Right to repair our trucks

[muddydisco]

in another thread i was reading, i was lead to this link which i think is pretty important,

i dont know if there are any other threads giving this exact link.

but i think that this affects every single one of us on this forum site and all other land rover forums,
by 2010 we might not even have the right to repair/modify our own cars anymore and i think i speak for all land rover owners when i say that this is unacceptable.

heres a link to their main page: http://www.r2rc.co.uk/landing/index.htm
and their petition: http://www.r2rc.eu/petition.php?lang=en

please sign it and help to make a difference, i have, and ive emailed it to everyone that will sign it in my e mail contacts.

cheers
Aaron

[Sider]

    If I am reading it correctly, it says nothing about the private user doing his/her own repairs. It has to do with the right to use independent garages without invalidating the warranty. I have a feeling that the website is slightly biased and building a rather apocaliptyc vision of the future (for their industry).

    Although I agree that it is a serious matter, it is only a commercial matter. My feeling is that the EU will leave the regulation untouched, since doing otherwise would lead to a collapse of the court systems dealing with trade affairs.

In brief: What the regulation would do is allow manufacturers to invalidate warranties if the vehicle is serviced or repaired by anyone who is not licenced by them.

[merlin617]

That is scary. I for one could not afford to keep my old Landy on the road if I had to pay a garage to work on it. I don't pretend to be a mechanical expert but have learnt over the years by taking advice from people who know more than me and by not being afraid to have a go. When I read some of the horror stories about some of the botched jobs carried out by so called professionals I think that the average owner is quite capable of maintaining their own vehicle. Admittedly perhaps not so much with the modern vehicles, but certainly the older ones Also it tends to concentrate the mind on the job your doing when you will be the one driving it and carrying your family about in it. I'm a great believer in the fact that no one will look after your possesions better than you.

[lambert]

i may have miss read that but to me they are legislating against dealer only repairs being engineered into new cars by manuracturers, not against aftermarket repairers and home mechanics. i could be wrong tho.

[carbore]

It interesting and something to keep an eye on but I agree the website is a bit scare monger and does not really convey what its all about, maybe I need to read the small print.

In some respects you could say that manufacturers should not have to honor a warranty if the vehicle is not maintained by them (or approved agents), after all thats the case with pretty much anything else (like PC's for example). However I think the EU legislation is broader than that, I think manufacturers are obliged to release certain info to enable after market suppliers and diagnostics. If they are no longer required to then the its much harder for third parties to produce parts, manuals or diags so costs will rise. 

Unfortunately in todays "Liability" and "H&S" society and fulled by TV Consumer programs like Watchdog the public and media seem to think unless its doen buy a big corporate its not safe (e.g. British Gas are safe, but local plumber is somehow dodgy, despite things like Corgi etc) The big corporates are more than happy to go along with this and have PR teams to appear on TV ans tut tut about things. 

[Boddle]

I can't image how this would be possible to regulate particularly when most cars on the road are already modified (even if only a Radio or Sat nav, or even tyres), how would you determine whether the work was done before Legislation came in.
 How the hell are they to police this.
 
 

[carbore]

Re Boddle comments. I think its more about manufacturers not having to provide info to the parts/motor factors and diags so they wont be able to make the bits/tools diags that we fit ourselves.

An example of this is that the building regs re instalation of electrical stuff (sockets, lights etc) in houses mean that most DIY electrical work now requires sign off by a qualified sparky. In future try selling a house wihtout a electrical safety check in the HIP pack. possibly MOT's could get longer and more expensive as there is more to check. Im sure some of us can imagine recommendations arising from the Gresham case if the media decide to run a sustained  with a "home mechanics are dangerous, ban this sort of thing" campaign.

[The Smiths]

An example of this is that the building regs re instalation of electrical stuff (sockets, lights etc) in houses mean that most DIY electrical work now requires sign off by a qualified sparky.

It's surprising what you can do - so long as you are not creating new ring mains or bathrooms.

But agree about the electrical safety with solicitors - who just cover their backs / sell indemnity policies.

One of the biggest is conservatories that are exempt from building control - but solicitors insist on the approval or try to sell an indemnity.  I would write to building control asking for a letter saying it is exempt ;)

Well thats my rant over with - as for cars or anything else they want to introduce- what the hell can we do about it to stop it :roll:

[Disco Matt]

Re Boddle comments. I think its more about manufacturers not having to provide info to the parts/motor factors and diags so they wont be able to make the bits/tools diags that we fit ourselves.

An example of this is that the building regs re instalation of electrical stuff (sockets, lights etc) in houses mean that most DIY electrical work now requires sign off by a qualified sparky. In future try selling a house wihtout a electrical safety check in the HIP pack. possibly MOT's could get longer and more expensive as there is more to check. Im sure some of us can imagine recommendations arising from the Gresham case if the media decide to run a sustained  with a "home mechanics are dangerous, ban this sort of thing" campaign.

I don't think the media can be bothered to run such a campaign. It doesn't feature any celebrities or politicians and there are too many people who do their own repairs for it to work.

Media hysteria relies on fear of the unknown - that's why they keep running scary internet stories because few people actually understand how the internet works. I would have thought that outside media elite circles everyone knows someone who repairs their own vehicle, and while the general public will believe pretty much anything about that scary internet place they won't have much time for "lethal DIY mechanics" stories when their mate Bob keeps his car in top notch order on a DIY basis.

Given previous EU rulings it seems more likely that the legislation is intended to stop manufacturers from locking you into main dealer servicing.

[crazymac]

Its not that long ago, that the legislation came in (via europe) that allowed us to take our vehicles for service to an independant and still retain the warrenty as long as the independant repairer used genuine parts.

Europe argued that this was fundimental to free trade and that the maindealers were stifleing that.

so i really can't see them changing that now

[SimonHarwood]

An example of this is that the building regs re instalation of electrical stuff (sockets, lights etc) in houses mean that most DIY electrical work now requires sign off by a qualified sparky.

It's surprising what you can do - so long as you are not creating new ring mains or bathrooms.

But agree about the electrical safety with solicitors - who just cover their backs / sell indemnity policies.

One of the biggest is conservatories that are exempt from building control - but solicitors insist on the approval or try to sell an indemnity.  I would write to building control asking for a letter saying it is exempt ;)

Have a look at the NICEIC web site for more info. There is a list of what you can or cannot do as a householder in the "Part P Factsheet" at the bottom of the Householder section (http://www.niceic.org.uk/en/householder/section.asp?SECTION=12).

[James.Harwood]

don't see where in this article it says you can not carry out your own repairs.  All cars over 3 years old require a "safety check" or MOT every year anyway.  Have known cars to come back from a main dealer following a major service that have defects according to the MOT.

Having watched the video it strikes me that someone with plenty of time on their hands has an issue with car dealers!

Trying to find the bit where they ask you to make a donation

Scare mongers!