Your rights after a car repair goes wrong

The repair did not fix it — do these three things first

You paid for a repair. The same fault is back, or a new one appeared as soon as you left the forecourt. You want the job done again, some money back, or both, and you are not sure which of those even applies.

Do not open with a demand that does not match the problem. The sections below keep the same statutory map. They do not tell you that you have already won, and they do not calculate a deadline for your case.

Checklist

• Keep the booking, written quote or estimate, invoice and payment record.
• Write to the garage with the outcome you want and a reasonable response date.
• If direct negotiation fails, check any trade-association or alternative-dispute-resolution route before court.

UK rights, three court systems

Consumer Rights Act 2015 sections 49 to 56 extend across the United Kingdom. Chapter 4 applies to trader-to-consumer service contracts, but section 48(3) says that in Scotland it does not apply to a gratuitous contract. Sources: ^{[1] [10]}

Court procedure is separate in each jurisdiction: England and Wales use the county court money-claim process, Scotland has Scottish court procedure including Simple Procedure where it applies, and Northern Ireland has its own small-claims process. This guide does not select a court route for an individual dispute. Sources: ^{[14] [15] [16]}

The time-limit statutes also differ: England and Wales use limitation, Scotland uses prescription, and Northern Ireland has its own limitation legislation. This page does not calculate the deadline for an individual dispute. Sources: ^{[11] [12] [13]}

The contract terms that may apply

Section 49 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 treats every consumer service contract as including a term that the trader must perform the service with reasonable care and skill. Sources: ^[2]

Section 50 treats information about the trader or service as a contract term when its statutory conditions are met, including where the consumer took it into account in entering the contract or making a later decision about the service; information required by the specified 2013 Regulations is also treated as a term. Sources: ^[3]

Section 51 applies only if the consumer has not paid a price or other consideration, the contract neither expressly fixes it nor says how it is to be fixed, and information treated as a term under s.50 does not fix it. The consumer must then pay a reasonable price and no more; what is reasonable is a question of fact. Sources: ^[4]

Section 52 applies only if the contract neither expressly fixes the performance time nor says how it is to be fixed, and information treated as a term under s.50 does not fix it. The trader must then perform within a reasonable time; what is reasonable is a question of fact. Sources: ^[5]

Every contract to supply a service is to be treated as including a term that the trader must perform the service with reasonable care and skill.

Match the remedy to the breach

Sections 54(2) and 54(3) map a breach of section 49, or of a term treated as included under section 50 that relates to performance of the service, to the section 55 right to require repeat performance and the section 56 right to a price reduction, subject to the conditions in those sections. Sources: ^{[3] [6] [7] [8]}

Where both rights exist, section 56(3) allows a price reduction only if repeat performance is impossible under section 55(3), or the consumer required repeat performance and the trader failed to provide it within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience. Sources: ^{[7] [8]}

A breach of a section 50 term that does not relate to the service goes directly to section 56 under section 54(4); a breach of the section 52 reasonable-time term goes directly to section 56 under section 54(5). Neither route makes section 55 repeat performance a prior condition. Sources: ^{[3] [5] [6] [8]}

Section 51 is not in that statutory repeat-performance and price-reduction sequence. When its conditions are met, it determines the reasonable price the consumer must pay and no more. Sources: ^{[4] [6]}

Repeat performance under section 55

Section 55 defines repeat performance as requiring the trader to perform the service again to the extent needed to bring it into conformity with the contract. Sources: ^[7]

When repeat performance is required, the trader must provide it within a reasonable time, without significant inconvenience to the consumer, and bear the necessary labour and material costs. Sources: ^[7]

The consumer cannot require repeat performance if bringing the service into conformity is impossible. What counts as a reasonable time or significant inconvenience takes account of the nature and purpose of the service. Sources: ^[7]

Price reduction under section 56

Section 56 defines a price reduction as an appropriate reduction in the price, including a refund of anything already paid above the reduced amount. Sources: ^[8]

The reduction can, where appropriate, be the full price; it is not automatically a full refund in every dispute. Sources: ^[8]

Once the trader agrees that a refund is due under section 56, it must be paid without undue delay and within 14 days, using the original payment method unless the consumer expressly agrees otherwise, with no refund fee. Sources: ^[8]

The statutory remedies are not exclusive

For breaches covered by section 54(3) to (5), section 54(6) and (7) preserve any other remedy open in the circumstances, instead of or in addition to the statutory remedy, but not so as to recover twice for the same loss. The list includes damages, recovery of money paid where the consideration has failed, specific performance, specific implement, relying on the breach against the trader's claim, and exercising a right to treat the contract as at an end. Sources: ^[6]

The official explanatory notes therefore state that a consumer does not have to ask for statutory repeat performance if they would prefer to seek damages, for example. Whether an alternative remedy is available depends on the circumstances, and this guide does not tell an individual which remedy to choose. Sources: ^{[6] [10]}

A garage cannot contract out of the core right

Section 57 makes a contract term non-binding to the extent that it excludes the trader's liability under section 49. It also makes a term non-binding to the extent that it excludes or restricts a right or remedy for liability under sections 49 to 52, makes enforcement subject to a restrictive or onerous condition, disadvantages a person for pursuing the right or remedy, or excludes or restricts rules of evidence or procedure. Sources: ^[9]

Where section 57(3) applies, a restriction is also not binding if it would prevent the consumer in an appropriate case from recovering the price paid or the value of other consideration. A term outside section 57's specific bars may still be assessed under the Act's Part 2 unfair-terms rules. Sources: ^{[9] [10]}

Build a written record before escalating

The default England version of Citizens Advice's car-repair guidance recommends negotiating with the garage first and, if the issue is not resolved immediately, writing or emailing so there is a record. Sources: ^[17]

That England guidance suggests that a second opinion or independent report can help establish whether work needs doing again and what is reasonable. Sources: ^[17]

GOV.UK routes consumer help by nation: Citizens Advice for England and Wales, Advice Direct Scotland for Scotland, and Consumerline for Northern Ireland. Sources: ^[18]

Checklist

• Keep the booking, written quote or estimate, invoice and payment record.
• Record the original symptoms, the authorised work and what changed afterwards.
• Write to the garage with the outcome you want and a reasonable response date.
• Ask before spending extra money on recovery, travel or another repair, and keep receipts.
• If direct negotiation fails, check any trade-association or alternative-dispute-resolution route before court.

GOV.UK — consumer rights: choose help for your nation

Important

Do not drive an unsafe vehicle to preserve evidence or return it to a garage; arrange recovery where the reviewed safety conclusion requires it.