has] with vehicles they own, operate and insure.” Tucker called modern cars “software on wheels.” He said a 2013 Memorandum of Understanding between automakers and aftermarket groups has governed the industry. Still, he expressed concern that it relies on automakers’ voluntary compliance since it is not legally binding.
As cars change and technology advances, the contours of the right-to-repair debate will change while the concept remains. Will car owners be able to control by whom and how repairs are made to their vehicles? What kind of paradigm must be created to ensure those repairs can be made safely and efficiently?
Seth Maiman is the director of public affairs for the Auto Glass Safety Council.
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