Car companies in the ACCC's sights

Aftermarket Association demands changes to 'anti-competitive' logbooks

Service manuals and the way they are worded are at the heart of a new battle waging between the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA) and certain car companies.

On the side lines is the ACCC (Australian Consumer and Competition Commission), acting in the role of umpire. An investigation just concluded by the consumer watchdog has revealed that an unspecified number of vehicle importers are perpetuating what Stuart Charity, the executive director of the AAAA, describes as "a myth."

According to the AAAA boss, wording of the service manual can lead vehicle owners to believe they must have their car serviced by an 'authorised' dealer. Furthermore, replacement parts should be 'genuine' parts, supplied by the dealer. Service manuals that demand a sign-off against 'dealer-authorised' oil or 'factory-authorised' spark plugs could be examples of a restraint of trade.

Many owners are cautious about taking their car to an independent repairer, Charity explained, because they mistakenly believe that would breach the provisions of the new-car warranty. Some car companies are happy to leave their customers in the dark, with the vehicle owners presuming that service provided by an independent repairer would render the warranty void. The deceptive wording of the service manual further confuses the issue for vehicle owners.

In addition to misleading the vehicle owner, Charity told motoring.com.au last week, the service manuals place an unacceptable burden on the independent repairer.

"If you look at a fairly new logbook [for] a vehicle; where you go to stamp as proof of service it says: 'I state that I am an authorised dealer; I've only used genuine parts and I've gone to the company website to check for outstanding recalls, or I've recorded this service on the car company website', and so on.

"Independent repairers aren't able to stamp that without making a deceptive and misleading statement. What it does is reinforce the view that the independent repairers are doing something wrong and that the warranty might be jeopardised."

Since the AAAA submitted its objections to the ACCC in November last year, most car companies have done the right thing, but a few non-compliant companies are now facing a torrid time with the ACCC unless they get their act together, Charity observed.

"They've asked the companies to review their compliance strategies and systems as a matter of urgency. And if they're not rectified the ACCC will take further action."

Charity has heard that perhaps five companies are non-compliant, and they're not the little tackers of the industry either.

"We're not talking the Protons and the Tatas here, we're talking major brands..." he explained. "This is not a minor sort of side issue, it's impacting on the mainstream brands, the volume brands."

But it's unlikely that those companies will need to recall cars for new service manuals to be supplied. As far as the AAAA is concerned, what's happened is in the past. All the association wants is for a fair go moving forward, and appropriate information to be disseminated to its member repairers.

"There's not going to be a situation where they recall the logbooks or anything, so the way the ACCC will handle this is they'll provide guidance to industry on exactly what's happened, and how to treat this.

"What I've asked for is something that will inform independent repairers on how to treat these logbooks and also to give them something to give their customers, to give them reassurance that nothing's being done wrong and their manufacturer's warranty [and] statutory rights are being preserved."

The ACCC's formal response is reproduced below. It outlines where the independent repairers stand, in respect of compliance within the terms of new-car warranties.

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Written byKen Gratton

Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalists

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