Take the right information to a garage

Published · Last reviewed · OBDCode UK editorial

Create a one-page summary from a reviewed fault code, your warning-light observation and the code page’s garage hand-off list.

How this page handles information A fault code in the page address is used only to preselect that code. Nothing is uploaded. A copy of the brief can stay in this browser until you delete it on My car. The registration line is printed blank for you to complete by hand afterwards.

What is a Repair Brief?

A Repair Brief is a one-page printable summary you take to a garage. It carries the exact fault code, the reviewed drive-or-stop conclusion for that code, and the hand-off list the code page publishes, so nothing gets retold from memory at the counter. It is assembled in your browser and nothing is uploaded.

  • The fault code, plus any companion codes from the same scan
  • The reviewed driving conclusion and safety class for that code
  • Whether the warning lamp is steady or flashing
  • The observations you made without dismantling anything
  • The questions to ask before authorising parts
  • A blank registration line, for you to complete by hand

Why does a written brief change the conversation?

A code names a system or circuit, not the failed part, so the risk at the counter is paying to replace something nobody tested. Arriving with the code, the symptom and a written list of questions makes it far harder for the scope of work to drift. The brief prints the questions you should be asking.

Is anything uploaded or stored?

Nothing is uploaded. A fault code in the page address only preselects that code, and the registration line prints blank for you to complete by hand. A copy of the brief stays in this browser until you delete it from My car. The builder needs JavaScript because it assembles and prints entirely on your device.

What should you do after you print it?

Add the registration number by hand, keep the reviewed driving conclusion with the brief, and ask the garage to confirm the diagnosis before authorising parts. Get the scope and the price in writing before you agree, and keep the brief with the invoice — a documented repair is also what protects the car’s value at resale.

Where do the driving conclusions come from?

The drive-or-stop line for each code is this site’s reviewed editorial conclusion, not a manufacturer instruction, and it is written against published UK material. Your statutory position after paid work is set by the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and the official per-vehicle MOT record is a separate free GOV.UK service. Both are linked below.