The Right-to-Modify Fight Just Got Real
HR 7389 — the Motor Vehicle Modernization Act of 2026 — passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee on May 21 and is headed to a full House floor vote.
If you are in the automotive aftermarket, this is the bill you have been waiting for.
The Problem It Solves
Modern vehicles are software-defined. That is good for a lot of things. It is bad for one: it gives OEMs a software lever to penalize vehicle modification.
Install a lift kit, a winch, a wrap — something physically unrelated to ADAS — and the software can flag warnings, disable safety features, or behave in ways that make your customers nervous. Not because the modification is unsafe. Because the software was not designed with the aftermarket in mind.
This is a real problem. Not hypothetical. Shops doing custom work, accessory manufacturers whose products are technically correct but software-incompatible, enthusiasts who paid for a vehicle they cannot build without consequence — these are the people who get caught in the gap between what OEM software tolerates and what the aftermarket actually does.
What HR 7389 Does
The bill embeds the ADAS Functionality and Integrity Act inside a broader legislative package. The specific protection: vehicle owners and aftermarket businesses have the right to modify a vehicle — wraps, bumper winches, bike racks, lift kits, performance parts — without triggering a loss of ADAS functionality.
SEMA called this legislation landmark. That word gets overused, but in this case it is earned.
Why This One Is Different From the REPAIR Act
You have probably heard of the REPAIR Act — the legislation dealing with right-to-repair access to vehicle data. Important bill. But it specifically did not address modification rights. You could have full access to diagnostic data and still have your ADAS system fight you on every custom build.
The Motor Vehicle Modernization Act fills that gap. Repair rights and modification rights are different problems; this bill solves the second one.
Where It Goes From Here
Committee passage is real progress. The House floor vote is next. After that: Senate, where these bills can die quietly.
The aftermarket is not a niche. It is a $500B industry with tens of thousands of small businesses whose livelihoods depend on the right to modify. The committee vote suggests at least some legislators understand that.
I will keep watching this one. SEMA has advocacy resources if you want to get involved.
Why I Care
iE makes tuning software and hardware. Every product we ship is designed to integrate with a modified vehicle ecosystem.
When OEM software treats aftermarket modifications as edge cases to penalize, that is not abstract policy debate. That is our customers’ experience, every day.
The bill moving is good news. Senate is a different story. But the direction is right.
Peter Blais is the founder and CEO of Innovative Performance (iE), a Utah-based automotive performance company specializing in tuning software, hardware, and integrated vehicle ecosystems.