As of July 2026, two states have automotive right to repair laws on the books: Massachusetts and Maine. The federal REPAIR Act has cleared a House subcommittee twice and stalled in full committee both times. Everything else you have heard about this fight is either older than it sounds or simply wrong.
⚠️ Accuracy note. Everything below was read in the primary source, and the source is linked in each case, as of July 2026. Statutes get amended, agencies reorganize, and court dockets move. Before you set shop policy or spend money on the strength of any of it, open the linked source and confirm it is still current. This is reporting, not legal advice. Your state agency and your attorney are the authorities, not this article.
This subject generates more confident misinformation than anything else in the aftermarket. Judges get named who did not decide the case. A bill gets described as pending that does not exist. An association gets credited with signing an agreement it publicly attacked the day it was announced.
So this is a status check, sourced from the court docket, the official bill records and the states’ own legislative sites. Where something could not be verified, it is marked unverified rather than smoothed over.
The short version
- Massachusetts and Maine are the only two states with automotive right to repair laws in force. No fifty-state survey was possible here, so do not read this as an exhaustive scan.
- Massachusetts won at the district court on February 11, 2025. The case is on appeal in the First Circuit, argued February 3, 2026, with no decision as of July 25, 2026.
- Maine’s law passed with 84.4% of the vote in 2023 and then stalled on an implementation problem, which a new law signed April 13, 2026 was written to solve.
- The federal REPAIR Act has passed subcommittee in two consecutive Congresses and died in full committee both times. Cosponsors fell from 56 to 45.
- Colorado passed three right to repair laws and excluded motor vehicles from all three.
- The business cost is measured: 84% of independent shops call vehicle data access their top issue, at an estimated $3.1 billion a year (Auto Care Association, April 2024).
Four things people keep getting wrong
“Judge Woodlock decided the Massachusetts case.” He did not. Woodlock presided over the 2021 trial and then went roughly three and a half years without issuing a decision. He was removed from the case on January 7, 2025, and Judge Denise J. Casper ruled five weeks later.
“The SMART Act is moving in Congress.” There is no automotive SMART Act in the 119th Congress. And be careful with the name: the “SMART Act of 2025” (H.R. 4437) is banking regulation legislation. The acronym collides, and citing it in an aftermarket argument is an easy way to lose credibility in a room.
“The Auto Care Association signed the 2023 memorandum of understanding.” It did not. The July 2023 MOU was signed by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, ASA, and SCRS. The Auto Care Association attacked it publicly the same day, calling it a thinly veiled attempt to confuse lawmakers and drivers. Two of the aftermarket’s largest organizations sit on opposite sides of that document, which is worth knowing before citing it as industry consensus.
The Colorado bill numbers. The versions in circulation are wrong and mixed up with each other. Correct: HB22-1031 covers powered wheelchairs, HB23-1011 covers agricultural equipment, and HB24-1121 covers consumer electronics.
Massachusetts: won, appealed, and still open
The law came from a ballot measure passed November 3, 2020, codified at M.G.L. c. 93K. It applies to model year 2022 and newer vehicles with telematics and requires an open, standardized platform for access to mechanical data.
Automakers sued. The case sat. Then, on February 11, 2025, Judge Casper rejected the manufacturers’ central argument and held that the state law is not preempted by federal law.
That decision is on appeal as No. 25-1262 in the First Circuit, argued February 3, 2026, with no ruling as of July 25, 2026. This article makes no prediction about the outcome, and you should be skeptical of anyone who does.
One detail from the argument describes the practical situation better than the briefing does: counsel for the manufacturers shifted position to say compliance is possible, but not at this time, because the standardized cross-manufacturer platform the law contemplates does not exist.
The panel floated mediation. On February 25, 2026 the Attorney General declined, saying the case is about whether the law is valid at all, and adding that some manufacturers are using the pending appeal as a reason to keep delaying compliance.
Maine: the second state, and almost nobody noticed
On November 7, 2023, Maine voters passed Question 4 by 341,574 to 63,208, which is 84.4%. That is not a close vote by any measure. It was codified at 29-A M.R.S. §1810.
Maine’s scope is broader than Massachusetts: it reaches commercial and heavy vehicles above 14,000 pounds, which matters to any shop doing fleet or medium-duty work.
Then it stalled, for a reason that has nothing to do with the courts. The law requires an independent entity to administer data access, and no such entity existed, with no funding and no deadline to create one. A law that hands the job to an organization that does not exist does not produce results.
Two legislative events followed, and both are commonly described incorrectly:
- LD 1228 was vetoed by the governor on January 7, 2026, and the veto was sustained on January 20, 2026. The House voted 96 to 44 to override, but the override failed overall. Saying “Maine overrode the veto” is wrong.
- LD 2211 was signed on April 13, 2026, as Public Law, Chapter 660. It rewrites §1810 and builds the structure for the independent entity.
An honest caveat: the enacted text of PL 660 was not read for this article. If you operate in Maine and need to know your current obligations, read the chaptered law itself or ask counsel. Do not take a summary, including this one, as the operative requirement.
The REPAIR Act: the pattern is the story
The federal bill would require access to vehicle-generated data and repair information for independent shops. Its record:
- H.R. 906 (118th Congress): 56 cosponsors, approved in subcommittee by voice vote on November 2, 2023, then died in full committee.
- H.R. 1566 (119th Congress): 45 cosponsors, approved in subcommittee on February 10, 2026, then stalled in full committee again.
- S. 1379 (Senate companion): introduced April 9, 2025, with no action since.
Two consecutive Congresses, two subcommittee approvals, two dead ends at the same stage, and bipartisan support falling from 56 cosponsors to 45.
Separately, a presidential memorandum titled “Freedom to Fix” was issued June 29, 2026, giving the EPA a 30-day deadline. It is recent enough that its practical effect on independent shops is not yet demonstrable, and this article will not speculate.
Colorado, and what it tells you about the politics
Colorado has passed three right to repair laws: powered wheelchairs in 2022, agricultural equipment in 2023, consumer electronics in 2024. One of the strongest records of any state. It excluded motor vehicles from all three.
That is the clearest available evidence that automotive right to repair is a separate political fight from right to repair generally, with different opposition and a different outcome, even in states friendly to the idea. One provision in HB23-1011 anticipates the MOU maneuver directly: a manufacturer that signs a national memorandum of understanding is still required to comply with the state law.
What this actually costs your shop today
Whatever happens in the First Circuit, the operating reality is already measured. Per the Auto Care Association, April 2024:
- 84% of independent shops name access to vehicle data as their top business issue
- 63% run into it daily or weekly
- Shops spend 2 to 4 hours per vehicle diagnosing before referring the job to a dealer, frequently unpaid
- Estimated cost to the industry: $3.1 billion a year
That third bullet is the one you can act on without waiting for a court. Diagnostic labor performed before a referral is still labor, and most shops write it off out of habit: the arithmetic is in charging for diagnostic time.
The other practical response is documentation. When a job leaves for the dealer because the data was not available, write that on the repair order in those words: what was tested, what was found, what could not be accessed. It supports the charge, it protects you if the vehicle comes back, and in aggregate it is the only record anyone has of how often this happens. Structure in the auto repair work order template.
What is not verified
Stated plainly, because this subject is polluted with confident secondhand claims:
- The original NHTSA letters from June and August 2023 were not read on NHTSA’s own site
- The Maine working group’s final report was not read
- The enacted text of Maine PL 660 was not read
- No enforcement action by the Massachusetts Attorney General against any named manufacturer was confirmed
- The claim that two manufacturers disabled telematics in Massachusetts was not verified
- No complete fifty-state survey for 2024 through 2026 was performed
If you see any of those asserted as fact, ask for the primary source.
Frequently asked questions
Which states have right to repair laws for cars in 2026?
Massachusetts and Maine. Massachusetts passed by ballot in 2020 and is defending the law on appeal in the First Circuit. Maine passed by ballot in 2023 with 84.4% and signed implementing legislation in April 2026. This is not an exhaustive fifty-state scan.
Is the Massachusetts right to repair law in effect?
The district court upheld it on February 11, 2025, holding it is not preempted by federal law. The appeal was argued February 3, 2026 and no decision had issued as of July 25, 2026. The Massachusetts Attorney General has said publicly that some manufacturers are treating the pending appeal as a reason to delay compliance.
Did the REPAIR Act pass?
No. It cleared a House subcommittee in November 2023 and again in February 2026, and stalled in full committee both times. The Senate companion, S. 1379, has seen no action since it was introduced in April 2025.
What does right to repair actually cost independent shops today?
The Auto Care Association reported in April 2024 that 84% of independent shops name vehicle data access as their top business issue, 63% hit it daily or weekly, and shops spend 2 to 4 hours per vehicle diagnosing before referring to a dealer, often without pay. The estimated industry cost is $3.1 billion a year.
Bottom line
Two states, one pending appeal, one federal bill stuck at the same committee stage twice, and a well-documented cost that shows up in your bay every week whether or not any of it moves.
The parts you control are narrow but real: bill the diagnostic time, document what you could not access and why, and keep your own vehicle history good enough that you never diagnose the same car twice for free. And when you repeat any of this at a counter or a trade show, get the details right. In an argument this contested, one wrong judge’s name is enough to lose the room.
Garage keeps your repair orders, photos and vehicle history searchable by VIN or license plate, which is the part of this problem you can fix yourself. Start Free Trial »
Related reading: charging for diagnostic time · auto repair work order template · effective labor rate calculator
