Car Repair Scams: Essential Tips and Red Flags

Most of us know precious little about automotive mechanics, which leaves many of us feeling vulnerable when we need to have our car repaired. This article focuses on some of the major deceptive repair shop practices, how they work and what to look for before authorizing repairs.

Deceptive Car Repair Practices

Most auto repair shops treat their customers honestly, but there are outliers. The fact is there are untrustworthy repair shop mechanics who may mislead you into believing your vehicle requires extensive or expensive repairs. Sadly, some unscrupulous mechanics use scare tactics on older adults by representing to them their vehicle needs urgent repairs.

Protect Yourself By Taking Knowledgable People With You

One way to protect yourself is to ask people you know, such as family and friends, to come with you – especially if they have automotive knowledge.

Look Out For The Following Car Repair Scams:

• The shop waits until your car is up on the lift and partially disassembled before you approve the repairs. The problem is that you get pressured into agreeing to the overpriced repairs and parts. The risk, of course, is that the shop will do the reassembly, and the mechanical problems will not only persist but suddenly worsen, forcing you back to the shop for the original repair. Sometimes the repair shop will insist you pay a reassembly fee which ironically calculates out to the same inflated price they wanted you to pay for the initial repair.

• The shop checks your oil and shows you dirty oil with so-called metal filings that they claim might damage the engine. The next thing you know, they are recommending you replace the transmission. The deception here lies in that virtually all transmissions have dirty oil containing trace amounts of dirt and metal filings. This is normal and not necessarily a sign that you need a new transmission. If the shop ends up rebuilding your transmission, don’t be surprised if they use some of the old seals and parts rather than installing new ones.

• The shop commences repair work on your car without first obtaining your written approval to perform the work and then ends up charging you for repair based on your tentative consensus of the likely problem, but without giving the shop your authorization to perform the job.

• The shop gives you a verbal estimate of the repair cost, then charges a higher price when they “discover” other repairs that should be made as soon as possible for safety reasons.

• The shop tells you that the repair will be finished by a specific date to get the work, but then fails to have the repair completed by that day.

• The shop tells you that certain repairs should be made as soon as possible when there is no real urgency. There is a difference between required repairs and services that can be pushed down the road.

• The shop fails to disclose the reassembly or inspection charges before starting repair work.

• The shop advertises it provides “Free Towing” and then requires you to make all your repairs at their shop to qualify for the free tow.

• The shop tells you that the shop will provide a free or discounted rental car during repairs and then have you pay for the rental charges at the so-called discounted price.

• The shop tells you that the shop will provide repair services under the vehicle’s extended warranty and then charge you for repair work covered by the warranty.

Get Help – Consumer Lawyers

Have Further Questions?

If you have questions or require additional information about your specific legal rights, we recommend you contact and consult with an online Consumer Rights Lawyer about your specific issues.