Why taking your car to a dealership for repairs might be your only option soon (youtube.com)
Some managers require repair shops to pay $40k a year for a subscription to service their cars. The sub is for a scan tool's software for the auto's electrical systems.
The lowest sub is $65 a month.
They also have to buy a scan tool specific to an auto maker often. $4 or 5k. Some cars use a univeral tool though. And other hardware.
They also have to train how to use the tools. This is a tech skill, not just manual. You have to know computers to be a mechanic now. They train monthly, one guy said.
Can we ask, What does your car do that a car from 30 years ago doesn't do? Is a modern Civic better than one from 1991, if both were just off the factory line?
How much cost does all this add to consumer costs in the US? Labor shortage, more training, special tools, inability for shops to service all types of vehicles, subscriptions which are basically a tax.
Repair shops will probably start specializing now, they suggest.
There's also shops now that just do diagnostics.
A failure in one module can cause problems in other modules, because they're a network, not just separate modules, so that means technicians have to spend time finding out what is wrong with what module. And each car can have its own lingo for similar things. It might take 6 or 7 hours of diagnostic time to figure it out. Diagnosticians are currently the least-paid in the shop.
Repair Act 2023 proposed for makers to let customers be able to access the data so they can have their autos fixed at independent shops. There are state laws also proposed.
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