Auto Repair - A Consumer's Guide to Your Rights

It's only natural to feel as though you're stepping into a dangerous, foreign world when you take your car in for auto repair. Even if you do your due diligence and pick a mechanic with a solid reputation, you may be a little apprehensive. Check that, you might worried right off the bat. There are, however, several steps you can take to make sure you get what you paid for and nothing that you didn't.

In most states, you have a plethora of rights that are intended to protect the consumer from unscrupulous shops. Here are some of the things you should demand from a shop performing service on your vehicle.

Written Estimate

Don't sign off on auto repair unless you are offered a written estimate. Less honest mechanics love to quote one price and then hand you a bill that far exceeds that price. This is nothing you should have to be faced with. If you have a signed, written estimate to look back on, it will be very difficult for a mechanic to get around that. If you just leave them a virtual blank check, however, you aren't as protected as you might hope. In most states, the consumer is entitled to a written estimate, so make sure you get one and read it closely.

Detailed Invoice

Of course, you are just as entitled to a bill that details everything that was done to your car and everything you're being charged for. Do not pay a bill that does not detail what you're being asked to pay. Parts and labor costs should be outlined in the bill. Now, while there are usually laws that insist that shops provide detailed invoices for auto repair, the language of these laws do not specify that the invoices need to be written in layman's speech. Therefore, ask questions if you don't understand anything written in the bill. If you don't trust the answers you're being given, take the invoice to someone who will understand what's written. You may even be able to find some decoders online.

Request Your Old Parts

As a customer, you are entitled to the old parts that were taken off your vehicle. Why would you want them? Well, it's certainly one way to make sure they actually did replace them and didn't try to charge you for a new one without actually giving you anything. Make sure you request these parts ahead of time, as most states will not hold a shop responsible for keeping the parts if the customer made no such request at the time of the work order.