Limited access to parts is mostly about patents so even if you had all the knowledge in the world you are prevent by the state to create what is needed to do the repairs. After the patent is expired we often find that the social contract between inventor and state is violated, and society do not in fact gain the necessary information to replicate the invention by reading the patent. There has been some political discussion to force car manufacturers to provide equal access to parts in order to protect the free market for car repairs and maintenance.<p>Then we have digital locks (DRM) which the article brings up which artificially prevents customers from repairing. You can have all the knowledge in the world and still not be able to fix a simple issue since the digital signature of the part won&#x27;t be accepted by the device. There has been political discussion around the world to forbid this kind of technical restrictions in cars or at least force retailers to inform the customer about the limitations.<p>Both issues impacts customer rights and is entirely political in nature. The problem of having enough knowledge, access to documentation, or skill to perform repairs is all secondary problems once the political <i>right to repair</i> is granted.