Right to repair laws and what they mean for repair costs and claims

"Right to repair" laws are about who can get a car's diagnostic data, repair instructions and tools: the owner, an independent shop, or only the manufacturer's dealers. As of November 2026 the strongest laws are state measures in Massachusetts and Maine that are still being fought in court, and the federal REPAIR Act has been narrowed in committee. For your premium and your claim, the effect so far is indirect and unproven: nobody has shown these laws lower insurance prices, and a claim is more often affected by whether a shop can scan, program and calibrate a car than by any statute.

What "right to repair" actually covers

The phrase covers three different things that get mixed together in news coverage:

Collision claims touch all three, since modern repairs usually end with scans, module programming and ADAS calibration of cameras and radar. Our guide on why car repairs cost so much more than they used to explains how those operations have added to bills.

Where the law stands, as of November 2026

There is no single federal right-to-repair statute for cars. What exists is a patchwork:

Massachusetts

Massachusetts voters approved Question 1 in November 2020 with 2,599,182 votes in favor, or 74.97% (Ballotpedia)). Chapter 386 of the Acts of 2020 requires manufacturers selling vehicles with telematics systems in the state, starting with model year 2022, to equip them with an interoperable, standardized and open access platform. The platform must communicate mechanical data through a direct data connection, let the owner reach the data through a mobile app, and, with the owner's authorization, let an independent repair facility or licensed dealer read the data and send commands to in-vehicle components for maintenance, diagnostics and repair. An owner or authorized repair facility denied access can sue for treble damages or $10,000, whichever is greater, per denial (Massachusetts Legislature).

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the automakers' trade group, challenged the law as preempted by the federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act. A federal district court ruled that the group lacked standing and that the law was not preempted, and the Alliance appealed to the First Circuit (No. 25-1262). The court heard argument on February 3, 2026, suggested mediation, and the Massachusetts Attorney General declined on February 25, 2026, saying mediation "will be unproductive and dilatory" and that she could not amend the statute. As of a law-firm summary dated August 24, 2026, the court had not issued a decision (Nelson Mullins). Check the docket for anything later; I found no ruling.

Maine

Maine voters adopted a similar law in 2023. Its data-access duties took effect on January 5, 2025, and the Alliance sued Attorney General Aaron Frey that month, arguing that the "independent entity" the law requires to run the platform does not exist. The case was stayed in July 2025 while the legislature considered amendments. Governor Janet Mills vetoed one amending bill (LD 1228) on January 7, 2026, saying it would let automakers decide how data is made accessible (Repairer Driven News). In April 2026 she signed LD 2211, which largely keeps the data-sharing requirements, creates a Motor Vehicle Right to Repair Commission, and extends the deadline for standardized access platforms to September 1, 2027. The Alliance told the court in August 2026 that it planned to file an amended complaint by October 2, 2026 (Nelson Mullins, above). I could not confirm whether it did.

Congress

The REPAIR Act was introduced in the House in February 2025 as H.R. 1566. As originally written it would have given owners and their designees access to vehicle-generated data on the same terms as dealers, including wireless telematics. On May 21, 2026, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the Motor Vehicle Modernization Act of 2026 (H.R. 7389) by 48 to 1 with a much narrower right-to-repair section that mainly codifies the 2014 agreement, with Federal Trade Commission enforcement, and moves telematics and wireless access into an FTC study (Repairer Driven News). The bill's sponsor, Rep. Neal Dunn, called it a watered-down version and said he would keep pushing his own. Whether it passes this Congress is unclear.

Who owns vehicle data?

No broad federal law answers that for all vehicle data, and I found none. There is a narrow federal rule for one device. The Driver Privacy Act of 2015 says data retained by a vehicle's event data recorder, the "black box" that records the seconds around a crash, is the property of the owner, or the lessee of a leased car. Others may not retrieve it without the owner's consent except under a court order, a federal investigation, emergency response or anonymized research (49 U.S.C. 30101 note). Our article on event data recorders and vehicle data after a crash covers how this plays out in a claim.

For the wireless data a connected car sends to its maker, the picture is a patchwork of privacy law, contracts and enforcement actions. The FTC finalized an order against General Motors and OnStar on January 14, 2026 (vote 2-0) after alleging that driving data collected from consumers was sold to consumer reporting agencies and used in insurance pricing; the order bars sharing certain data with consumer reporting agencies for five years and requires consent for collecting and sharing connected-vehicle data (FTC). That is a data-privacy case, not a right-to-repair case, but it explains why the two debates overlap: the same data stream that lets an independent shop diagnose a car also reveals where and how it was driven. See what driving apps collect and connected-car data, data brokers and your premium.

What the competing sides say

Positions, as stated in 2025 and 2026:

• Automakers (Alliance for Automotive Innovation). Say direct access to a vehicle's wireless systems creates cybersecurity and safety risks, and that they already committed in 2014 to make repair instructions, tools and diagnostic codes available to independent repairers. The group says the narrowed House language is very different from the bill it opposed and wants federal law to preempt state right-to-repair laws, according to Repairer Driven News' account of the May 2026 vote.
• Insurers. The American Property Casualty Insurance Association and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies told a House subcommittee in January 2026 that they support the REPAIR Act, and APCIA said third parties, meaning insurers, "need access to vehicle data" for safety and insurability (Insurance Journal). The CAR Coalition, whose members include Allstate and Farmers Insurance, said codifying the 2014 agreement alone does not expand consumer choice.
• Independent repairers and the aftermarket. The Auto Care Association says independent shops need the same data dealers get; it also says dealerships average about 36% more than independent repair facilities, a figure from the association that I could not check independently (WAFB, June 2026). SEMA, whose members make aftermarket parts, said the committee version falls short (Repairer Driven News, May 2026).
• Dealers. The National Automobile Dealers Association opposes the REPAIR Act as written. It argues the bill would mainly benefit insurers by lowering claim costs while raising privacy, safety and consumer-choice concerns.
• Collision repairers. The Society of Collision Repair Specialists said the revisions removed concerning provisions on vehicle and consumer data and backs a framework developed by repair and automaker stakeholders.

Note that the insurer position cuts a particular way. Insurers pay most collision repair bills, so lower prices and more shop options help them, and critics say the same laws could let insurers push shops toward cheaper parts. Treat each group's statements as advocacy.

What the evidence says about cost

The FTC's May 2021 report to Congress, Nixing the Fix, which trade coverage summarized as finding that many manufacturer repair restrictions harm consumers by limiting choices and raising costs, and that the manufacturers' safety and security justifications were thinly supported (FTC report page). It covered consumer products broadly, not only cars, and it did not itself create any rule.

For auto insurance specifically, I found no study that measures how a right-to-repair law changes premiums or claim costs. The plausible mechanism is straightforward: more competition among repairers, and fewer cars sent to the one source that can program them, could lower the labor and parts charges that make up a claim. The Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index for motor vehicle repair rose 50.1% between December 2020 and August 2026 (BLS), which is the cost pressure supporters point to. But premiums depend on frequency, severity, litigation, rate regulation and much else (see why car repairs cost so much more than they used to), and a data-access law is a small input to that. The honest answer for a policyholder is that the effect is unproven and likely modest.

How a manufacturer-only scan or calibration affects a claim

Where right-to-repair matters most in your claim is a narrow operational point: some repair steps can only be done with the maker's tools or at its dealers.

Typical sticking points are:

• Module programming. A new airbag control module, body control module or camera may have to be programmed to the car with the maker's software.
• Calibration targets and procedures. Some makers require specific targets and a particular procedure for each camera or radar, and a few require calibration at a dealership.
• Security gateways and subscriptions. Some vehicles restrict writing to modules unless the shop has an account with the maker.
• Post-repair scans. A scan before and after repair shows fault codes and confirms the car is clear of errors.

When that capability is not in the shop, the work is sublet. The shop sends the car to a dealer or a specialist, the sublet price is added to the estimate, and the car may sit for days. Many states bar insurers from requiring a particular shop (California's claim regulations say so, at 10 CCR 2695.8), so a car that can only be finished at a dealer is not a reason to switch shops; it is a reason to ask the shop how the sublet will be handled. We cover choosing among shops in choosing a repair shop: direct repair programs and your rights, and the pricing mechanics in why the same repair has different prices.

A hypothetical: the car that only the dealer can finish

Say a late-model SUV needs a new front bumper cover and radar bracket, and the maker's procedure requires a dealer-only software step to program the radar. The shop's estimate includes $420 for the sublet to the dealer, and the sublet takes three extra days because the dealer's appointment queue is full.

1. The shop replaces the bumper cover and radar bracket and sends the car to the dealer.
2. The dealer programs and calibrates the radar and issues a report.
3. The shop adds the $420 to a supplement, with the dealer's invoice.
4. The car sits for three days. At $45 a day, that is $135 of rental. If your policy has a $40 daily limit or a 30-day cap, you want to know that now.

The added cost to the claim is about $555, and the added time is three days. If an independent facility could have done the same programming through a standardized, owner-authorized data connection, that might have taken less time, but it is not certain it would have cost less. These numbers are hypothetical; they show where the money and days go, not typical charges.

What to do if your car needs dealer-only work

1. Ask the shop at the start which operations it will do itself and which it will sublet. Get the sublet price and the expected wait.
2. Ask which maker procedure requires the step. The shop should be able to show the page.
3. Tell the insurer in writing about the added time. Ask whether your rental coverage will extend, and see our pricing article for how sublets appear on an estimate.
4. Do not skip the calibration to save time. A sensor that is not calibrated can mean a safety feature that does not work.
5. Keep the calibration report and the post-repair scan. They are your proof the repair was finished.
6. If the insurer will not pay the sublet, ask for the reason in writing and contact your state insurance department.

Electric vehicles raise the same question, since some makers certify only particular shops; see certified EV collision repair networks explained.

Questions to ask your shop or insurer

• Can this shop scan, program and calibrate my car, or is that sublet?
• What does the maker's procedure require, and where can I read it?
• Does my policy pay for the sublet, and for a rental while we wait?
• Are you a certified shop for my make?
• Will I get a pre- and post-repair scan report?

Common questions

Will right to repair lower my premium?

Not directly, and no study I found shows a premium effect. It could reduce repair costs and delays over time if more shops can complete repairs, which is one factor among many that determine rates.

Does the Massachusetts law apply to my car if I live elsewhere?

No. It is a Massachusetts statute for vehicles sold there, though automakers may build to it nationally. Rules outside Massachusetts and Maine vary, so check with your state insurance department or the state car insurance requirements lookup.

Can my insurer see my car's data?

Not through a right-to-repair law. Insurers get data through programs you join or through consumer reporting agencies. The Driver Privacy Act limits who can retrieve event data recorder data without your consent, and you can ask an insurer which data it uses.

Is a right to repair the same as a right to use aftermarket parts?

No. Right to repair concerns access to data, tools and information. Parts choice is governed by separate rules; see OEM parts and the claim regulations of your state.

Key takeaways

• Right to repair concerns access to repair information, diagnostic data and parts; collision claims depend on all three because repairs now end in scans, programming and calibration.
• As of November 2026, Massachusetts and Maine have data-access laws under federal litigation, and Congress has narrowed the REPAIR Act to codify the 2014 automaker agreement.
• No study I found shows these laws lower auto insurance premiums, and the claim-cost effect is plausible but unproven.
• If your car needs dealer-only work, ask about the sublet, the wait and your rental limits at the start.
• The Driver Privacy Act makes event-data-recorder data the owner's property; other connected-car data is governed by privacy law and contracts.