Personal data ownership remains a major focus of Congress. Now more than ever, we must protect Americans’ right to control their personal information. This principle carries to our vehicle data. If you own your car, you should own its data.
Yet, auto manufacturers have placed barriers around the data your vehicle generates, treating your information as if it belongs to them as a trade secret. My bill, the Right to Equitable and Professional Auto Industry (REPAIR) Act returns the information to where it belongs: the vehicle owner. With more than 60 cosponsors and a markup scheduled in the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday, now is the time to send this legislation to the House floor and protect Americans’ property rights.
Preventing access to this data is strangling the independent repair industry. As technology progresses, small repair businesses can no longer do routine jobs without access to vehicle data or the software needed to make a diagnosis. The result is a repair monopoly suffocating Main Street. Not only do repair shops suffer, but car owners are effectively forced to go to dealerships for service, eliminating consumer choice. This is bad for car owners and bad for competition, driving up prices. Dealerships charge roughly 36 percent more than independent repair shops for the same work.
The REPAIR Act addresses this directly. By restoring access to vehicle data to the rightful owner, the bill would expand consumer choice, increase competition, and lower repair costs.
If we fail to act, an estimated 155 million vehicle owners are likely to face limited repair choices by 2035, driving up the average annual repair bill by roughly $200 per household. That is more than $30 billion in additional expenses absorbed by working families across the country. Rural communities will be especially hit. In areas where repair options are already limited, drivers will be forced to travel long distances to dealerships, routine maintenance becomes more expensive and nearly impossible if a vehicle needs repairs.
The REPAIR Act brings competition back, ultimately lowering costs in a marketplace that automakers have been tilting in their favor for years.
This is common sense: your vehicle belongs to you, not the automaker. It is unacceptable for vehicle manufacturers to prevent vehicle owners from making routine maintenance to their vehicles or choosing a trusted local mechanic. Ownership should include the freedom to repair and control the data your vehicle generates.
The REPAIR Act is a product of years of collaboration with independent repair shops, consumer advocates, and industry stakeholders. It will lower costs for vehicle owners, strengthen competition, and protect fundamental property rights.
Now is the time to fix car repair for every American. I urge my colleagues to support the REPAIR Act.
Rep. Neal Dunn represents Florida’s 2nd District in Congress.
