Not for recalls. It’s easy for folks to sit on social media and assume any mechanic can do it, but that’s not the case. The whole system would have to change. With the biggest being the requirement to track compliance with federally mandated recalls. There is no responsibility of the mechanic to report completion of a repair, nor certification regarding efficacy.
Edit: I actually just re-read your question. I thought you meant brands, but you said dealerships. So… your argument for bypassing dealerships is to use dealerships?
There isn’t some recall reporting system? That would be surprising to me, I’m pretty sure I’ve been able to look up recall status on my car before (not that any have applied so far).
There is that word “just” again. You need to require them to report completion and to certify efficacy. Are you going to also require car brands to honor warranty repairs completed by a third party mechanic? What I’m attempting to point out to you is that this all requires a network and established agreements, not “just” some ad-hoc repair services.
I don’t see how an independent mechanic would be less likely to report completion of a recall repair than a dealership. It sounds like a similar process to safety and emissions inspections and service.
If they need to be Toyota-certified or something to do recalls, then great. Even better if that lets them do warranty work.
The manufacturer is not the one performing the recall repair right now, it’s the dealership, so I don’t understand what the difference is between having the dealership mechanic and the independent mechanic perform the work if they have access to the same resources.
Don’t we already have that? I imagine the dealerships already use such a system.
Not for recalls. It’s easy for folks to sit on social media and assume any mechanic can do it, but that’s not the case. The whole system would have to change. With the biggest being the requirement to track compliance with federally mandated recalls. There is no responsibility of the mechanic to report completion of a repair, nor certification regarding efficacy.
Edit: I actually just re-read your question. I thought you meant brands, but you said dealerships. So… your argument for bypassing dealerships is to use dealerships?
There isn’t some recall reporting system? That would be surprising to me, I’m pretty sure I’ve been able to look up recall status on my car before (not that any have applied so far).
There is. It uses dealerships. This is my entire point.
So we do just need to give non-dealership mechanics access.
There is that word “just” again. You need to require them to report completion and to certify efficacy. Are you going to also require car brands to honor warranty repairs completed by a third party mechanic? What I’m attempting to point out to you is that this all requires a network and established agreements, not “just” some ad-hoc repair services.
I don’t see how an independent mechanic would be less likely to report completion of a recall repair than a dealership. It sounds like a similar process to safety and emissions inspections and service.
If they need to be Toyota-certified or something to do recalls, then great. Even better if that lets them do warranty work.
Because it’s the manufacturers RESPONSIBILITY. Not the local mechanics’.
What is so difficult about this?
The manufacturer is not the one performing the recall repair right now, it’s the dealership, so I don’t understand what the difference is between having the dealership mechanic and the independent mechanic perform the work if they have access to the same resources.