The Importance of Incentives in Automotive Repair

In the United States, a car manufacturer can't sell their own cars. The mechanic has no reason to tell the manufacturer to get rid of the part in the very lucrative part of his business where he replaces a $2 belt and charges $150. Toyota is Toyota can come down the pike and say, look, we've remade our this model a car with a better chain. So therefore we're going to charge you $1,500 more now or for $700 or whatever it is. And that will make the customer happy, but that won't make the mechanic any happier.