EDITORIAL: Automakers try to stifle owner-performed repairs

A car is a big purchase — so big that, as with homes, millions of Americans perform maintenance and repairs and make modifications themselves. Some do it out of economic necessity. Some do it for fun.

But in a classic case of biting the hand that feeds them, automakers want the federal government’s help in cracking down on gearheads and grease monkeys. Car manufacturers are pressing for provisions in copyright law that would prevent home and independent mechanics from repairing and customizing their own vehicles.

According to autoblog.com’s Pete Bigelow, the push is rooted in a section of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which was signed into law in 1998. At the time, nobody anticipated that the law could apply to vehicles, but now, because complex computer systems are part of every vehicle coming off the assembly line, the U.S. Copyright Office is trying to decide whether parts of the law that protect intellectual property should also put the brakes on people fixing their own cars.

Every three years, the office holds exemption hearings. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit that supports digital rights, wants to ensure that car owners can work on their vehicles. As reported by Mr. Bigelow, manufacturers have filed comments claiming that today’s cars are too advanced for regular folks to fix, and that allowing such work to take place outside dealership service or brand-sanctioned repair shops is “legally problematic.” A final decision on the matter is expected by mid-year.

What automakers are trying to do here is forever change the relationship between themselves and their customers. If they have their way, we won’t own our cars anymore. We’ll have glorified leases. This story is a textbook example of how big businesses lobby for increased government power — and more protections and benefits for themselves.

The Alliance of Global Automakers worries that allowing untrained mechanics access to essential controls “leads to an imbalance by which the negative consequences far outweigh any suggested benefits,” which could lead to “disastrous consequences.” But, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, aftermarket suppliers and garage mechanics have been successfully and safely adjusting engine control units for years, improving fuel efficiency, boosting horsepower, establishing performance limits for teen drivers and enhancing countless other features, Mr. Bigelow wrote. These innovations have contributed to a “decades-old tradition of mechanical curiosity and self-reliance.”

Furthermore, although auto manufacturers would like us to believe that they know more about their complicated computer systems than consumers or other third parties could ever know, automakers sometimes have overlooked flaws in their own products and failed to understand how systems work together.

During congressional hearings on General Motors’ inaction on a deadly ignition switch defect, lawmakers pointed out that the company never connected airbag nondeployments to an ignition switch in the “accessory” position. And it took outside researchers to shed light on countless cyber-security vulnerabilities in vehicles. This kind of research will become illegal without an exemption to the copyright act, Mr. Bigelow notes.

Millions of Americans are perfectly capable of repairing their vehicles themselves, either for enjoyment or out of necessity. If automakers don’t want us doing it, then why do dealerships have separate parts and service departments? This move is about driving more business to dealership service departments and squeezing out lower-priced competition.

Besides, what are automakers going to do to customers who dare to tinker with their personal property? (Automakers aren’t on vehicle titles, are they?) Sue them? Yes, car manufacturers can void warranties if breakdowns result from poor repairs and modifications gone wrong, but beyond that, how far will these companies go?

The auto industry and its sympathizers in the Washington bureaucracy need to back off. We can do whatever we want with our cars in our garages.