WASHINGTON — Consumer access to vehicle data is the most important issue motorists and the automotive aftermarket face, and urgent action must be taken to guarantee it.
This was the position taken by three auto aftermarket officials in a Sept. 26 roundtable webcast sponsored in Washington by the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA).
The webcast was one of the opening salvos in the "Your Car, Your Data, Your Choice" campaign co-sponsored by the Auto Care Association (ACA) and the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA), a community of MEMA.
Ann Wilson, MEMA senior vice president of government affairs, moderated the webcast, which also featured ACA President and CEO Bill Hanvey; ASA President and COO Paul McCarthy; and Christopher Blalock, director of product development and management at Dorman Products Inc.
There are two key issues regarding access to vehicle data, according to Mr. Blalock.
"The first issue is the data your car creates," he said. "That data is sold to others to influence your buying habits.
"The second issue is your vehicle operating system," he continued. "When you buy the car, you should have the right to the data you need to repair or maintain the vehicle."
The threat to consumers is not in the future, Mr. Hanvey said.
"It is affecting consumers now, and it will exponentially affect them more as time goes on," he said.
70% of all auto repairs are made by independent repairers, according to Mr. Hanvey. Lack of access to vehicle data forces motorists to go to auto dealers for maintenance and repairs, he said.
Not only do car owners pay up to 30% more for service at dealerships, but for rural motorists the nearest dealership is often 50 or 60 miles away, Mr. Hanvey said.
"There are 235,000 independent repair shops employing 900,000 technicians, compared with 16,000 new-car dealerships," he said. "This puts things in context."
Because of the greater expense and inconvenience, vehicle owners may put off or ignore vehicle maintenance and repairs that are essential for safe operation, according to Mr. McCarthy.
"We're just asking for the data and information we need to repair the car," he said. "This is nothing new, but technology has created new opportunities for OEMs to hide the information."
Passage in Massachusetts of the Motor Vehicle Owners' Right to Repair (R2R) Act in 2013, with 86% approval on state ballots, was a game-changing moment in the quest for vehicle data access, the panelists said.
However, that law is based on access to onboard diagnostic ports, which wireless data systems have made obsolete, they said. Advocates of Right to Repair are working on a rewrite to the Massachusetts law, which they soon hope to introduce in the legislature, they said.
"This is R2R 2.0," Mr. Blalock said.
The panelists also urged viewers to go to the "Your Car, Your Data" website at https://yourcaryourdata.org/join-the-movement/ and sign the petition demanding consumer access to vehicle data.