Slate Wants You To Do Warranty Work On Your Own Truck

It's hard to know what to think of Slate Auto, since it doesn't actually sell anything real yet. Will it deliver a true $25,000 electric truck that's everything the most hardcore fans believe it will be? Maybe. But also, maybe not. Building cars is hard, and only time will tell. That said, Slate's commitment to right-to-repair is definitely a breath of fresh air. Would you do your own warranty work, though? Apparently, Slate thinks you might, with its Chief Commercial Officer Jeremy Snyder recently telling Jay Leno that's the company's plan. 

If you want to watch the entire 35-minute episode, it's embedded below and also timestamped to make sure you catch the part we're focusing on here. Right before the 18-minute mark, Snyder says, "First of all, we want our customers to DIY repairs. They can DIY warranty repairs even, which is a first in the industry." From the beginning, Slate's been pretty vocal about wanting its owners to be able to work on and customize their own vehicles, so the "DIY repairs" part is far from new. 

What I don't think we've heard before, though, is that Slate wants to allow customers to perform their own warranty repairs. Unfortunately for anyone who wants a few more details, Leno appears to be far more focused on Slate's partnership with RepairPal allowing you to shop around for the best deal when your truck needs a repair. That's probably pretty cool, too, as is Snyder's promise that the Slate app will include a code reader, but come on, Jay. Ask a follow-up question when someone tells you they plan to do something no other automaker currently does. 

Of course, Leno is (allegedly) a comedian, not a journalist, so I reached out to Slate for a little more information on how this whole thing would actually work. Unfortunately, they weren't able to get a response to me before publication, so whenever that shows up, I'll be sure to update this post.

For now, though, I feel torn. It's pretty clear that doing your own warranty repairs will be optional, not mandatory, so you shouldn't have any issues if you'd rather have an actual shop do the work. And assuming it's something fairly quick and easy, having Slate send the part directly to you instead of dealing with a shop could be a great way to save time and avoid the hassle of waiting on someone else to fix whatever needs fixing. 

On the other hand, unless Slate plans to pay its customers to do their own warranty repairs, it feels wrong on principle. I do the work, save your company money, and all I get is the convenience of not having to go to a shop? I'm also curious how this would work from a legal liability perspective, since warranty work tends to be safety-related. I'm sure you could be trusted to do that work, but we both know there are plenty of morons out there who somehow manage to screw up even the simplest of tasks. 

If one of those morons causes a crash after doing shoddy warranty repair work, could Slate be held liable? Even assuming Slate makes you sign a waiver absolving the company of any responsibility in the event you screw up your own warranty work, will that hold up in court when the other driver sues? I can't say. But what I can say is that I'm absolutely fascinated by the idea of having the option to do your own warranty repairs, whether it ends in disaster or not.