Trade secrets

Motor,  Oct 2002  by Cerullo, Bob

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An effective way to make your voice heard and bring about positive changes in our industry is to join together with others who share the same business challenges.

I would venture to say that there's probably no technician who works with a scan tool on a daily basis who hasn't, at one time or another, become frustrated almost to the point of tool-throwing fury. Maybe you're one of them. The scenario might go something like this:

You pull a trouble code and maybe get an explanation right there on the scan tool. Or you go to the manuals and find everything but that crucial bit of information you really need. Or you actually do a suggested repair, only to have the Check Engine light come back on after a road test. You may then start thinking, Maybe the problem is me. Maybe I don't know enough about what I'm doing to track down OBD and OBD II-generated trouble codes.

Take heart. You're not alone.

A membership survey conducted by the Automotive Service Association (ASA), which represents 15,000 independent repair shop owners, recently concluded that their members were turning away about 10% of the Check Engine light-related jobs that came into their shops because they didn't have the information they needed to do the repairs. These are bright, innovative, nononsense types who usually figure out how to do the job even when they don't have all the information they need. That part of their nature is probably why toolmakers will tell you that some of their best ideas for tools come from technicians who manage to get the job done every day.

When I learned that Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-MN) became interested enough in the problems automotive technicians are having to introduce a bill in the Senate to "protect the viability" of independent repair shops and ensure that consumers will continue to be able to choose where they take their vehicles for service, I asked Bill Haas, vice president of the Automotive Service Association, how that came to pass. Haas said that ASA had been aware of the problems even before they did the survey, but he credited a shop owner from Minnesota as being the group's outspoken missionary who got Sen. Wellstone's attention.

In April of this year, Geralynn Kottschade of Jerry's Body Shop in Mankato, Minnesota, journeyed to an ASA meeting in Washington D.C. Mrs. Kottschade is no stranger to Washington. She's a member of the Board of Directors of ASA. She and her husband Jerry, a former ASA Board member, have been active in industry affairs for years. They employ 23 people in a very successful body shop that's been in business for 31 years. The message the Kottscbades brought to Sen. Wellstone is described this way in an ASA press release:

"Since the mid-1990s, many vehicle systems have been integrated into a computer system within a car, making auto repair an increasingly `high tech' business and making access to the computer and the information it contains vital to the ability to perform repairs. Increasingly, independent repair shops are being barred access to the codes and diagnostic tools necessary to repair newer model cars.

"The effect is to reduce consumer choice for auto repair services, and to endanger the livelihood of thousands of small, family-owned repair shops across the country. The Motor Vehicle Owners' Right to Repair Act [S.2617] introduced by Wellstone today would require manufacturers to share the codes necessary to run diagnostic tests and perform repairs."

Geralynn Kottschade worked hard attending meetings, going to Washington and-probably the most difficult-leaving the family business to work on getting her message to her elected representative. But all the hard work paid off in getting the attention of Sen. Wellstone, which resulted in the Motor Vehicle Owners' Right to Repair Act of 2001.

Sen. Wellstone said: "This is about a level playing field. Independent mechanics don't mind competition, but they can't stay in business if they don't have access to the information to repair newer cars. This legislation would protect the viability of independent service station and repair shops and ensure that consumers will continue to have a choice of automotive service providers." The Wellstone bill is also endorsed by the American Automobile Association, which boasts 44 million members.

There are always two sides to every story, of course. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents just about -all domestic and import carmakers, is not inclined to encourage the passage of the Wellstone bill. Moreover, the Alliance points out that its members have always been committed to providing the information independent repair professionals need. In a Letter of Intent dated Oct. 30, 2001, the Alliance stated: "By Jan. 1, 2003, the undersigned manufacturers intend to make available to independent technicians the same diagnostic and repair capabilities by making available diagnostic tools (and tool information), service information and training materials that they currently make available to their franchised dealerships for all 1996 and newer cars and light trucks."