Testimony of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts
William C. Rennie, Vice President

Before the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure
September 15, 2009

Re: H.228 & S.124 - An Act Creating a Civil Legal Action to be Enforced by the Attorney General of the Commonwealth to Protect an Individual’s Right to Repair an Automobile     
           

The Retailers Association of Massachusetts (RAM), established in 1918, is a statewide trade association of over 3,100 member companies.  Our membership ranges from independent, “mom and pop” owned stores to larger, national chains operating in the general retail, restaurant and service sectors of the retail industry.  The industry’s contributions to the Commonwealth include over $112 billion in annual sales; over $5.7 billion in annual sales and use taxes collected; 17% of all Massachusetts jobs; and operations in over 38,000 locations across the state.

On behalf of the membership of RAM, I urge the Committee to support H.228/S.124, also known as "The Right to Repair Act,” a pro-consumer piece of legislation that would help not only consumers but would be beneficial to both auto parts stores and service stations.  This legislation establishes certain rights of automobile owners to all information from manufacturers about the service and repair needs for their vehicle and about choice for original and aftermarket parts.  Automobile manufacturers would be required to promptly provide to vehicle owners or to any repair facility of the owner's choosing the information necessary to diagnose, service, or repair a vehicle, including access to the manufacturers' computer codes which repair facilities must now purchase at a hefty cost. 

In situations now occurring at an increasingly alarming rate, your local neighborhood mechanic, having purchased all of the correct diagnosis tools and computer codes from a vehicle manufacturer, identifies the problem with your car yet then arrives at a dead end, as the final piece of information necessary to fix the problem is only available to a manufacturer authorized dealer.  As these scenarios play out all across the Commonwealth, consumers are the real losers, losing valuable time, as their car is sent off to the dealer, even though the problem fix has been identified, and money, as the average repair costs at a dealer are far greater than at an independent repair shop.  The problem stretches even further into the area of retail electronic equipment, 
with retail outlets that sell radios, DVD players and other custom equipment running into obstacles during installation.

With each new vehicle year and model, the auto manufacturers have been forcing the independent service stations to pay more and jump through more hoops in order to access the information necessary to complete a repair.  It is understandable and acceptable that there be a charge involved and a cost associated with access to these manufacturer codes.  What is not acceptable is when this process results in a dead end, despite an independent repair technician having followed all of the processes and rules set forth by the manufacturer.  Passage of H.228 is a step in the right direction toward halting this alarming trend.

I respectfully urge the Committee to give this legislation a favorable report and I thank you for your consideration.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if I may be of any assistance to you in your deliberations on this matter.