Automakers Sue To Kill Maines Hugely Popular Right To Repair Lawfrom the good-intentions,-hot-messes deptFri, Feb 7th 2025 02:25pm - Karl BodeA little over a year ago, Maine residents voted overwhelmingly (83 percent) topass a new state right to repair lawdesigned to make auto repairs easier and more affordable. More specifically, the law requires that automakers standardize on-board diagnostic systems and provide remote access to those systems and mechanical datato consumers and third-party independent repair shops.But as weve seen with other states that have passed right to reform laws (most notably New York), passing the law isnt the end of the story. Corporate lobbyists have had great success not just watering these laws downbeforepassage, butaftervoters approve them. Theyve also been swarmed by coordinated industry lawsuits and falsehood-spewing attacks.Maines popular right to repair law just took effect after a year of hashing out the fine details, but the bills still being changed as the state tries to sort out enforcement. Large automakers have been looming over that process to try and weaken the law. But the Alliance For Automotive Innovation also just filed a new lawsuit saying the law isnt fully cooked and therefore violates the law:This is an example of putting the cart before the horse. Before automakers can comply, the law requires the attorney general to first establish an independent entity to securely administer access to vehicle data. The independent entity hasnt been established. Thats not in dispute. Compliance with the law right now is not possible.The group is correct that Maines right to repair law isnt fully cooked yet. What they dont say is theyre one of the reasons the law isnt fully cooked. Or that they oppose the popular law either way. The groups statement makes some false claims that the law wasnt necessary because the freedom to repair your own vehicle already exists. Thats simply not true, and its important to remind folks that the auto industry has some of the worst privacy and security ratings of any tech-based industry. Automakers also routinely falsely claim that right to repair laws are a threat to consumer privacy and security. Mainesoriginal and vague lawrequires manufacturers to give car owners, independent repair shops, and licensed dealers transparent access to vehicle data for repair and diagnostic purposes. It also demanded the creation of aMaine Automotive Right to Repair Working Groupto determine the contours of the law and help build an independent entity to govern vehicle data transmitted to independent repair shops.That process has been a mess, in part, because the original law was vague. But also because auto lobbyists have been applying constant pressure to weaken the law. And because crafting a useful law, with functional privacy measures, that automakers cant just tap dance around, simply isnt easy. So yes, the law is unfinished. Its also not being actually enforced. Once Maines law is finally fully cooked, assumingit has any actual teeth left by that point, consistent enforcement becomes another issue. In all of the states where new right to repair laws have been passed, most corporationsare simply ignoring the laws. Im not sure Ive seen a single enforcement action yet in any of the eleven states that have passed various right to repair protections.Now, with Trumpisms assault on everything throwing state courts into absolute chaos on subjects ranging from immigration to public safety, I suspect enforcement of extremely popular right to repair laws wont be at the top of the priority list for cash-strapped states.