Insurance Giants Win, Car Dealers Lose: The Massive Hidden Winners of Trump's Right-to-Repair Order

President Donald Trump has signed a memorandum directing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to slash red tape around vehicle repairs, marking a significant challenge to the business model of franchised car dealerships across the United States.

The directive, signed on 29 June, instructs the EPA to clarify what work owners and independent garages may legally perform on emissions systems. While the White House frames the move as a victory for consumer choice and lower costs, it sets the stage for a bitter industrial battle between car dealers, who rely on service revenue, and insurance companies eager to reduce claim costs by mandating cheaper aftermarket parts.

Trump's Right-To-Repair Order: What It Actually Does

Trump's right‑to‑repair memorandum does not rewrite the law on its own. It is a directive to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin instructing the agency to clarify what work individuals may legally perform on their own vehicles' emissions systems while remaining compliant with the Clean Air Act.

Within 30 days, the EPA is expected to clarify which emissions‑related repairs are permitted and how aftermarket parts can be used without triggering federal penalties.

The memo also tells the EPA to consider deprioritising enforcement against people who attempt to restore their vehicles 'to original configuration.'

Zeldin, standing alongside Trump, signalled a clear shift in tone, saying the administration would not be 'going after people who are fixing their own vehicles like past administrations have.'

Another key plank is a direct swipe at California's role in regulating aftermarket parts. Trump argues that the California Air Resources Board has used its authority under a federal waiver to impose an 'onerous' process on parts makers, one that can take more than a year and, in his view, effectively hands federal compliance decisions to one state.

The EPA has been instructed to find ways to shorten that approval time and reduce what the memo calls 'regulatory uncertainty' about whether aftermarket parts may be used in repairs.

Why Insurers And Parts Makers Stand To Gain From Trump's Move

Insurance companies, which routinely push for cheaper repair options, now have presidential backing for the wider use of aftermarket components.

If the EPA follows through and eases restrictions on emissions‑related parts, insurers will have more room to pressure repairers away from original manufacturer parts and towards lower‑cost alternatives in claims negotiations.

Aftermarket producers are even more openly enthusiastic. Mike Spagnola, chief executive of the Speciality Equipment Market Association, which represents aftermarket suppliers, praised the memorandum as 'bold action in support of vehicle owners and automotive aftermarket industry businesses' and said it would address a long‑standing 'need for certainty' in their sector.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation has also noted that around 75% of post‑warranty repairs in the United States already occur at independent garages rather than franchised dealers.

Car Dealers Warn Trump's Right-To-Repair Order Hands Power To Insurers

On the other side of the argument sit franchised car dealers and their trade body, the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA). Dealers have long resisted broader right‑to‑repair laws, warning that they would enable third‑party firms to reverse-engineer components and flood the market with what they call 'knockoffs.'

They also argue that modern cars are rolling computers and that unfettered access to software and wireless data could create cybersecurity and privacy risks and undermine manufacturers' intellectual property.

NADA has warned that weakening the current system gives insurance companies far more leverage in deciding what goes on a customer's car after a crash or a major fault. If OEM parts lose their regulatory advantage, insurers will be in a stronger position to insist on cheaper alternatives, squeezing dealers on both parts revenue and service income.

Automakers themselves sit in a more awkward middle. Current data‑sharing agreements already require them to provide a degree of diagnostic access to independent repairers, and they argue that this is sufficient to keep competition alive while still protecting proprietary systems.

Publicly, major manufacturers have expressed concerns that wider access to repair and telematics data could compromise vehicle safety, owner privacy, and cybersecurity. Privately, some may welcome any move that weakens California's regulatory grip, even if it means ceding more ground to aftermarket parts in the short term.

Campaigners Say Trump's Memo Falls Short Of Real Reform

Campaigners who have spent years fighting for a sweeping federal right‑to‑repair law are not declaring victory yet.

Nathan Proctor, who leads a right‑to‑repair initiative for the US Public Interest Research Groups, said the memorandum was 'not exactly addressing the main concerns that we and others have expressed about what makes car repair difficult and expensive, but we appreciate that the administration is supportive of the broader goals.'

He wants binding rules that guarantee independent garages and owners full access to the wireless data and software updates modern vehicles rely on, not only emissions‑related hardware.

Trump himself has tried to pitch the move in simple terms. He told reporters that, in his view, some owners are 'better mechanics than mechanics in the shop' and said people had even been 'arrested for fixing their car.'

Congress, California And The Next Fight Over Who Fixes Your Car

The right‑to‑repair argument is now moving on several fronts. On Capitol Hill, the House Energy and Commerce Committee has already advanced the Motor Vehicle Modernisation Act of 2026 by 48 votes to 1.

That bill would effectively codify existing voluntary data‑sharing agreements and hand enforcement powers to the Federal Trade Commission.

Consumer advocates worry it may freeze the status quo rather than expand owner rights, while industry groups see it as a way to lock in predictable rules.

At the state level, California is unlikely to roll over. The California Air Resources Board has a history of fighting federal attempts to dilute its emissions standards, and it has defended its process for certifying aftermarket parts as necessary to protect air quality.

If the EPA now tries to clip CARB's wings in the name of right‑to‑repair, that dispute could end up in court, with car owners, insurers, dealers and independent garages watching closely from the sidelines.

The move builds on a similar directive Trump signed in February that covered farm equipment, which aimed to allow farmers to work on their own machinery rather than rely on manufacturer‑approved technicians.

In the car world, he is now targeting what he casts as an auto parts and repair monopoly, shaped by software locks, emissions rules and exclusive tools that often leave owners paying dealership rates.

The memorandum, titled 'Lowering the Cost of Living by Promoting the Freedom to Fix', tells the Environmental Protection Agency to ease the path for aftermarket parts and to pull back from enforcement action against drivers who repair their own vehicles in good faith.

As the industry braces for the next phase of this fight, including the Motor Vehicle Modernisation Act of 2026, dealers, insurers, and manufacturers remain locked in a struggle over the future of vehicle ownership. The 'freedom to fix' may be a popular slogan, but in practice, it is a battle for the billions of pounds tied up in the global automotive aftermarket.