Subaru 2022 models lack in-car wireless technology – Boston 25 News
WATERTOWN, Mass — It’s not uncommon to see workers repairing a Subaru car or SUV inside Direct Tire & Auto Service in Watertown; owner Bob Lane said it’s the most popular car they service. But lately, Lane said he’s heard complaints about Subaru disabling certain systems in their new vehicles.
“It’s all about the data,” Lane said.
According to the Associated Press, Subaru is disabling its in-car wireless technology that connects drivers to music, navigation, roadside assistance and crash-avoiding sensors. The AP reports the move by Subaru stems from the passage of the 2020 Right to Repair law, which was overwhelmingly approved by Massachusetts voters. The law says car manufacturers must give consumers access to a vehicles’ telematics data, which is the diagnostic information collected over a wireless connection.
“Rather than becoming compliant, they’re disabling the telematics of the car,” Lane said. “If that stuff is getting disabled, that’s just not safe and it’s not right.”
According to the AP, the law requires automakers to create an “open standard for sharing mechanical data.” Subaru spokesperson Dominick Infante told the AP via email the “impossibility of complying” with that provision “is a disservice to both our retailers and our customers…The data platform that the new law requires to provide the data does not exist and will not exist any time soon.”
Tommy Hickey, director of the Right to Repair Coalition, said this is a stall tactic by car manufacturers to delay the implementation of the law.
“What they’ve shown us time and time again is that profits are more important to them than consumers and getting cars fixed in an open repair market,” Hickey said. “People should be upset. This is something that Massachusetts consumers voted for, they wanted their repair data, they wanted to take their car where they chose, and car manufacturers are sticking their thumbs at them and saying, ‘No. We will not do that. We would rather not sell you the car with all of [these] capabilities.”
Subaru of America and Subaru of New England did not respond to Boston 25′s’ request for comment.
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