A Rift over Repairs

Mechanics, carmakers battle over diagnostics

By Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff | Boston Globe, January 9, 2010

Allston auto mechanic Jerome Brasseur hates turning away business, but he doesn’t always have a choice.

Brasseur cannot make simple fixes on some cars because he doesn’t have the diagnostic codes he needs. He has to send owners of certain BMW and Mercedes models to manufacturers’ dealerships for something as basic as a transmission fluid change because automakers consider such information proprietary and are reluctant to divulge it to independent repair companies.

Employees such as Tony Silva at Direct Tire in Watertown lack access to some diagnostic repair information made available to dealerships.

“They make it [so] that only the dealership can change the transmission fluid,’’ said Brasseur, whose JCB Auto shop is not affiliated with an automaker. “You kind of know after a while what jobs to walk away from, where you say to the customer, ‘Yeah, sorry, I’m not going to be able to help you.’ ’’

That presents consumers with a dilemma: They can take their car to a shop that might not be able to make a fix, or bring it to a dealership and risk spending more money.

Repairing autos is an increasingly complex and computerized job, requiring specialized diagnostic tools that help a mechanic obtain repair information and codes from a vehicle’s on-board computer system. Shutting off the “check engine’’ light on some cars, for example, requires a mechanic to punch in a special six-digit code created by the manufacturer.

A coalition of Massachusetts businesses is lobbying for a bill called the Right to Repair Act that would guarantee independent mechanics and shop owners access to the diagnostic data dealerships get. The bill is under review by the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, and more than 40 legislators have expressed support for it.

Auto manufacturers are lobbying against the measure, saying it could force them to reveal trade secrets, such as a vehicle’s electronic control module. The module is essentially a car’s brain, controlling everything from air bags to the diagnostic system.

Plummeting car sales have heightened dealership opposition to the bill. Ami Gadhia, policy analyst for Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, said that’s because dealerships now rely on revenue from repairs, not sales, to turn a profit. Gadhia said Consumers Union supports the bill in principle because it promotes competition between dealerships and independent shops.

“The more competition, the better the choice for consumers and, obviously, the better the pricing,’’ Gadhia said.

Charles Territo, spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a national group of 11 companies, said after-market parts manufacturers, such as AutoZone or Napa, want information about electronic control modules and other parts so they can reverse-engineer them and, ultimately, manufacture and sell the same gear at a discount.

“That is highly guarded trade proprietary information and manufacturers spend billions and billions of dollars researching and developing it to make their products unique,’’ Territo said. “They want to get all that for free.’’

Art Kinsman, a spokesman for the Right to Repair Coalition, said after-market parts companies are part of the coalition and support the bill. But not for the reasons Territo stated. “They are suppliers to all these independent businesses and if they start to suffer, obviously AutoZone will suffer,’’ he said.

Opponents of the legislation also said data needed to make repairs are already available to independent mechanics who are willing to pay for the information. Some after-market companies manufacture diagnostic tools, but there is debate about whether they contain all the needed information. Robert O’Koniewski, executive vice president of the Massachusetts State Auto Dealers Association, said manufacturers also sell the information.

Auto repair increasingly requires tools that help a mechanic obtain repair codes from a vehicle's computer system.

“It’s all out there if they want to buy it,’’ O’Koniewski said. “The only problem is, they don’t want to buy it.’’

Repairs on cars no longer under factory warranty can be more expensive at dealerships, because the businesses typically have greater overhead and costs than small independent garages. For example, a dealer may have to pay the costs associated with training mechanics to use equipment supplied by manufacturers. And unlike a small shop, dealers also have to factor in the cost of selling cars, managing inventory, and employing a sales staff.

Barry Steinberg, owner of four Direct Tire & Auto Service shops in Massachusetts and one of the bill’s most vocal proponents, said he only wants access to the same information made available to dealerships. He said he recently offered to pay an Audi dealership $25,000 to get the manufacturer’s diagnostic scanner, but was rebuffed because the equipment is sold only to Audi dealers.

Mechanics at Direct Tire shops can replace the tires on a Lexus SC 430 sports car and reconnect all of the appropriate computer sensing devices that detect low pressure. But Steinberg said his mechanics are unable to shut off the dashboard tire sensor light once it illuminates.

“I have to send the customer down to the dealer’’ for that, Steinberg said. “They charge them $99.’’

Brasseur, the Allston mechanic, said he has been occasionally forced to tow vehicles he can’t repair to a dealership.

Steve Amaral, shop manager at Wooding’s Garage in Allston and a mechanic for 35 years, said he specializes on Volkswagens and Audis because working on a wide range of brands has grown too costly and complicated. He said he recently considered buying a $14,000 generic scanning device that would allow mechanics to “reflash’’ or reprogram computers in some Volkswagen and Audi models. He decided against the purchase because of the steep price. Often, mechanics at independent repair shops simply get creative, Amaral said, and find ways to make repairs without the benefit of a manufacturer’s code or expensive gear. He declined to offer specifics.

“Let’s just say you learn how to work around it and figure it out,’’ he said.

Megan Woolhouse can be reached at mwoolhouse@globe.com.

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