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An Act Regarding the Purchase of Essential Tools for the Repair of Motor Vehicles
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 10 MRSA §1174, sub-§3, ¶F-1, as amended by PL 2013, c. 534, §3, is further amended to read:
 
F-1. To vary or change the cost or the markup in any fashion or through any device whatsoever to any dealer for any motor vehicle of that line make based on:
 
(1) The purchase by any dealer of furniture or other fixtures from any particular source; or
 
(2) The purchase by any dealer of computers or other technology from any particular source.
 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a manufacturer may require that a dealer purchase an essential tool, either directly from the manufacturer or from a 3rd party designated by the manufacturer. A manufacturer that designates any tool as special or essential, or who requires the purchase of hardware or software, whether or not designated as an essential tool, may recover fromdirectly charge the dealer only the manufacturer's actual costs of providing any such tool, the actual costs of user fees, the actual costs of maintenance fees and other costs of any nature of software for any such tool, as long as the tool is directly available only from the manufacturer or its wholly owned subsidiary, except that this restriction does not apply to essential tools purchased by a dealer from a 3rd party designated by the manufacturer;
 
SUMMARY
This bill allows a motor vehicle manufacturer to require a dealer to purchase an essential tool either from the manufacturer or a 3rd party designated by the manufacturer.