Right to Repair camapign

[Sting]

There's an interesting protest action on the go in the USA where they want the manufacturers to release information on their vehicles so that non-dealer mechanics can repair vehicles. The same has happened in the EU.

http://www.righttorepair.org/about/default.aspx

The Right to Repair Act is bipartisan legislation that would require automakers to provide the same service information and tools to independent auto and maintenance shops, as well as to consumers, that the automaker dealership service centers receive.

• It further instructs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to provide oversight and enforcement of the bill.
• As a means of protecting intellectual property, the legislation states that the manufacturers’ proprietary information will not have to be disclosed.
• Right to Repair legislation does not attempt to restrict motorists from choosing car dealerships, it simply ensures that vehicle owners have a choice when deciding where to take their vehicles for repairs and what parts are best to use in maintaining their vehicles.

The Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association and the Coalition for Auto Repair Equality urge Congress to support the Right to Repair Act to give consumers a choice and keep repair costs down. It's the right thing to do for consumers, for business and the economy.

When will we start in SA?

 

[deweyzeph]

What I really want to know is when are South Africans going to stop being ripped off by the cartel of car dealers and manufacturers that make cars in South Africa cost almost double what they cost in other countries? Why does this never receive any attention here?

 

[HapticSimian]

With retained profit margins of 4-6% at dealer-level, you can leave the dealers out of your conspiracy.

 

[deweyzeph]

Someone's making a killing, that's for sure. SARS is certainly one of the big offenders with the ridiculous import duty that they charge.

 

[HapticSimian]

No doubt, but from working at dealer level for a number of years I can assure you it ain't them.

I'd love to know the true cost of, say, a locally built 3series Beemer from raw materials to showroom floor, though. But I'd imagine one has a better chance of finding the Ark than getting one's hands on that info.

 

[Thugscub]

The guvt is protecting the motor industry. Fusk the guvt.

 

[deweyzeph]

The pathetic thing is we don't even really have a proper motor industry in this country. BMW and Volkswagen only have plants here so they can exploit the cheap labour we have in South Africa. All of those flashy beemers and Volkswagens are designed overseas. The steel for those cars may be mined here, but it is sent to Japan and other countries for processing, and then shipped back here to be assembled. I could understand if there was a single car that was truly South African from design all the way through to assembly, but there isn't. What there is though are powerful unions in the motor industry who lobby the government to keep the prices of imported vehicles artificially high just to protect the jobs of their cronies.