Report: Automakers Push To Outlaw Home Car Repairs

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Chevrolet technician (Credit: GM)

According to a report recently ran by Autoblog, in the future it could contrary to copyright law if car enthusiasts were to work on their own vehicles. Thanks to Auto Alliance, which is the big lobbying group that represents automakers in the U.S. the brave new world could crush shade tree mechanics nationwide.

The whole thing stems from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a piece of legislation that doesn’t seem to obviously prohibit people from fixing or modifying their own cars. According to Auto Alliance, when any third party tinkers with a vehicle’s ECU it’s “legally problematic.” After all, a kid who decides to tweak his ride’s ECU could through amateurish programming cause the brakes to become unresponsive or shut off all emissions controls.

It’s an unreal scenario, like something out of a sci-fi movie, but it’s really happening.

Thankfully the Electronic Frontier Foundation is advocating on behalf of car owners, saying that they should be exempt from the act. The group is arguing that it’s a long-held practice for people to repair and even modify their own vehicle. After all organizations like the NHTSA, which are created specifically to oversee vehicle safety on all roads, haven’t taken action to shut down owner repairs.

Instead of people personalizing their ride at home, automakers really want everyone to pay extra to have tweaks added in the factory or at the dealership, effectively cutting out aftermarket companies. Such a shift seems incomprehensible considering that the aftermarket vehicle customization is a humongous industry, not to mention is a part of the country’s social fabric.

Autoblog’s report points out one example of things that could come about. Ford sued Autel US Inc. for accessing systems in cars that allow access to diagnostic codes and repair info.

A final decision should come sometime in the middle of the summer. If Auto Alliance gets its way, the outcome would turn the automotive industry upside down.

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Thomas Elliott

Ban home auto repairs? They aren’t nuclear reactors for heaven sake. I do all I can to maintain my vehicles but sometimes you just have to take one to the dealer for tough problems. Wanting the whole maintenance pie is just greedy and they could not ever keep up with every vehicle the public owns unless each service facility had 75 service bays. Let’s be realistic.
- Terry Rhyne
  
  I will never own a four wheel computer, we don’t keep up with the jones but I have an old Ford and it runs as good as a new one and it will blow a lot of new cars off the rode if I decide to and I can fix anything on it without a college degree.So get your new Fords or chevys make your $ 500.00 payments and I will keep on going on.
- Steven Symes
  
  Greed is definitely what’s fueling this.
Joseph Charles Fitzpatrick

“After all, a kid who decides to tweak his ride’s ECU could through amateurish programming cause the brakes to become unresponsive or shut off all emissions controls.”

If that is what the group really said than they either don’t know much about how cars work, or are making excuses. The ECU controls the engine not the brakes. The brakes still operate via hydraulics/mechanical. Aside from the ABS system, brakes aren’t controlled by any computers. Also ECU can always be reprogrammed to the oem versions. So even if they modify the ECU’s fuel trim numbers, it isn’t a necessarily permanent thing
- Steven Symes
  
  You’re right, but that’s exactly what the group’s saying. If you ask me, they’re building on hysteria, because after all you could forget to tighten the lug nuts on your car after putting on the spare tire.
Marques Aurelius

Another good reason to get out of this country(run by big corporate pigs) and move to Europe or South America.
K.C. Jones

If I bought it its mine, and you cannot tell me what to do with, or to my personal vehicle or anything else for that matter!
Rick in TX

I doubt the ford dealer even knows how to work on my 70 Mark III. sue me. I dare ya.
Bug S Bunny

In reality, the group behind this push is auto dealers. They don’t do a lot of repairs on vehicles which are out of warranty, and new vehicles are nearly trouble-free so the service revenue for dealers has dwindled over the past several years.

In my opinion, dealer’s pricing needs to be much more competitive. And here’s an idea for dealer service departments: how about being open on weekends (all day Saturdays and Sundays; not just 8-12 on Saturdays for oil changes and tire rotations)???