Sec. 45.25.210. Rates and time allowances for warranty and other work.

610 words·~3 min read·/ak/title-45/chapter-25/45-25-210

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(a)A manufacturer shall provide each of its new motor vehicle dealers with the schedule of compensation that the manufacturer shall pay to the new motor vehicle dealer for warranty work that the manufacturer requires the new motor vehicle dealer to perform for the manufacturer's products.

(b)The schedule of compensation must include compensation for parts and labor and must comply with this section. The compensation for parts must include the average retail percentage markup that the new motor vehicle dealer charges. The compensation for labor must include the rates and time allowances for warranty work.

(c)Unless otherwise agreed to by the manufacturer and the new motor vehicle dealer, the schedule of compensation may not contain

(1)rates less than the rates that the new motor vehicle dealer charges retail customers for similar nonwarranty service work; and

(2)time allowances less than time allowances provided in independent labor time guides.

(d)To establish the retail percentage markup, the new motor vehicle dealer shall submit to the manufacturer 100 sequential chronologically issued retail service repair orders paid by customers for warranty-like repairs, or 90 consecutive days of retail service repair orders paid by customers for warranty-like repairs, whichever number of retail service repair orders is less. The retail service repair orders that the new motor vehicle dealer submits must cover retail repairs that the new motor vehicle dealer made less than 180 days before the new motor vehicle dealer submits them to the manufacturer.

(e)A manufacturer may not require a new motor vehicle dealer to establish the retail percentage markup by a method other than the method required by

(d)of this section. When establishing the retail percentage markup, a manufacturer may not require the new motor vehicle dealer to provide information that is unduly burdensome or time consuming to provide, including part-by-part or transaction-by-transaction calculations.

(f)A manufacturer may not include in the calculation of the rates in the schedule of compensation

(1)repairs for manufacturer special events, manufacturer specials, or manufacturer promotional discounts;

(2)parts sold at wholesale;

(3)routine maintenance not covered under warranty, including the replacement of fluids, filters, and belts, unless the new motor vehicle dealer provides the routine maintenance in the course of making a repair;

(4)nuts, bolts, fasteners, and similar items that do not have an individual part number;

(5)tires, batteries, and light bulbs;

(6)vehicle reconditioning; and

(7)repair orders for motor vehicle body repairs if an insurer pays for the repairs.

(g)The retail percentage markup calculated under

(d)of this section may not take effect more than 30 days after the manufacturer approves the dealer's proposed rate, or after the manufacturer is considered to have approved the dealer's proposed rate under this section. If a manufacturer does not disapprove the dealer's proposed rate within 30 days after the new motor vehicle dealer submits the rate application, then the dealer's proposed rate shall be considered approved.

(h)A manufacturer may disapprove a rate proposed by the new motor vehicle dealer under this section if the manufacturer demonstrates that the proposed rate is materially miscalculated or unreasonable compared to other similarly situated new motor vehicle dealers in this state.

(i)A new motor vehicle dealer may not receive more than one rate increase under this section in a calendar year.

(j)In this section,

(1)“rate” means the dollar amount that a manufacturer pays a new motor vehicle dealer for one hour of labor;

(2)“time allowance” means the maximum number of hours and fractions of an hour of labor that may be billed for a particular job.