Major Right to Repair Legislation Passes Senate

Key Action Comes Along With Move To Also Protect Car Dealerships
From Big Car Makers

[BOSTON—May 18, 2012] Only a little more than a month after consumers and neighborhood repairers packed a State House hearing room to urge passage of the Right to Repair legislation, the State Senate late Thursday evening strongly approved the measure with a few added safeguards that protect new car dealerships as well as the independent repairers who have long sought a level playing field.

“We thank Chairman Tom Kennedy and the legislation’s senate sponsor, Sen. Jack Hart. Without their leadership, consumers would still be waiting for this step. We are pleased to report to all of the state’s motoring consumers that because of the Senate’s action their Right to Repair legislation is one step closer to bringing cost savings and convenience,” said Art Kinsman, a spokesman for the Right to Repair coalition.

In the Senate-passed legislation, new car dealers would have the same protections to obtain identical repair information that independent repairers seek. These changes ensure dealers derive the same benefits of Right to Repair as the neighborhood shops.

The legislation passed by the Senate requires car manufacturers to sell all non-proprietary repair information to local neighborhood car mechanics, repair shops and new car dealers so they can all repair vehicles using the same codes provided by the manufacturers.

A study posted on www.cartalk.com shows that, on average, consumers could save up to $420 per year on car repairs if local repair shops were able to buy the code data.

“The big car makers have come up with every excuse they can think of and they are running out of answers as to why they don’t want consumers to have this data,” said Kinsman. “We applaud the Senate for acting and look forward to passage in the House and then on to the Governor for his signature—consumers are waiting,” he added.

More than 100,000 citizens signed the Right to Repair ballot initiative earlier this year. If the legislature does not pass a final bill, the state’s consumers will get their own chance to vote—on the November ballot. Recent polls have shown support level for Right to Repair as high as 87 percent.

Thousands of independent repairers, the AAA and neighborhood auto parts shops support Right to Repair. John Paul, the AAA “Car Doctor” and radio personality, said during recent hearings on the proposal that, “consumers are enduring expensive dealership costs and the legislature has the ability to bring relief now. They need to act.”

Boston, MA – The Right to Repair Coalition today announced that it is launching the next phase of its “Campaign for Consumers” and will begin gathering the final batch of 11,000 voter signatures required to get the issue on the November ballot. At the same time, the coalition said it looks forward to continuing its good-faith effort to work with legislative leaders and negotiate a compromise with the big carmakers.

“Our Campaign for Consumers is running full-throttle on all fronts so we can deliver cost savings and convenience to the Massachusetts motoring public,” said Right to Repair coalition spokesman, Art Kinsman. “The big car companies have been stalling and telling legislators to keep delaying this pro-consumer vote, but we are committed to working with elected officials to enact a strong but fair Right to Repair consumer proposal. However, notwithstanding our efforts in the legislature, we also are preparing for a vigorous fall campaign to ensure that consumers have the right to take their vehicle where they want for repair and maintenance,” Kinsman added.

The Right to Repair measure would “require a manufacturer of motor vehicles sold in the Commonwealth to make available for purchase by owners of motor vehicles…and by independent repair facilities the same diagnostic and repair information, including repair technical updates, that the manufacturer makes available to its dealers and authorized repair facilities…”

Currently, auto manufacturers provide only some of the diagnostic and safety information needed to repair vehicle owners’ cars with independent technicians, limiting consumers’ choices and losing business for neighborhood repair shops.

“We have been willing to work with legislators and the car companies from the start to try to come up with language that both protects consumers’ choice and provides car makers what they say they need in the new legislation,” said Kinsman. “But, what we won’t do in any talks is betray consumers who expect the kind of benefits Right to Repair will provide,” he added.

Thousands of independent repairers, the AAA and neighborhood auto parts shops support Right to Repair. John Paul, the AAA “Car Doctor” and radio personality, said recently that, “consumers are enduring expensive dealership costs and the legislature has the ability to bring relief now. They need to act.”

A study posted on www.cartalk.com and independent from the Right to Repair coalition, shows that, on average, consumers could save up to $420 per year on car repairs if local repair shops were able to buy the code data.

Last December, fulfilling the requirements of the initial phase of the ballot campaign, the coalition delivered 80,000 certified signatures to the Secretary of State’s office. The Right to Repair coalition expects to easily gather the final batch of signatures far ahead of the early July deadline.

The recent opinion piece by Tom Reilly, “Repair Bill Not Right, Not Fair” (April 30) makes us wonder if Mr. Reilly ever took the time to read the Right to Repair bill. His column reads like talking points for big out-of-state car manufacturers who oppose Right to Repair because they want to control where consumers get their cars fixed. Oh that’s right, Mr. Reilly is paid by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers to advise them on our ballot question. Shame on Reilly for not disclosing that.

Mr. Reilly’s column is predicated on a fundamental falsehood used by car manufacturers in their very public war on consumer choice in auto repair — that we’re trying to steal trade secrets. The Right to Repair proposal says that car manufacturers must make available for sale non-proprietary repair and diagnostic information, and further states that “nothing in this chapter would require a manufacturer to divulge a trade secret.” In fact, the current Attorney General would not have been able to approve the Right to Repair initiative petition for a ballot question if there was a taking of any property, intellectual or otherwise.

Since the Right to Repair legislation actually goes out of its way to protect manufacturers’ trade secrets, there can simply be no “jobs sent overseas,” which is another scare tactic employed by big car manufacturers. Interesting, coming from companies like GM who got bailed out on the American taxpayer’s dime, and spend that money making historic investments building factories and selling cars in China, lobbying against the right of consumers to get the cars they paid for fixed where they want, and paying Tom Reilly. Right to Repair will level the playing field among repair shops, spurring competition which results in consumer choice, savings, and will protect 32,000 local auto repair jobs right here in Massachusetts.

ART KINSMAN
Mass. Right to Repair Coalition
Boston

At a ceremony at the Wasilla, Alaska, NAPA AUTO PARTS store re- cently, Brigadier General Leo “Mike” Bridges, Commanding General of the Alaska Army National Guard and assistant Adjutant General of the Alaska National Guard, presented store manager Kevin Steverson with an Alaska National Guard Center of Influence Medallion, an Alaska National Guard unit coin and a certificate for personally lending a helping hand to Sgt. Mjr. Richard and Marlene Hildreth and other military families.
Months earlier, when Hildreth was deploying to Afghanistan, Stever- son offered to help Hildreth’s family while he was away.
“Just come ask,” Steverson said. “Doesn’t matter if it’s shoveling snow or fixing a car.”
During his service in Kabul, Afghanistan, the Hildreth family car, a 2001 Ford Excursion, started having problems. That spelled trouble for Marlene, Hildreth’s wife, who was at home caring for their six children.
While Hildreth and his wife tried using Skype to diagnose the bad al- ternator from the other side of the world, contending with time zone dif- ferences and work responsibilities made it nearly impossible. So Hildreth suggested she head to NAPA.
“We’d had a relationship with Kevin when he worked at the Palmer store,” Hildreth said.
Steverson stepped up. True to his word, he helped Marlene get the al- ternator and get it installed. Hildreth said Steverson also offered her moral support, putting the problem in prespective so it didn’t seem like such a big crisis.
“It’s always good to have someone in the community you can lean on,” Hildreth added.
Jim Ruda, Steverson’s boss and the owner of the NAPA store said there’s a reason he picked Steverson to manage his biggest store. “He’s excellent with people, he completely understands customer service and he’s detail-oriented,” said Ruda. “Basically, he believes in what I believe in – taking care of the customer first.”

NAPA OWNER INDUCTED
INTO INTERNATIONAL DRAG RACING HALL OF FAME

Ed Schartman, owner of six NAPA AUTO PARTS stores
in the Cleveland, Ohio, area, was recently inducted into the In- ternational Drag Racing Hall of Fame based at the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, Florida, during the NHRA Gatornationals weekend.
Schartman first made the NHRA record listings in 1958 when he was behind the wheel of a B/Gas sedan. His main interest was in the stock classes and in 1964 he drove his first Mercury A/FX Comet Wagon to the class champion spot at the NASCAR Winter Nationals in Deland, Florida. In 1965, he was named Super Stock magazine’s Rookie of the Year. From 1964-1967, Schartman won an average of 89% of the races he entered. His success earned him the nickname “Fast Eddie.”
As the stock-bodied cars became more exotic and faster, Schartman moved into the “funny car” ranks before it became a household term. He was one of the first to compete in a flip- top super experimental 1966 Mercury Cyclone. It powered him to victory circle at the first NHRA Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1966 where he defeated Dyno Don Nicholson.
In April 1967, Schartman became the first person to break the eight second ET barrier in a stock bodied car at Detroit Dragway. His success in the popular S.XS class continued throughout 1967 at races in California when he won the Manufacturers Funny Car championship at Orange County Dragway, the “Funny Car” Grand Prix Championship at Irwindale Raceway, the Northern Califor- nia Championship meet at Freemont Dragway and set the class elapsed time record at the Winternational in Pomona.
While Schartman competed at most of the major national events, he became more famous as a competitive match racer and showman on the many racetracks around the country. As the class evolved, Schartman led the way, working with the Ford/Mercury racing liaison Al Turner to make sure his cars in- corporated both safety and speed. Schartman was personally involved in the planning and building of most of his cars which set him apart from many of the early experimental builder/drivers.
In addition to his racing career, Schartman was a Dodge/ Ford dealer for 31 years. Due to the effects of the automotive in- dustry crisis, he joined the NAPA family in 2009. Today he oper- ates Great Northern Auto Parts Warehouse, a successful group of six NAPA stores in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. His business has grown 80% in each of his first two years of operation.
Schartman said, “We do a good job of getting parts to people when they need them. I know from my years as a car dealer, when you have someone’s car up in the air, you need that part now. We’ve made an extra attempt to do that in our business and we do it better than most. I think that’s the secret as to why our business has grown the way it has.
“We also carry a large inventory of the right parts. And I’ve been lucky to have good people working with me. They make it fun to go to work.
“During my years of racing, I got kind of used to first place and I don’t want to be anywhere else. NAPA has made it easy for me to be at the top in our market.”

Washington, DC – March 5, 2012 – The American Military Society (AMS) urges Congress to pass the Motor Vehicle Owners’ Right to Repair Act (HR 1449) on behalf of its membership which includes active, reserve, National Guard, retired and veterans of the uniformed services, their families and survivors.

“Selling a car without complete access to repair information is like selling prescription drugs without the doctor’s dosing instructions. It doesn’t make sense. That’s why we are asking Congress to rectify this situation and pass the Right to Repair Act,” said Charles C. Partridge, Col, USA (Ret) of AMS. “When local repair shops are denied access to non-proprietary repair information from the car companies, competition is limited. All consumers benefit from competition, but those serving our country and their families at home derive particular benefit from being able to obtain affordable, effective and convenient repairs for their vehicles.”

Right to Repair levels the competitive playing field for motoring consumers and between new car dealerships and independent repair shops by requiring that car companies provide full, fair access at a reasonable cost to all non-proprietary service information, tools and safety-related bulletins needed to repair today’s high-tech motor vehicles. The Right to Repair Act was introduced into the 112th Congress by Reps. Edolphus Towns (D-NY) and Todd Russell Platts (R-PA), and currently has 46 co-sponsors.

“As cars become more complicated with more computer systems, the problem becomes more acute,” continued Partridge. “Military personnel and their families are often stationed in remote locations far from any dealerships, relying on independent repair shops to service their vehicles. Most do not have the time to find the nearest dealership, drive all the way there and wait for their sole source of transportation to be repaired. If critical repairs go unperformed, then safety may be compromised. Passage of Right to Repair will ensure that all repair information is readily available to their trusted repair shop so they can have their vehicles repaired close to home, even when their vehicles are more recently out of warranty.”

About the American Military Society:
The American Military Society (AMS) is a non-profit veteran’s organization representing the professional and personal interests of active duty and retired men and women of America’s Uniformed Services, National Guard and Reserve. Since its founding in 1982, AMS has worked to support all aspects of national security while advancing the interests of the men and women who serve and who have served. The AMS mission is to advocate improved quality-of-life and economic fairness that will support the well-being of the men and women of America’s Uniformed Services and their families. For more information on the American Military Society, visit www.amsmilitary.org.

About Right to Repair:
The Motor Vehicle Owners’ Right to Repair Act (HR 1449), which was introduced by Reps. Edolphus Towns (D-NY) and Todd Platts (R-PA), would require car companies to make the same service information and tools capabilities available to independent repair shops that they provide to their franchised dealer networks. The legislation further provides car companies with strong protections for their trade secrets unless that information is provided to the franchised new car dealers. The bill clarifies the responsibilities of the Federal Trade Commission in enforcing the bill’s requirements. For more information about the Right to Repair Act, visit www.righttorepair.org.

Testimony by Art Kinsman of The Massachusetts Right to Repair Coalition at the 3/21/12 hearing of the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure.