Over the past few years, manufacturers in all industries have been trying their best to lock owners and independent repair shops out of all but the most basic repairs — unless they have proprietary tools and the manufacturer’s blessing. According to Lucas Underwood, the president of L&N Performance Auto Repair, in an interview with Wired, some vehicles require manufacturer-specific tools — which can cost as much as $70,000 — to perform tasks as simple as wheel alignment. This change in repair procedures and necessary tools is largely due to an increased presence of software and sensors in the vehicle itself.
The difficulty of simple jobs has also increased. On older, simpler vehicles, wheel alignment involved putting the vehicle on a rig and adjusting a few manual settings in the steering and suspension equipment, while some newer vehicles also require the sensors on the self-driving systems to be adjusted, which requires more tools and equipment. Auto shops seemingly aren’t prepared for these high-cost investments, according to another auto shop owner John Firm — owner of Firm Automotive in Fort Worth, Texas — who said that he’s seeing a lot of experienced technicians and shop owners rather pack up and retire early than try to adapt (per Wired).
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