Podcast | Should Your Shop Add an Oil Evacuation System?
Jeff Cox, executive director of the Automotive Maintenance & Repair Association, joins the NOLN Podcast to provide a crash course on oil evacuation systems, which allow shops to remove old oil without touching a drain cap. He also explains why these systems are becoming more popular and how to determine whether your shop would benefit from adding one.
Cox then provides questions operators should ask vendors when trying to pick out oil evacuation equipment for their store and outlines how you should explain the service to customers who come in for an oil change.
PAMA Voices Support for REPAIR Act, Addresses Criticisms of Legislation
The Preventative Automotive Maintenance Association recently outlined its reasons for supporting the REPAIR Act in a letter to NOLN.
PAMA cited a March 2025 report carried out by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, which showed a struggle for independent repair shops to compete due to barriers placed by vehicle manufacturers, including timely access to information, data, and tools that are critical to performing automotive repair.
Additionally, PAMA highlighted an Auto Care Association survey from last year, which showed that over 60% of independent repair facilities experienced difficulties with repairs due to barriers put in place by manufacturers.
While repair shops will be the first to see the negative effects, consumers who are forced to go to dealerships are more likely to face longer wait times and higher prices. PAMA has said the Right to Equitable and Professional Auto Industry Repair (REPAIR) Act, H.R. 1566, is the solution to this.
PAMA also addressed criticisms of the REPAIR Act, the first of which being that it fails to address safety concerns.
“By providing access to vehicle repair data, independent manufacturers can meet the same cybersecurity standards and vehicle safety standards as manufacturers,” states the letter. “Transparency brought about by the REPAIR Act necessitates safety. By failing to provide data transparency to the market, manufacturers are only encouraging the development of unsafe alternatives, such as counterfeit parts.”
In GAO’s report from last year, it shared that industry stakeholders with cybersecurity expertise agreed upon the ability for independent repair shops to receive access to repair data without compromising security, added PAMA.
