Right to Repair
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Massachusetts Right to Repair

The Issue

The Motor Vehicle Owners' Right to Repair Act guarantees every car owner's right to have their vehicle serviced at the repair facility of their choice. This was the Auto Care Association's principal policy objective for years, and the industry's campaign in Massachusetts paved the way for a national solution: a 2014 memorandum of understanding between the Auto Care Association, the Coalition for Auto Repair Equality (CARE), and vehicle manufacturers. For the first time, new car manufacturers had to make the same service information and tools available to independent repair shops that they provide to their own franchised dealers. That MOU became the model for right-to-repair agreements nationwide.

But the 2014 MOU, like the original Massachusetts law it was based on, specifically excluded telematics, the data transmitted wirelessly from the vehicle to the manufacturer (see the excerpt below). Without that data, independent shops can't fully service today's connected vehicles. On November 3, 2020, Massachusetts voters closed that gap, overwhelmingly approving a ballot initiative that gave car owners access to their vehicles' mechanical data and the right to share it with the repair shop of their choice. Read more here.


AN ACT RELATIVE TO AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR (2013, Ch. 165)

“(f) With the exception of telematics diagnostic and repair information that is provided to dealers, necessary to diagnose and repair a customer’s vehicle and not otherwise available to an independent repair facility via the tools specified in paragraph (1) of subsection (c) and paragraph (1) of subsection (d), nothing in this chapter shall apply to telematics services or any other remote or information service, diagnostic or otherwise, delivered to or derived from a motor vehicle by mobile communications; provided, however, that nothing in this chapter shall be construed to abrogate a telematics services contract or other contract that exists between a manufacturer or service provider, an owner or a dealer. For the purposes of this chapter, telematics services shall include, but not be limited to, automatic airbag deployment and crash notification, remote diagnostics, navigation, stolen vehicle location, remote door unlock, transmitting emergency and vehicle location information to public safety answering points and any other service integrating vehicle location technology and wireless communications. Nothing in this chapter shall require a manufacturer or a dealer to disclose to any person the identity of existing customers or customer lists.” Access full act here.

 

Our Position

The Auto Care Association supports Massachusetts' right-to-repair law, which allows car owners to choose who can access their vehicle's repair and maintenance data while preserving its cybersecurity. We continue to support the law as automakers contest it in court.

How This Impacts You

This law means Massachusetts car owners keep deciding where their vehicle gets maintained and repaired, which keeps the state's repair market competitive. Supporters hope the law continues to spur serious consideration of federal legislation so all U.S. car owners can keep deciding where and how their vehicle is maintained.

Status

November 3, 2020: Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly approved the ballot initiative, requiring:

  1. Prospective vehicle owners to receive notice explaining motor vehicle telematics, what mechanical data is collected, and their right to access it and authorize an independent shop to use it for diagnostics, repair, and maintenance.
  2. Manufacturers using telematics systems, starting with model year 2022, will equip vehicles with an interoperable, standardized, open-access platform that securely communicates mechanical data via direct data connection.
  3. Standardized access to onboard diagnostic systems that doesn't require manufacturer authorization.

Automakers ran a multi-million-dollar campaign against the measure, warning voters it threatened vehicle safety and data security, and lobbied federal lawmakers to preempt it without offering federal standards of their own. They then filed a lawsuit to overturn the law, which went to a bench trial in 2021. The ruling was delayed repeatedly before U.S. District Judge Denise Casper dismissed the remaining claims in February 2025, a win for independent shops and consumers.

That wasn't the end of it. Auto Innovators appealed, and the case is now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, No. 25-1262. At oral argument on February 3, 2026, Auto Innovators conceded that its automaker members could safely comply with the law as the district court interpreted it, abandoning the central argument that compliance was impossible. The court asked both sides whether they wanted to settle through mediation. On February 25, 2026, the Massachusetts Attorney General's office said no, telling the court there's nothing left to mediate since the case turns on the law's facial validity, something only the state legislature can change. The AG's office also noted that some manufacturers have used the pending case as a reason to delay compliance and asked the court to rule to provide clarity to both sides. The case remains pending.

The fight for the same protections nationwide continues through the federal REPAIR Act (H.R. 1566 / S. 1379), introduced in February 2025 and still before Congress.

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