Could it soon be illegal to work on your own car?

[TrophyJem]

I know its the US but....

 

http://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/bmw-ford-vw-want-to-make-it-illegal-to-work-on-your-own-car/

 

 

[SootySport]

That was even talked about at the EU some years ago, needless to say the idea flauted EU competition rules.

[pistonbroke 2]

I presume that if this did catch on, it would only concern  new manufactured cars from

a future date ( poss 5-10 years )

 

And we will all be driving Electric cars or using public transport because we cant afford main dealer pricing.  

 

All the more reason to look for a nice Classic Motor then .    

[Stuart]

Ford have been looking for years as to whether they should stop selling cars and only lease them instead.  Gives them all the profits that the leasing companies make on their products now, control over servicing etc. and also gives them control of their products at end of life, allowing them to ensure green disposal and grab some revenue from the scrap recyclers.  Be a brave move, though, and I can't see it happening anytime soon.

 

This one is ridiculous, though - why would anyone use a car to pirate music when there are several much simpler ways.  Sprat to catch a mackerel methinks.

[jeff oakley]

Sorry to say this, but the car manufacturers are still wanting to do this. When they first floated this idea in the EU it was to get control of everything from cradle to grave on the car, as the manufacturer is responsible for the safe disposal of cars already.

This was stopped by the block exemption act that forces the VM to give information to garages to enable them to work on their vehicles. But there is a loophole which allows them to deny access to critical safety systems and security systems, so they have sneakily added things in to that circuit. Again this has been stopped.

However, now there are moves to only allow qualified persons to repair vehicles which has a lot of support from the EU. In this way the VM franchise garages get all theirs qualified first and the independent garages have to do like wise.

It is exactly the same as Gas fitters and Electricians and we are not allowed to do any of those jobs as individuals, legally.

What is holding it up is, the UK industry lobbies against it, however, consumer groups want it, but the big issue is the lack of qualified and certified mechanics would mean the country would grind to a halt.

There is little evidence that home mechanics are unsafe, in fact the DOT was happy to exempt some historic vehicles recently but there is a multi million Euro industry spending on lobbying the EU and from the article America, to try to say it is for our own good they want to do this.

We are years away but with our weak political masters I am afraid it will happen, but probably on cars of a certain age going forward.

This is not rumour by the way, as I deal with the DOT as a representative of the UK aftermarket occasionally and was involved with the block exemption in the past.

[Stuart]

As a high-end scappie I was involved deeply in helping the DTI (as was) to transpose the EU End-of-Life-Vehicle Directive into UK legislation, which obviously involved interfacing with all the major companies selling cars in the UK - that's how I know about this.  And Jeff's comment about the size of the industry is very pertinent - if they think it might run and allow them to control and thus increase profit or market share, they will have a team of people dedicated to working on it full time.  Never underestimate the lobbying power of car manufacturers Europe-wide.

[Lyonspride]

This is another one of those things they try to push forward (just like internet censorship) and most people will just say "I don't care, it won't affect me"..... In this case because "most" people are too lazy to do anything to their own vehicles and many of those think that only car dealerships know what they're doing (because of course, slimey loud mouth salesmen types know everything about cars).

 

The one's that sit on the fence will be convinced by a sudden surge in media attention toward accidents involving modified vehicles and/or accidents caused by poor workmanship (and failing to state whether the person responsible was qualified or not).

 

In the UK they'd create a specific new qualification and charge £5000 for the course to gain it, whether you've been working on cars for 50 years or have older qualifications or not. "Part "P anyone?

 

I can definitely see this happening. The ONLY thing that might hold it back, are the super rich folks who enjoy tinkering with classic cars (as opposed to hiring a mechanic to do it for them).

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

There's nothing lazy about not wanting to work on your own vehicle, plenty of people don't, even amongst those that would be counted as car/motoring enthusiasts. Just because someone has no interest in spannering is no reason to belittle them...

 

One of the things that will genuinely count in the home mechanics favour, I suppose, would be the size of the industry set up to support us; everything from tool manufacturers to parts manufacturers and the whole supply chain in the middle.

 

That said, as the world moves steadily toward electric or alternative power vehicle, I suspect the whole argument will become moot.

[Lyonspride]

There's nothing lazy about not wanting to work on your own vehicle, plenty of people don't, even amongst those that would be counted as car/motoring enthusiasts. Just because someone has no interest in spannering is no reason to belittle them...

 

One of the things that will genuinely count in the home mechanics favour, I suppose, would be the size of the industry set up to support us; everything from tool manufacturers to parts manufacturers and the whole supply chain in the middle.

 

That said, as the world moves steadily toward electric or alternative power vehicle, I suspect the whole argument will become moot.

 

Sorry, that's not what I mean't.

 

I'm talking about the people who won't even lift the bonnet to check the levels once in a while, or who'd rather pay someone than fit a bulb in an easy to access location (usually tail lights). The simple stuff that 30 years ago everyone did.