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NHTSA Tells Automakers Not To Comply With MA’s Right To Repair Law The National Highway and Transportation Safety Authority (NHTSA) on June 13 sent a letter to 22 automakers, telling them not to comply with a Right to Repair law recently enacted in Massachusetts, citing “significant safety concerns.”
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to dealership service centers. It was first approved by Massachusetts voters in 2020, but delayed for years by a lawsuit brought by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing automakers.
Vol. 41 / Issue 7 / July 2023 REGIONAL NEWS
College Grad Found Car Repair Passion After Overcoming Homelessness By Natay Holmes ABC 10News
The auto industry is in need of more technicians, and Cuyamaca College in El Cajon, CA, is helping steer students in that direction through its auto technology program. The program works with partners, like GM and Ford, to get students into auto body shops and gain real-world experience outside of the classroom. Of course, the college also has shops on campus where students can get hands-on experience. ABC 10News spoke to a nontraditional college student who took advantage of this program; he’s older and a father of four, but he used the knowledge gained from the program
to open his own business. “As a mechanic, I can go anywhere and I can have a job the next day,” Benjamin Hart said. Unscrewing one lug nut at a time, Hart said fixing cars has become his passion. “It’s very hard to find a shop that you’re comfortable with and where people are going to be really transparent with you,” he said. Cuyamaca College’s auto technology program helped Hart find the tools he needed to open his own business in 2020. The program trains students to fix a variety of systems that exist in a car. “We have students who have never opened the hood of a car, all l CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
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“While NHTSA has stressed that it is important for consumers to continue to have the ability to choose where to have their vehicles serviced and repaired, consumers must be afforded choice in a manner that does not pose an unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety,” the NHTSA said in the letter. The law requires automakers to allow access to their vehicles’ data, so owners can get them fixed by independent repairers if they choose, rather than be forced to go
Finally, in March, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced she would begin enforcing the law June 1, despite the lack of a decision in the federal lawsuit. A last-minute motion to block the enforcement by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation was denied. The letter from the NHTSA claims the Massachusetts law is in conflict with and is therefore preempted by the Safety Act, which
Tesla Model 3 Just Became Cheaper Than Toyota Camry in California By Joey Klender Teslarati
The Tesla Model 3 just became less expensive than a Toyota Camry in California thanks to the company’s confirmation that each of the allelectric sedan’s trim levels qualifies for the full $7,500 federal tax credit. In early June, Tesla changed the language on its Model 3 Design Studio to reflect updated tax credit qualifications, indicating all three
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE 14
Columnist Mike Anderson: How to Create a Winning Customer
Experience
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Columnist Abby Andrews: Mitchell Hosts High School Students to Show Career Opportunities in the Collision Repair Industry
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Columnist Stacey Phillips: Solving the Tech Shortage: Providing Direction, Showing Vulnerability & Re-messaging the Collision Repair Job
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Columnist John Yoswick: Auto Body Shop Owners Decide Where to Focus Attention, Resources in Near Future
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