The fight for Right to Repair at a federal level continues, but in the meantime, states like Massachusetts and Maine have fought to make it law on a state level—the latter of which most recently passed its own Right to Repair bill in 2023.
Being one of just a few states that has Right to Repair legislation, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered before it can start being fully enforced. The law passed will require the creation of an oversight committee to ensure automakers are providing data to repairers.
But before that can happen, Maine’s bill has laid out phases of implementation: the first of which being the formation of a working group to determine how this committee will operate.
The group, which consists of roughly a dozen individuals, includes a member of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a director of engineering from Tesla, the owner of a large car dealership in Maine, and representatives from the Attorney General and Secretary of State's offices.
Tim Winkeler, CEO and President of VIP Tires & Service, serves on the group as a representative of the independent auto repair industry. He’s joined by Jeff Groves, who has worked with O'Reilly Auto Parts and is representing aftermarket parts companies.
“In a nutshell, the group we're in right now is charged to create an entity, decide where that entity is going to reside, how it's going to be staffed, how it's going to be financed, and then what their level of authority and decision-making is going to be,” explains Winkeler. “We're still in that first phase.”
The next phase will commence in February, when the working group finalizes its guidelines and submits them to Maine lawmakers. Those guidelines will serve as a foundation for how legislators should implement the law moving forward.
Issues Impacting Independent Repair
Before that can happen, the issues Winkeler outlines must be addressed, and it’s critical for the group to have a diverse range of opinions to fully understand these obstacles. Though Winkeler is not involved in lawmaking, his presence has given voice to the concerns of independent shops in Maine.
One major issue Winkeler has highlighted in the group is the need for repair data to be accessible through standard scan tools. However this oversight entity decides to enforce Right to Repair, it will need to ensure that independent shops have access to this data without any unforeseen costs like having to purchase new scan equipment.
“We can't allow this solution to require, for example, that a technician go and buy a separate tool that's a Chrysler tool, and a GM tool, and a Toyota tool, and a Tesla tool, and for the other 20-or-so car manufacturers,” Winkeler says. “It has to be something that's feasible and that fits within the current way that our industry operates.”
Enforcing the Law
Already embedded in Maine’s Right to Repair law is a penalty for auto manufacturers that don’t abide by the legislation, with a $10,000 fine being incurred for each violation. If a shop is struggling to access repair data, a process will be needed to report these instances. This is where the Maine Attorney General’s involvement with the working group comes into play: to ensure the state can enforce this law.
While the working group is still ironing out guidelines, it’s possible that a platform could be created for repair shops to submit problems that the Attorney General’s office would then review.
Looking Ahead
The working group is on track to determine the structure, location, power, and authority of the oversight committee by the turn of the calendar year, followed by figuring out how it will be funded and who will lead it.
After that, this oversight committee must figure out how it will ensure that automakers are providing a remote access platform to obtain repair data through—which automakers will need to do by law.
“So if you buy a car that produces data that has to be accessed remotely, through the internet or through some other remote means, in order to repair it and diagnose the problem, then the car owner themselves, through this law, can provide access to that remote data to their independent repairer. And the car manufacturers have to agree to create a remote access system to enable that,” Winkeler explains.
Going Into the Great Unknown
Though a memorandum of understanding was signed by automakers and aftermarket groups in 2014 stating that independent repairers may have access to necessary data, there’s been no real way to enforce it.
This is at the core of the need for Right to Repair legislation, and Winkeler hopes that the progress being made in Maine will motivate Right to Repair movements in states across the country.
“I think that's one of the biggest opportunities for other shop owners who have a presence in other states. I think we need a lot more states to be picking up the baton and running with it,” says Winkeler. “And so I would encourage anybody who's in a position of owning a shop or multiple shops to really look into how to get active, how to either get this on the ballot, or get enough lawmakers in their state educated on the topic so that they can get it on into their own state legislatures. I think that's really important for the industry.”
