Technical Service Bulletin Availability

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https://www.autosafety.org/center-f...ry-for-transparency-and-consumer-safety/

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...On January 13 [2020] , after an almost 4 year legal battle, the Center for Auto Safety dismissed its action against the United States Department of Transportation (DOT), brought because of a failure by DOT to fulfil its statutory obligation to make manufacturer communications available on a publicly accessible website. The Center dismissed the case after the government posted tens of thousands of manufacturer communications online...

...The communications involved, alternately described by car companies and regulators as "manufacturer communications," or "technical service bulletins," are the main method auto companies use to send information to service departments on vehicle issues large and small. They can include warranty and policy communications and product improvement notices, and usually include repair instructions for the mechanic. Historically, these communications were hard for the public to acquire. As a result of the Center's advocacy over the past few decades on behalf of the American consumer these bulletins are now more readily available to the public. But, before our lawsuit, DOT was not consistently posting them online...

..."For years car companies kept consumers in the dark about the existence of vital repairs for defects that often were available for free," said Jason Levine, the Center's executive director. "The Center fought for decades against secret warranties and other dirty tricks of the auto manufacturers in order to bring Technical Service Bulletins to light. Despite the law being updated in 2012 to require communications from manufacturers to their dealers to be posted online, the government failed to do so -which is why we took DOT to court."...

...In addition, DOT agreed to publish a message on its website informing the public that some communications may not be available. That message reads: "Note: Certain manufacturers may have not yet provided all communications dating back to 2012, as required by law. NHTSA will continue to update its website with additional manufacturer communications as they are received."...

...To learn about the Manufacturer Communications or Technical Service Bulletins on their cars, consumers can visit: www.nhtsa.gov/recalls and look for "manufacturer communications" related to their vehicle. Alternatively, consumers can visit www.autosafety.org/vehicle-safety-check/ and search for "Service Alerts" related to their vehicle...
 
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