Legislation in Illinois that would increase the booked time of repairs of vehicles under manufacturer warranty picked up another co-sponsor March 15: Rep. Jay Hoffman (D-Swansea), one of the House’s assistant majority leaders.

 

Automakers consider different time guides for the same repair when technicians fix a car under warranty versus the longer time considered when customers pay for the work.

Dealers have long charged that the reduced time allowance for warranty repairs comes from, among other things, manufacturer studies of repairs in which all the needed tools and parts are carefully laid out near the vehicle before the job begins, hardly a real-world scenario. Instead, it can take a technician 15-20 minutes to fetch those during a repair. Technicians say many warranty jobs just can’t be performed in the booked time allowance, meaning they work at times without compensation. 

Mechanics Local 701, the union representing area technicians at dealerships, is working with the CATA to advance the legislation.

Under House Bill 3940: "Adequate and fair compensation requires the manufacturer to pay each dealer no less than the amount the retail customer pays for the same services with regard to rate and time. Any time guide previously agreed to by the manufacturer and the dealer for extended warranty repairs may be used in lieu of actual time expended. In the event that a time guide has not been agreed to for warranty repairs, or said time guide does not define time for an applicable warranty repair, the manufacturer’s time guide shall be used, multiplied by 1.5."

HB 3940 was assigned March 16 to the House Labor & Commerce Committee, whose members include Rep. Hoffman.