Subaru’s New Vehicles Prove ‘Right to Repair’ Law Viable, Despite Automakers Claims, Says State AG

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Subaru Right to Repair Lawsuit Overview:

• Who: Bay State Attorney General Maura Healey cited 2022 Subarus in a lawsuit over Massachusetts’ “Right to Repair” law. 
• Why: Healey points out that the new model cars should be used as evidence in a lawsuit filed by an auto industry advocate claiming that the law is impossible and dangerous.
• Where: The lawsuit is playing out in the district court of Massachusetts

2022 Subarus have been designed to meet the criteria of a new voter-backed “right to repair” law in Massachusetts and prove that the law is viable for automakers to follow in the state — despite their reluctance — the state’s attorney general argued.

Subaru has disabled the telematics systems — which track data such as location, speed, braking, and vehicle diagnostic information — for 2022 model cars sold and leased, says Bay State Attorney General Maura Healey. Healey argues that this fact refutes arguments made by an auto industry advocate in a lawsuit, and should be added as evidence in the case.

The right to repair law was passed by voters through a 2020 ballot question, broadening a 2012 version that gave independent repair shops access to cars’ diagnostic and repair information, Law360 reports. However, car manufacturers quickly filed a lawsuit against the new law, claiming that making the systems available to independent mechanics put automakers at risk of violating federal safety standards and poses huge security risks.

In a July trial, Healey’s office argued that carmakers could comply with the law by simply disabling telematics systems for cars with a model year 2022 and later, adding that the law was perfectly consistent with the Motor Vehicle Safety Act.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which filed the lawsuit against the state on behalf of automakers, argued through attorney John Nadolenco that it would be impossible to do that, as the systems were intertwined with numerous safety features.

“You’re dealing with brands in the American marketplace that have built up, over decades, that standard for safety. What they are really asking is ‘What happens to us if there is a cybersecurity incident on our vehicle?’ The answer could be: ‘Our brand is done.'”

He added that removing the telematics systems could open the cars up to a recall, force automakers to declare a safety defect, and open manufacturers up to a range of civil suits and regulatory action, Law360 reports.

Subaru Comes Into Compliance With Right to Repair Law, Says AG

Subaru, one of the alliance’s members, has made its 2022 vehicles ineligible for its “StarLink” telematics system if linked to an address in Massachusetts, points out the attorney arguing that the case should be reopened to include the proof the law can be abided by.

“Subaru has done so explicitly as a way ‘to comply with the new Data Law’ that will enable [Subaru of America] and, in turn, [Subaru of New England] to distribute model year 2022 vehicles for sale or lease in Massachusetts,” she writes.

“These facts were unavailable at the time of discovery and trial, in part because Subaru had not begun to sell MY22 vehicles in Massachusetts at that time.”

She argues in a motion that the evidence is “highly important and probative, because it demonstrates that a major OEM [car manufacturer] not only can immediately comply, but has complied, with both Section 3 and federal law—contrary to one of the Alliance’s core contentions.”

Healy adds that Subaru’s decision also proves that telematics are not so integral to vehicles’ functioning or safety that disabling them would mean leaving the Massachusetts market altogether. Healey’s office has not enforced the new law while the litigation plays out.

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The Alliance for Automotive Innovation is represented by John Nadolenco, Andrew J. Pincus, Archis A. Parasharami, Eric A. White and Erika Z. Jones of Mayer Brown LLP; Elissa A. Flynn-Poppey, Laurence A. Schoen and Andrew Nathanson of Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC; and its own Charles H. Haake.

The attorney general is represented by Robert E. Toone, Eric A. Haskell, Phoebe Fischer-Groban, Julia Kobick and Christine Fimognari of the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General.

The Mass. Right to Repair Lawsuit is Alliance for Automotive Innovation v. Healey, Case No. 1:20-cv-12090, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

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