Cars and trucks are the American economy’s backbone. In 2024, nearly 7 in 10 working adults drove alone to their jobs, and trucks carried more than 70% of the country’s freight. While many of our industry’s supply chain challenges have rebounded since the COVID-19 pandemic, any examination shows the backbone is under heavy strain and worsening.
Since 2020, car repair bills have jumped more than 60%, twice the overall inflation rate for the same period, and motor vehicle maintenance was the lead driver of transportation-related inflation last year.
I speak on behalf of Christian Brothers Automotive’s more than 310 independently owned locations that serve communities across the country. Together with the broader independent auto care industry, we support nearly 5 million American jobs and $414 billion in annual economic activity, reaching virtually every U.S. zip code. What we’re seeing in shop after shop — suburbs, rural counties, mountain towns, you name it — is the same story: vehicle manufacturers are making it harder and more expensive for Americans to get their cars fixed.
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Over the past 15 years, vehicles have become software-driven machines. Automakers have used that technology to restrict access to data, tools, and information that independent and aftermarket repairers need to service vehicles, thereby creating more business for their own service networks. This arrangement sidelines the country’s independent auto shops, with more than 8 in 10 reporting access to necessary vehicle repair information as their business’s top problem. Nearly two-thirds of these businesses report that automaker restrictions cause daily or weekly problems in completing routine repairs.
With new-vehicle prices surpassing $50,000 in 2025, Americans are holding on to their cars longer than ever — driving up demand for convenient, affordable repair services. Customers unable to get their vehicles serviced at their local shop don’t just disappear from the repair market; instead, they are forced to wait longer and stretch already tight budgets at manufacturer-affiliated service centers that charge as much as 36% more for the same fixes.
This burden’s geography matters a great deal, too. Repair restrictions are affecting drivers nationwide, but some communities feel this pain more acutely than others. In mountain communities, where workers and rural residents drive hours over high-altitude passes to reach jobs that start before dawn, repair delays can mean lost wages. In states with large rural populations and limited public transit, the nearest dealership can be a half-day’s drive away or worse.
Automakers will tell you their repair policies are about security, just as they told Congress in January before a proposal to expand auto repair options advanced unanimously. Their argument makes little sense, though, as independent shops only want to access the same repair information already available for automaker service networks, nothing more. Automakers know their true motive is more grounded in maintaining restrictions to protect profits than ensuring American driver safety.
The good news is that federal lawmakers are considering a proposal known as the Right to Equitable and Professional Auto Industry Repair Act (House Rule 1566/Senate 1379) that would allow all certified repairers (independent and manufacturer-affiliated) to access necessary information, tools, and software to service today’s vehicles. More than 80% of Americans, regardless of political affiliation, want to see these protections become law, and more than 50 bipartisan members of Congress are on board.
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When manufacturers restrict who can fix your car, competition narrows, prices rise, and the cost falls on the driver, not the automaker. Lawmakers have a clear opportunity to address a key pocketbook issue affecting nearly every American household.
Passing protections like the REPAIR Act is a must-do for Congress to keep the automotive repair industry and the country running smoothly.
Kye Grisham is vice president of procurement and automotive technology at Christian Brothers Automotive Corporation, a system of independently owned repair shops with more than 310 locations serving communities nationwide since 1982.