Overview
Right to repair continues to be a hot-button issue in 2025. In the passenger vehicle industry, consumer groups and independent repair shops continue to push for full access to repair tools and technologies. And in the farm equipment industry, farmers and those who support their cause continue to push for right to repair legislation that allows farmers, not franchised dealers, to make repairs. Meanwhile, those in the right to repair camp continue to cast OEMs and their dealers as being protectionist, but in doing so diminish important concerns about the cybersecurity, safety, and environmental risks that present when complex repairs are not performed by properly trained technicians.
Motor Vehicle Right to Repair Developments
On the motor vehicle side, right to repair advocates secured an important win in Massachusetts. The long-pending challenge to the Massachusetts right to repair statute brought by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation was dismissed in February after more than four years of litigation.[1] However, further developments may be on the horizon, as the Alliance initiated an appeal to the First Circuit on March 14, 2025.[2]
The Alliance also initiated similar litigation in January to challenge Maine’s right to repair statute.[3] While still in its early stages, that suit suggests that the future of right to repair will continue to be battled out in the courts for the foreseeable future.
Industry groups are also pushing for change at the legislative level. In February, the Alliance, along with the Automotive Service Association and Society of Collision Repair Specialists, proposed the Safety as First Emphasis (SAFE) Repair Act in a letter to Congress.[4] This bill would build upon the REPAIR Act that was proposed in 2020, but with an emphasis on ensuring that expanded access to repair tools and information does not undermine vehicle safety.[5]
Agricultural Equipment Right to Repair Developments
This year has also seen the expansion of right to repair controversies in the agricultural equipment space. As with motor vehicles, the issue of right to repair has been simmering for years. Farmers have pushed for increased access to diagnostic tools and information, noting the business risk of long equipment downtimes during important seasons,[6] while manufacturers have articulated concerns about complying with safety and environmental regulations.[7]
This tension has also resulted in litigation, most notably in a lawsuit filed in January by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and several states against John Deere.[8] In that case, plaintiffs allege that John Deere has violated various federal and state statutes by making its top-tier repair tool (“Service ADVISOR”) available only to authorized dealers.[9] The tool available to farmers and independent repair providers (“Customer Service ADVISOR”), the FTC and the states allege, lacks many key repair functions, particularly with respect to computerized equipment components.[10]
While the exact future of right to repair is hard to predict, we expect to see developments in this space throughout 2025 and beyond, including more lawsuits like those described above. One common method of reaching compromises on these issues (without the time and expense of litigation) has been memoranda of understanding (“MOUs”), such as those between the American Farm Bureau Federation and manufacturers including AGCO, CNH Industrial, and John Deere.[11] We expect that MOUs will continue to be a popular tool and that amendments to existing MOUs may start to emerge—particularly as the legal framework on related issues such as environmental and safety regulations shifts under the current administration. Of course, as the lawsuit against John Deere teaches, MOUs are not necessarily enough to forestall litigation.
For more from BFKN on right to repair, check out our prior InMotion articles: Reintroducing Right to Repair Regulations and Mass. AG Upsets Course of Highly Watched Right to Repair Case.
[1] Alliance for Automotive Innovation v. Campbell, Case No. 1:20-cv-12090, D. Mass., Dkt. No. 366, Memorandum of Decision (Feb. 11, 2025).
[2] Alliance for Automotive Innovation v. Campbell, Case No. 1:20-cv-12090, D. Mass., Dkt. No. 371, Notice of Appeal (Mar. 14, 2025).
[3] Alliance for Automotive Innovation v. Frey, Case No. 1:25-cv-00041, D. Me., Dkt. No. 1, Complaint (Jan. 31, 2025).
[4] Press Release, Alliance for Automotive Innovation, Independent Repairers, Automakers Announce Landmark right to repair Legislation (Feb. 20, 2025).
[6] American Farm Bureau Federation, right to repair, https://www.fb.org/issue/right to repair.
[7] R2R Solutions, Learn About “right to repair”, https://r2rsolutions.org/right to repair-legislation/.
[8] Federal Trade Commission, et al. v. Deere & Co., Case No. 3:25-cv-50017, N.D. Ill., Dkt. No. 1, Complaint (Jan. 15, 2025); Dkt. No. 60, Amended Complaint (Feb. 19, 2025).
[9] Federal Trade Commission, et al. v. Deere & Co., Case No. 3:25-cv-50017, N.D. Ill., Dkt. No. 60, Amended Complaint (Feb. 19, 2025) at ¶¶ 7-8.
[10] Id.
[11] Available at: American Farm Bureau Federation, right to repair, https://www.fb.org/issue/right to repair.