'Right to Repair' Your Own Car Legislation Before Congress

The Tire Industry Association applauds the passage of the Right to Repair law in Massachusetts and strongly urges Congress to pass a comparable federal law to ensure that all American car owners and their trusted repair shops have the same access to safety alerts and repair information as the franchised new car dealer network.  

"Most new vehicles are equipped with tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) to protect motorists from the dangers of operating a vehicle with underinflated tires. Because these systems are controlled by computers, we believe there is a critical need to swiftly pass the Right to Repair Act on a national level," said Roy Littlefield, executive vice president of the Tire Industry Association. 

The Motor Vehicle Owners' Right to Repair Act (HR 1449) 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, fault codes and safety-related bulletins needed to repair motor vehicles. The Right to Repair Act was introduced into the 112^th Congress by Reps. Edolphus Towns (D-NY) and Todd Russell Platts (R-PA), and has reached 51 co-sponsors.

"Passage in Massachusetts is a good start, but without every repair facility having ready access to complete, accurate information from the car companies, it will be very difficult to keep all TPMS systems activated and in safe working condition," continued Littlefield. "We support each car owner's right to patronize the auto service facility of their choice. We ask all motorists to visit www.righttorepair.org to send a letter to each of their congressional representatives, urging them to co-sponsor the Right to Repair Act."

About the Tire Industry Association:
The Tire Industry Association, with a 90 year history representing all segments of the national and international tire industry, is the leading advocate, as well as, instructor in technical training of tire service technicians. For more information, visit www.tireindustry.org or call 800-876-8372.

About Right to Repair:

The Motor Vehicle Owners' Right to Repair Act protects motoring consumers from a growing and potentially hazardous vehicle repair monopoly by requiring that vehicle manufacturers provide full access at a reasonable cost to all non-proprietary service information, tools and safety-related bulletins needed to repair motor vehicles. The legislation provides car companies with strong protections for their trade secrets, only requiring them to make available the same diagnostic and repair information they provide their franchised dealers to the independent vehicle repair market.  For more information, visit www.righttorepair.org and www.massrighttorepair.com.

SOURCE Right to Repair Act/Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association