NZ CHOICE OF REPAIRER

MY CAR, MY CHOICE…

MAKE IT FAIR.

LET’S GET IT DONE.

NEW ZEALANDERS ARE PAYING THE PRICE

The New Zealand Choice of Repairer (NZ COR) campaign has a sole mission. To give consumers the freedom to choose where and who services their vehicles.

Some vehicle manufacturers make it easy for independent aftermarket businesses to access vital technical manuals, update bulletins, software patches and equipment. Many do not.

In the meantime, vehicle manufacturers ensure that their dealer service centres have automatic access to the data and equipment required and cut out the price competition that the independent repairers can offer.

This is not a level playing field and New Zealanders are paying the price for this monopoly on data.

In a cost-of-living crisis, we should be reducing unnecessary costs and increasing consumer choice.

Lack of competition is harming our industry

At the start of July 2023 we ran a survey to establish how much of an issue the independent service and repair shops have to access vehicle data when servicing cars.

Workshops are being significantly impacted because they can’t access service and repair info.

  • These businesses service or repair an average of 90 vehicles per week.

  • More than one in four of these jobs (26%) need service and repair info that the workshop cannot access.

  • 80% of workshops say they turn away work because they can’t access the necessary service and repair info.

  • More than a third of workshops (36%) say this is a critical / major issue that is impacting their business, customers, and ability to operate.

Workshops are losing revenue because they’re spending time which they can’t recover from

Repair

  • Lack of access to service and repair info adds 2.8 hours to a repair.

  • More than half of workshops (51%) are unable to fully recover this cost from customers – on average, it costs these workshops 1.9 hours of labour.

Scheduled service

  • Lack of access to service and repair info adds 1.8 hours to a schedule service.

  • Almost one in five workshops (19%) are unable to fully recover this cost from customers – on average, it costs these workshops 1.3 hours of labour.

While workshops are reaching out to dealerships for support, few are finding them helpful.

The top channels used to search for info are:

  • Online search – 99%

  • Contacting the service department at a dealership – 60%

  • Contacting another independent repairer – 51%

Almost two thirds of workshops (64%) say that new vehicle dealers are not at all / not very helpful with requests for info and/or specific tooling to assist with service & repair work.

The problem is getting worse and will have a more significant impact on the service and repair

Change over past 12 months.

  • Almost half of workshops (46%) say that accessing technical service and repair data has become more of an issue over the past 12 months.

Looking to the future, lack of access to reliable cost-effective manufacturer service and repair info will mean…

  • Workshops need to turn away certain types of vehicles – 60%

  • Workshops will be unable to recover the full time spent on jobs – 60%

  • Workshops will incur additional costs – 56%

  • Workshop will need to charge customers more – 52%

WHAT DO WE WANT?

A formal government review on how to adapt and implement the Australian Legislation to New Zealand.

The review should include the adoption of a new mandatory scheme. This new mandatory scheme to be introduced will set out the rules for car manufacturers to share technical information with independent repairers.

This should:

  • Cover all car manufacturers who sell their cars into New Zealand and share service and repair information with authorised dealers

  • All manufacturers’ imported vehicles from 2002 onward. (Similar to the Australian legislation).

  • Include real time access for independent repairers to the same technical information car manufacturers make available to dealers

  • Provide a process for independent repairers to access environmental, safety and security-related technical information, including the vetting of those seeking to access such information and tracing its use.

  • Be available on commercially fair and reasonable terms.

“CARS ARE COMPUTERS ON WHEELS”

Extract from New Car Retailing Industry - A Market Study by the ACCC

Automotive Industry Calls for Government Action to Establish Access to Vehicle Repair and Servicing Data

The Leaders of New Zealands’ major independent automotive industry has warned that Government policy needs to keep pace with the technology being used in modern cars which have become 'computers on wheels'.

Currently there is no guarantee that tens of thousands of independent mechanics in the automotive repair and servicing industry across the nation, not aligned to dealerships, can access basic information from manufacturers of behalf of millions of New Zealand vehicle owners.

The newly formed NZ Choice of Repairer group warns that without Government action the owners of 5 million cars in New Zealand could face a 'technology black hole'.  

Computers control vehicle safety, environmental and road performance of the 4 million family and work cars New Zealanders drive every day.

The Government needs to implement mandatory regulations that will ensure full and cost-effective access to vehicle data for the repair and maintenance of vehicles, which is a critical consumer and environmental issue.

In the National Interest the NZ COR Industry Leaders Group believes the Government should take the following steps:

  • Immediately move to analyse the new Australian Motor Vehicle Information Scheme (MVIS) and the appropriateness of adopting this legislation here in NZ to provide the New Zealand community with fair and open competition.

  • Announce the timetable to review the Australian Legislation and put similar mechanisms in place in NZ.

Independent repairers have continuing problems accessing technical information for cars. Few car manufacturers provide equivalent access to the technical information provided to their authorised dealers and preferred repairer networks, and many provide very little or no information at all.

Independent repairers are sometimes able to obtain technical information from sources other than the car manufacturer; however, the information is commonly incomplete, not applicable to New Zealand models, or offers no security of ongoing supply.

Car manufacturers often list concerns about the sharing of some environmental, safety and security-related technical information to repair and service new cars. But these fears are unfounded because in other jurisdictions this information and data is securely shared with vetted independent repairers, and subject to safeguards to enable it to be shared.

INDUSTRY LEADERS GROUP

  • PETER MORTON

    ILG CHAIRMAN (Automotive Solutions)

  • CHRIS RING

    PIT STOP

  • DAVID STOREY

    AUTO SUPER SHOPPE

  • JASON WILSON

    MIDAS

  • GRANT WATERS

    GRANT WATERS

    AA

  • Oranssi general contractor Reese Platt

    KIT WILKERSON

    VIA

  • LIONEL ROWE

    NZAE Group

  • Oranssi project manager Jaya Dixon

    JONATHON MADDREN

    GPC

  • Oranssi founder Drew Weber

    MARTIN STOREY

    BAPCOR

  • ALAN ROBERTS

    ALAN ROBERTS

    NZ COR (Campaign Manager)

  • LESLEY YATES

    LESLEY YATES

    AAAA (Campaign Advisor)

  • MICHELLE VAN GAALEN

    MICHELLE VAN GAALEN

    AGSA NZ

INDEPENDENT REPAIRER FEEDBACK

“Used to live in Birkenhead and have moved out to West Auckland some time ago, however I am still taking my car to the same repair shop for around 15 years now, it is worth making the trip to this mechanic. Excellent service, friendly staff, honest, reliable, reasonable cost and the workmanship is always good - would be difficult to find many others who can offer all of this! Positives: Professionalism, Punctuality, Quality, Value”

Tracey Barnard

“We live local in Warkworth and I work from home, so when my car went in for a service at my local independent repair shop, they dropped me back at my house and came to collect me at the end of the day once my car service was completed. This was a complementary service. My wife, who works in Auckland city, dropped her car off for a service at the dealership where she had bought it from, then had to pay for a taxi to her office and back later the same day to pick it up.”

Jackson Brown

“Only place in Tauranga I trust with my beloved Range Rover Sport and Audi RS. Honest old-school values from Shayne, high tech equipment, factory lubricants and parts plus a good clean of my babies when they’re finished with them! Thanks guys, will be recommending you to all my friends.”

Harriet Brown

Ready to FIND OUT MORE?

Our vital principle ensures that customers will have the freedom to choose where their vehicle is serviced or repaired, instead of being limited to manufacturer-approved repair networks. By granting independent repairers access to crucial repair information, tools, and parts, "Choice of repairer" aims to break down barriers that favour manufacturers. With newfound equality, it will empower independent repairers to compete with larger manufacturers, stimulating healthy competition and fostering innovation within the industry.