As many motorists already know, modern cars have computers which, from time to time can go wrong and cause problems with their cars. Such problems from doors not unlocking correctly, to poor running, or even a failure to start can often only be diagnosed by a repair garage by the process of connecting a special computer to the car.
Although dealerships have the car maker’s specialised diagnosics equipment to trace and solve these faults, they jealously guard their secrets and will only sell them to smaller independent garages at an astronomical price.
But companies supplying those small local businesses, which are the vast majority of car repair companies, have cleverly ‘reverse engineered’ equipment which can be plugged into cars to do the same job as those used by the vehicle manufacturer’s dealerships – so for the majority of the time motorists can get these electronic problems diagnosed and solved by their own local garage.
Car makers, however, are determined to stop that happening, and have asked the EU to allow them to only allow a remote ‘telematic’ radio link from their vehicles’ computers to the diagnostic system, so there’s no socket into which independent businesses can connect their equipment. If that is allowed, then smaller independent businesses will not be able to access the computer to fix any fault.
This video explains how that would affect motorists, and the small local independent businesses they have come to rely on to fix their cars…
Click here to view the video from the FIGIEFA website