Do Car Manufacturers Drive Up Repair Costs Pt.3
Table of contents for Do Car Manufacturers Drive Up Repair Costs?
- Do Car Manufacturers Drive Up Repair Costs?
- Do Car Manufacturers Drive Up Repair Costs? Pt.2
- Do Car Manufacturers Drive Up Repair Costs Pt.3
“Centre Automotive in Needham still has to turn customers away even after spending thousands on expensive equipment to diagnose car troubles.”
“And it still won’t pull all the problems out of the vehicle.”
“And on top of the equipment, there are those costly codes. Team 5 Investigates uncovered that Porsche alone charges $5200 a year, Mercedes almost 3 grand, Ford and BMW nearly $2500 each.”
“The guy at the corner can’t afford to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to access codes so that he can just figure out that a - that a spark plug isn’t working properly.”
“The bigger shops pay but complain manufacturers still aren’t completely forthcoming. What does that mean for drivers? Well triple A says that the average mechanic charges between $60 and $85 an hour for labour. But dealer labour rates start at $90 an hour. A difference that’s often 20% more that you end up paying when you’re sent to the dealership.”
“One hour, $94 .”
“It’s bad for the consumer, I think it’s bad for the small business.”
“To fight for their business, mechanics are using a new tool - State Legislation. The Owner’s Right to Repair Act.”
“There has been some discussion that manufacturers are not providing accurate codes to the small independent mechanics. It does cause you to put up a red flag.”
“You can pay and pay dearly to get a lot of information. But on a lot of cars you can’t get all the information.”
“Dealers are fighting the Bill arguing, they’ve invested millions in training and equipment for decades to be the ‘Go To People’ on the cars they sell.”
” If they don’t have the technology to actually scan the cars properly and have the training to apply that knowledge they can sometimes -uh- suggest improper repairs to the customer.”
“So you’re not trying to hide trade secrets or create a monopoly or..”
“No, not at all. It’s not just as easy as a code coming up on that scan tool and that tells you to replace a certain part.”
“But for drivers like Judy Schotland they just want their cars fixed at the most convenient place and for the best price.”
“It would really make me upset if - if I can’t continue doing my maintenance at my local shop.”
“If the Bill becomes law here at Massachusetts, manufacturers could be fined up to 20 grand for not sharing those codes. The powerful car lobby has stalled similar federal legislation. For Team 5 Investigates, I’m Rhondella Richardson.”
In case you didn’t see the video in part 1 of this series… here it is again.
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