One of the most talked about issues in today's automotive aftermarket is counterfeit diagnostic tools. The growth of the Internet has made it easier for manufacturers of counterfeit tools to sell to the aftermarket. Some automotive technicians knowingly buy these products, thinking it saves them money. But many comments on industry forums note that these products typically become ineffective and can result in an incorrect diagnosis and/or cause damage to a vehicle.
The National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF) is an organization dedicated to addressing the service gap that presently exists in the automotive aftermarket. Many OEM automakers are active with NASTF to make sure the independent shops have access to the tools, training and information to work on late model vehicles.
This fall, during the NASTF meeting during the AAPEX and SEMA trade shows in Las Vegas, NASTF will address the issue of counterfeit diagnostic tools.
Skip Potter, executive director at NASTF explains why this topic is on the agenda.
VehicleServicePros.com, in the last few months, conducted on online reader poll and we found that a strong majority (about 85 percent) of readers said they never knowingly purchased a counterfeit scan tool. Do you believe this figure is representative of the technician universe, and if so, is counterfeit scan tools still an important issue?
