OEMs Might Soon Get Clarity On Massachusetts and Maine Right to Repair Laws

OEMs may finally get some clarity in the next couple of months about their obligations under Massachusetts and Maine right to repair laws requiring them to provide owners and independent repair facilities access to mechanical data in vehicles that utilize telematics systems.  In Massachusetts, a constitutional challenge that has been pending in federal court for over four years without a decision may finally be inching toward resolution after the case was reassigned to a judge who has vowed to decide the case quickly. Meanwhile, a working group convened by the Maine Attorney General to recommend changes needed to implement that state’s right to repair law has received input from an influential lawmaker through written testimony suggesting that legislators may be leaning toward suspending certain provisions of that state’s law.

New Judge Assigned to Case in Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, OEMs have been waiting for a decision from a federal judge following a bench trial held in June 2021 on a constitutional challenge to amendments to that state’s right to repair law approved by an overwhelming majority of voters in November 2020.  On January 7, 2025, the case was unexpectedly reassigned to another Massachusetts federal judge who promptly entered an order certifying that she had reviewed the transcripts from the bench trial and other records from the case and believed she could resolve the remaining claims without further briefing.  She invited the parties to request to recall any trial witnesses whose testimony was “material and disputed” and also asked for a joint status update to be filed by January 17, 2025.

The lawsuit, filed by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade association representing OEM interests, seeks an injunction barring enforcement of amendments to the Massachusetts right to repair law requiring that vehicles sold in Massachusetts for model year 2022 and after that use a telematics systems be equipped with “an inter-operable, standardized and open access platform” to enable customers and independent repair facilities to access mechanical data from those systems. The Massachusetts Attorney General argued at trial that OEMs could comply with this requirement by simply disabling the telematics systems installed in vehicles sold in Massachusetts. In June 2023, however, the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced it had sent a letter to OEMs notifying them that the Massachusetts law “conflicts with and is therefore pre-empted by the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act” and warning that disabling telematics systems “has its own adverse impacts on safety.”

Maine Lawmaker Concerned About Ambiguities in Law

Meanwhile, a similar right to repair law passed by Maine voters became effective January 5, 2025, even while many aspects of the law remain in flux. A working group convened by the Maine Attorney General at the request of the Maine Legislature to address issues with the statute continues to haggle over a report and proposed draft legislation, with a fast approaching February 28, 2025 deadline for the working group to complete its report. On December 20, 2024, the working group received written testimony from Maine Rep. Tiffany Roberts, chair of the Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement, and Business Committee and member of the Housing and Economic Development Committee, the committee that will receive the working group’s report and proposed draft legislation in February 2025. 

In her public comment, Rep. Roberts expressed concern that the current Maine law, “while well-intentioned, is rife with ambiguities, potential conflicts with federal oversight, and cybersecurity risks.”  She questioned the necessity and practicality of requiring access to telematics data, noting that most vehicle repairs today “do not require telematics data.” She observed that some OEMs had disabled telematics functionality entirely in Massachusetts to avoid litigation over that state’s right to repair law, and expressing concern about cybersecurity and potential federal preemption, suggested the working group include in its report a recommendation that implementation of the telematics provisions in the law be suspended “until a comprehensive evaluation can determine whether telematics access is genuinely necessary for repairs.”

Maine voters in November 2023 approved a ballot initiative to require that vehicles using a telematics system sold in that state be equipped with an interoperable, standardized, and owner-authorized access platform across all of the manufacturer's makes and models. The statute requires this platform to make mechanical data from vehicles accessible to vehicle owners and independent repair facilities, and calls for the Maine Attorney General to designate an “independent entity” to establish standards for and administer access to vehicle-generated data. More than a year later, that “independent entity” still does not exist, one of several issues the working group must address in the report and proposed draft legislation it is expected to submit to the Maine Legislature for further consideration in February 2025.

Given the significant questions and challenges surrounding the Massachusetts and Maine right to repair laws, a decision from the federal court in Massachusetts and the report from the working group convened by the Maine Attorney General should provide some welcome clarity.