Developments in the automotive right to repair arena have proceeded cautiously since February 2026, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit heard argument in an industry challenge to the Massachusetts Data Access Law. The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and the Alliance for Automotive Innovation (“Auto Innovators”), await a decision in that case after the Massachusetts Attorney General rebuffed a suggestion that the parties seek a compromise. Meanwhile, Auto Innovators in mid-August gave notice to a federal court in Maine that the trade association would continue to press a challenge to a similar right to repair law in that state. Separately, federal legislation concerning right to repair issues continues to advance in Washington, D.C., albeit in a considerably more modest form than originally envisioned by its sponsors.

All Eyes On First Circuit

All eyes have been on the First Circuit since February 2026, when that court heard argument in an industry challenge to the Massachusetts Data Access Law, first adopted by voters in that state in a 2020 ballot initiative. In that appeal, Auto Innovators has argued the state’s right to repair law—which requires that “access to vehicle on-board diagnostic systems shall be standardized and not require any authorization” by manufacturers, and that vehicles sold in Massachusetts that “utilize a telematics system” be equipped with an “inter-operable, standardized and open access platform” across all models providing direct access for owners and independent repairs shops to perform vehicle repairs—is preempted by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act (FMVSA).

During argument, the panel suggested the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and Auto Innovators seek mediation and work toward identifying a technical solution to address cybersecurity concerns raised by manufacturers while providing vehicle owners and independent repair shops the access they need to perform diagnostic and repair services. Following oral argument, however, the Massachusetts Attorney General in a February 25, 2026 letter to the First Circuit declined to participate in mediation, noting the Attorney General could not amend the statute and that in any event, “we believe that mediation will be unproductive and dilatory.”

Maine Adopts Similar Right to Repair Law

Meanwhile, Auto Innovators filed a notice in federal court in Maine on August 14, 2026 advising the trade association intended to file an amended complaint no later than October 2, 2026 in a lawsuit challenging a right to repair law similar to the Massachusetts Data Access Law adopted by Maine voters in a 2023 ballot initiative. That lawsuit, first filed by Auto Innovators in January 2025, had long been stayed, first as the parties awaited a report from a working group established to make recommendations about how the law should be implemented, and later as the Maine legislature and governor wrangled over changes to the law.

In April 2026, three months after vetoing legislation that would have significantly altered the language of the statute adopted by voters in the 2023 ballot initiative, Maine Governor Janet Mills signed LD 2211 into law.  That legislation implemented recommendations from a working group that largely leave intact the law’s original requirements concerning OEM’s obligation to share telematics data with vehicle owners and authorized independent repair facilities. The new law establishes a Motor Vehicle Right to Repair Commission to oversee compliance, clarifies manufacturers’ obligations to provide independent repair facilities with the same data available to authorized dealers, and extends the deadline for deployment of standardized owner-authorized access platforms until September 1, 2027.

Federal Legislation Advances In Modest Form

At the federal level, right to repair legislation continues to advance slowly, albeit in a considerably more modest form than originally envisioned. When first proposed in February 2025, the Right to Equitable and Professional Auto Industry Repair (REPAIR) Act, H.R. 1566, would have required OEMs to make vehicle-generated data available to owners and their designees “in or at the same manner, time, method, [and] cost” as that data is made available to dealers and other authorized motor vehicle service providers, including “to the extent such vehicle is equipped for wireless transmission of such data, over wireless technology via any telematics system.”

In May 2026, the House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced an amended version of the REPAIR Act as part of the Motor Vehicle Modernization Act of 2026. Significantly, lawmakers removed the original legislation’s telematics and wireless-data-access provisions, and instead proposed to codify longstanding industry agreements requiring automakers to provide independent repair facilities with access to the same diagnostic and repair information available to dealerships, with enforcement authority vested in the Federal Trade Commission. It remains to be seen if this legislation will find support in the waning days of the current congressional session.