Aaron Lowe, senior vice president of regulatory and government affairs, participated recently in a public workshop in Washington, D.C., hosted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) titled, “Nixing the Fix: A Workshop on Repair Restrictions.”
During the session, the FTC questioned three panels of repair experts and industry representatives on the impacts of repair limits instituted by manufacturers, and whether such practices affect consumer protection under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.
The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act prohibits product manufacturers from conditioning consumer warranties on the use of any original equipment part or service.
During his testimony, Lowe shared lessons learned from the 2014 Right to Repair Memorandum of Understanding—a national agreement between the automotive aftermarket and automakers requiring diagnostic tools, software and repair information to be made available to independent repair shops.