Ford CEO Jim Farley just told Americans the vehicle they bought does not belong to them anymore.
Congress was supposed to stop him and just made it worse.
What automakers just buried in Congress could end your right to fix anything you own.
Congress Just Stripped the Right to Repair Act From the Highway Bill
Ford CEO Jim Farley was caught on camera at an event after a White House meeting with automaker executives, and when a reporter from the Detroit Free Press pressed him directly – do you want people repairing their own vehicles – he said no.
Safety issue, he explained. He can work on his old Bronco. Not his new one.
That was the tell. The Bronco is body-on-frame, bolt-on doors, caveman technology. If your argument for locking out mechanics falls apart on a Bronco, your argument was never about safety.
https://twitter.com/WallStreetApes/status/2066187576143425748
Congress has been debating the REPAIR Act – the Right to Equitable and Professional Auto Industry Repair Act – which would require automakers to give independent mechanics the same repair data and diagnostic access they give their own dealerships.
Supporters pushed hard to attach it to the BUILD America 250 Act, the massive five-year highway reauthorization bill that must pass before September 30, 2026, or current surface transportation law expires.
The key provisions on vehicle data and repair access were stripped out during markup.
The National Federation of Independent Business sent an urgent letter to Congress demanding those provisions be restored.
"Small businesses are disappointed to see key provisions from the REPAIR Act dropped from the Highway Bill," said Louis Bertolotti, NFIB's principal of federal government relations. "The legislation that advanced out of markup fails to make the improvements needed for small auto repair shops."
It was a clean win for Ford, GM, and the dealer lobby. And you will be paying for it.
How the REPAIR Act Would Have Protected Your Independent Mechanic From a Car Dealer Monopoly
Modern cars are rolling computers. When something goes wrong, the car does not just need a wrench – it needs a software diagnostic system, and automakers have locked that system behind proprietary walls so only their dealerships hold the key.
Your independent mechanic – the guy who has been servicing your F-150 for fifteen years – cannot fix what he cannot diagnose. And if the data lives behind a manufacturer firewall, the diagnosis does not happen without a dealer appointment.
Independent repair shops currently handle 80 percent of out-of-warranty vehicle repairs in America. Dealers charge customers roughly 36 percent more for the same work.
The Daily Signal reports that by 2035, an estimated 155 million vehicle owners will face restricted repair choices, driving average annual repair costs up $200 per household – more than $30 billion in higher bills nationally. Four million manufacturing jobs in the aftermarket parts industry hang in the balance.
Rural communities get crushed the hardest. The independent garage down the road is often the only game in town. No diagnostic data access means no competition. No competition means you pay whatever the dealer says.
Automakers know exactly what they are doing. This is a high-tech version of a trick manufacturers have used for decades – invent a proprietary fastener, patent it, and make sure nobody else can open the hood.
Today the fastener is software. The patent is a locked data system. And the mechanism to bust the kneecaps of every independent shop in America just got quietly embedded inside a must-pass highway bill most Americans have never heard of.
Trump Pardoned Mechanics Biden Jailed While Congress Kills the Right to Repair
Trump gets it. Two days ago he pardoned nine mechanics the Biden administration had charged and sentenced for bypassing emissions controls on diesel trucks, calling the prosecutions "weaponization."
He signed a presidential memo titled "Lowering the Cost of Living by Promoting the Freedom to Fix." He stood in front of farmers and said some of them are better mechanics than the people at John Deere.
"I noticed they were arresting people for fixing their car," Trump told reporters. "We rule by common sense."
That is the White House position. Now look at what Congress did with it.
The highway bill headed for a House floor vote had the REPAIR Act provisions quietly buried while the cameras were pointed at bridge funding numbers. Automakers and the dealer lobby knew the September 30 deadline was a gun to Congress's head. They used it.
Over 83 percent of Americans support the REPAIR Act – including 84 percent of Republicans. Jim Farley just handed that 84 percent a face and a quote for a fight they did not know existed. Congress has until September 30 to get it right.
Sources:
- "Congress Might End Automakers' Monopoly on Car Repair Data," The Daily Signal, May 18, 2026.
- "NFIB Urges Congress to Advance REPAIR Act Provisions in the Highway Bill," NFIB, June 5, 2026.
- "Trump Grants Pardons to 'Persecuted' Mechanics in Right-to-Repair Crackdown," Fox News, July 4, 2026.