The right-to-repair issue took another turn on Wednesday when the Federal Trade Commission announced a major settlement with John Deere just weeks after President Donald Trump criticized automakers on the issue.
Driving the news: The FTC and the states of Illinois, Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, settled an antitrust lawsuit against John Deere.
The settlement will require the farm and tractor company to supply farmers and independent repair providers with “fair and reasonable” access to the equipment repair resources it provides authorized dealers under supervision from the agency and the states for 10 years.
The access includes fault codes, information on reprogramming of electronic components, and technical manuals and troubleshooting solutions.
Future resources must be made available once they are available to 50% of authorized dealers.
Dealers must promote the resources available.
What they’re saying: “Today’s settlement enables farmers to do what they’ve done for generations—fix their own tractors and other farm equipment — without having to pay an authorized John Deere dealer to do it for them,” said FTC Bureau of Competition Director Daniel Guarnera. “The settlement with Deere will help lower costs for American farmers. The FTC will continue fighting against anticompetitive restrictions on American consumers’ right to repair.”
Impact to the auto industry: The settlement follows Trump voicing its concerns about vehicle owners’ ability to repair their vehicles.
“We had the auto industry in yesterday. They don’t want people to fix their car. I said, 'That’s strange,'" Trump said. "They have a thing; nobody’s allowed to fix their car."
REPAIR Act: Earlier this year, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the Motor Vehicle Modernization Act of 2026, which included an amended version of the Repair Act and codified a 2014 national memorandum of understanding (MOU) between automakers and independent repair organizations regarding access to vehicle repair and diagnostic information.
Florida Rep. Neal Dunn, who introduced the REPAIR Act, said following the committee’s markup that the “legislation considered by the committee does not fully reflect the original REPAIR Act and fails to protect consumers, independent repair shops, and aftermarket manufacturers.”
The National Independent Automobile Dealers Association, National Federation of Independent Business, and MEMA Aftermarket Suppliers are among groups lobbying on Capitol Hill for the REPAIR Act.
NADA has voiced its opposition to expanding the REPAIR Act beyond its current scope, pointing out 75% of post-warranty repairs are done outside of the dealer network.
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Takeaway for dealers: Given this settlement with John Deere, the conversation on right-to-repair in the auto industry is expected to reignite as consumers voice concerns over rising costs. For context, the average cost of repair and maintenance has risen from $294 in May 2019 to $452, according to Federal Reserve data.
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