Section 4 — Transportation, Vehicles, and Ownership Equity

Purpose

To extend affordability protections into transportation and automotive markets by ensuring fairness in production, purchase, and maintenance costs.

Fair Vehicle Valuation

• Vehicle prices must reflect base manufacturer cost, inflation, and condition adjustments.
• Used vehicles cannot be priced higher than new equivalent models unless classified as rare or antique.
• “Collector” or “heritage” vehicles are exempt but must be transparently labeled as non-essential assets.

Dealer Practices

• All dealership fees must be itemized and disclosed at the point of sale.
• “Market adjustment” or “availability surcharge” fees are prohibited for any new production vehicle.
• Lease buyouts and used-car valuations must be based on RACV-equivalent calculations.

Right to Repair

• Manufacturers must provide diagnostic tools, replacement parts, and repair documentation at reasonable cost to licensed mechanics and owners.
• Proprietary software locks that restrict repairability are prohibited under this Act.
• Refusal to sell replacement parts constitutes unfair trade practice.

Tariff Exemptions

• Building materials and components for housing or vehicles may be exempt from tariffs when those tariffs directly raise end-user affordability costs.
• The Department of Commerce will maintain a list of Affordability-Critical Materials eligible for exemption.

Registration and Ownership Verification

• Temporary or paper license plates may not exceed 60 days of validity.
• Repeated registration evasion or use of fraudulent plates triggers license suspension and asset seizure.