Estimates, quotes and extra work: authorising a garage repair

The garage named a figure that feels too high — do these three things first

You are at the counter. The garage has just named a figure. It feels too high, or it is higher than the estimate you were given on the phone. You can feel yourself about to say yes so that you can get the car back.

Pause before the keys change hands. The label on the paperwork — estimate or quotation — is relevant evidence, not a decision by itself. The sections below keep the same official sources. No figure on this page is a published going rate.

Checklist

• Ask in plain terms whether the figure can move, and if so, on what and by how much.
• Ask whether the figure includes VAT, parts, consumables, any calibration or programming, and a road test.
• If a figure is given over the phone, ask for the same figure by text or email during that call.

The label is relevant, but the complete record decides the analysis

Section 50 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 treats anything said or written to the consumer, by or on behalf of the trader, about the trader or the service as a term of the contract, if the consumer takes it into account when deciding to enter into the contract. Sources: ^[1]

Section 50 gives the same treatment to information the consumer takes into account when making any decision about the service after entering into the contract; this can include information given in a mid-repair call if the consumer takes it into account when deciding about the service. Sources: ^[1]

What was said is subject to anything the trader said or wrote on the same occasion that qualified it, and to any change expressly agreed between the consumer and the trader, whether before entering into the contract or later. Sources: ^[1]

The Motor Ombudsman's Service and Repair Code uses 'Estimate' for an approximate cost that may change and describes a written 'Quotation' as the firm agreed price to complete the requested work. This reports the terminology of that trade code for businesses accredited to it. Sources: ^[2]

Every contract to supply a service is to be treated as including as a term of the contract anything that is said or written to the consumer, by or on behalf of the trader, about the trader or the service, if— (a) it is taken into account by the consumer when deciding to enter into the contract, or (b) it is taken into account by the consumer when making any decision about the service after entering into the contract.

These are trade-code meanings, not statutory definitions. The label is relevant evidence of the level of price certainty, but it is not decisive on its own. The contractual analysis depends on the complete record, including the full written terms, relevant statements and qualifications, and any later variation expressly agreed between the consumer and the trader.

What to do

• Use the label as a prompt, not a conclusion: if the document says 'estimate', ask what may move and why; if it says 'quotation', check the specified work, price and terms it covers.
• Ask in plain terms whether the figure can move, and if so, on what and by how much.
• Ask whether the figure includes VAT, parts, consumables, any calibration or programming, and a road test.
• If a figure is given over the phone, ask for the same figure by text or email during that call.

What should be set out before you are bound

Regulation 9 of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 requires the trader, before the consumer is bound by an on-premises contract, to give or make available the information described in Schedule 1 in a clear and comprehensible manner, if that information is not already apparent from the context. Sources: ^[5]

Schedule 1 includes the total price inclusive of taxes or, where the nature of the service is such that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is to be calculated. Sources: ^[6]

Schedule 1 also includes, where applicable, the arrangements for payment and performance and the time by which the trader undertakes to perform the service, the trader's complaint handling policy, and the existence and conditions of after-sales services and commercial guarantees. Sources: ^[6]

Regulation 9 does not apply to a contract which involves a day-to-day transaction and is performed immediately at the time when the contract is entered into. Sources: ^[5]

Section 50 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 treats information provided in accordance with regulation 9 as included as a term of the contract, and says a change to that information is not effective unless expressly agreed between the consumer and the trader. Sources: ^[1]

the total price of the goods, services or digital content inclusive of taxes, or where the nature of the goods, services or digital content is such that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is to be calculated

A change to any of the information mentioned in subsection (3), made before entering into the contract or later, is not effective unless expressly agreed between the consumer and the trader.

What to do

• Where a garage genuinely cannot price the job in advance, ask instead for the basis of the charge in writing: the labour rate, how time will be recorded, and how parts will be priced.
• Treat 'we will let you know' as the point at which to agree a ceiling, not the point at which to stop asking.

Fix the scope and the ceiling before you hand over the keys

What to do

• Ask for the ceiling and the contact rule to be written on the job card or repair order, and photograph it before you leave.
• Where the fault is not yet identified, authorise the diagnosis on its own first and treat the repair as a separate decision with its own figure.
• Say explicitly that stripping down beyond the described job needs your agreement first, because a partly dismantled vehicle narrows your options later.
• Keep the ceiling realistic rather than defensive: a figure set far below the likely cost simply guarantees a phone call you may not be able to take.

Checklist

• The specific job you are authorising, described by symptom, component or fault code, rather than an open-ended 'investigate and repair'.
• A ceiling figure covering parts, labour, consumables and VAT, written on the paperwork you both hold.
• A term that the garage must contact you and obtain your agreement before going above that ceiling or outside the described job.
• A term that if the garage cannot reach you, the work stops rather than continues.
• The single phone number or email address the garage must use, and who else, if anyone, may authorise on your behalf.
• What happens if you decline the extra work: reassembly, storage, and whether the vehicle can be driven away.
• Whether the parts price assumes new, remanufactured or used parts.

When the garage rings to say it needs more money

Because section 50 covers information taken into account when making a decision about the service after entering into the contract, what the garage tells you during the job can be treated as a term of the contract. Sources: ^[1]

A change to what was originally said or written is subject to express agreement between the consumer and the trader, and a change to regulation 9 information is not effective unless expressly agreed. Sources: ^[1]

This is the moment the page exists for. A mid-repair call is a decision about the service after the contract was entered into, and what is said in it can become part of the bargain — which cuts both ways, because a call that neither side recorded is hard for either side to prove.

What to do

• Ask four questions before answering: what was found, what it will cost in total, whether the original job can be completed without it, and whether the vehicle is safe to drive without it.
• Ask for the revised scope and figure by text or email, and reply in writing agreeing to that specific figure; a short written exchange is far easier to rely on afterwards than a phone call.
• If you agree to part of what is proposed and refuse the rest, put the refused part in writing too, in the same message.
• If you need time, say so in writing and ask the garage to hold the work rather than proceed.
• If you are told a decision is needed immediately, ask why, and ask for that reason in writing as well.
• Save the messages where you will still find them in six months, not only in the phone that may be replaced.

Extras that were never expressly agreed

Regulation 40 of the 2013 Regulations says that under a contract between a trader and a consumer, no payment is payable in addition to the remuneration agreed for the trader's main obligation unless, before the consumer became bound by the contract, the trader obtained the consumer's express consent. Sources: ^[7]

That regulation says there is no express consent if consent is inferred from the consumer not changing a default option, such as a pre-ticked box on a website. Sources: ^[7]

Where a trader receives an additional payment which under that regulation is not payable, the contract is to be treated as providing for the trader to reimburse the payment to the consumer. Sources: ^[7]

What to do

• Read an online booking confirmation for pre-selected extras such as valeting, protection products, waste charges or courtesy-vehicle fees before you confirm it.
• Regulation 40 addresses additional payments on top of the agreed remuneration; a mid-job change of scope may instead be a variation of the contract, so record it in writing either way rather than deciding which label fits.

The bill is higher than agreed: two separate questions

Section 54 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 treats a service as conforming to the contract if it conforms to a term that section 50 requires to be treated as included and that relates to the performance of the service; where the service does not conform, the consumer's rights are the right to require repeat performance and the right to a price reduction. Sources: ^[4]

Where the trader is in breach of a term that section 50 requires to be treated as included but which does not relate to the service, section 54 gives the consumer the right to a price reduction. Sources: ^[4]

Section 54 says these rights do not prevent the consumer seeking other remedies for the same breach, instead of or in addition to them, but not so as to recover twice for the same loss; the other remedies listed include claiming damages and relying on the breach against a claim by the trader under the contract. Sources: ^[4]

The separate price question is governed by section 51 only where the consumer has not paid a price or other consideration for the service, the contract neither expressly fixes the price or other consideration nor says how it is to be fixed, and information treated under section 50 as included in the contract does not fix it either. In that case the consumer must pay a reasonable price and no more, and what is reasonable is a question of fact; section 51 and the repeat-performance and price-reduction remedies are also set out in the guide on your rights after a car repair. Sources: ^[3]

Question one is whether the work or the charge went outside what you authorised. Question two is whether the price charged is a reasonable one. They are answered with different evidence and lead to different arguments, and combining them can obscure the stronger point.

What to do

• Do not merge the two questions into one demand; a garage can concede the authorisation point while still defending its rate, and you want that concession on the record.
• Before withholding payment, think about what the garage may do next and where that leaves the vehicle; that is a separate question from whether the charge was authorised, and it is worth taking advice on.

Checklist

• List the items you say were never authorised, quoting the written scope and ceiling you agreed.
• List separately the items you accept were authorised but say are priced above a reasonable figure.
• Ask for an itemised invoice showing parts, labour hours and the labour rate, so both sides are arguing about the same numbers.
• Attach the written authorisation, the mid-job messages and the invoice to whatever you send.
• Note what you were told at each stage and by whom, while you still remember it.

Where this goes next

What to do

• If the argument is really about what a diagnostic charge bought rather than about the repair, start from the diagnostic-fees guide before writing anything.
• If the figures are clear and the garage will not engage, move to a written complaint that sets out the disputed items, the outcome you want and a reasonable date for a reply.
• Keep every version of the paperwork, including the ones that support the garage; hiding an inconvenient document can weaken the complaint when a second reader sees the full record.

Important

Whether a particular estimate, quote or phone call formed part of your contract depends on the facts and the documents, and nothing on this page decides that.

Do not drive a vehicle that a reviewed safety conclusion says should not be driven in order to move a payment dispute along; arrange recovery instead.