When you take your vehicle to a garage for a routine service or for faults to be repaired you are making a legally binding contract, which is covered by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. This law gives you rights and remedies against the trader if the service you receive is below the standard you are entitled to expect and if any parts fitted as part of the service or repair fail to meet your expectations, possibly because they are faulty.
Service (covers vehicle repairs and routine servicing); key rights:
- the service must be carried out with reasonable care and skill. A trader must carry out the service to the same or similar standard to that which is considered acceptable within the vehicle repair industry
- information about a trader or service is legally binding. Anything said or written down by a trader (or someone acting on their behalf) about themselves or the service forms part of the contract. Any information you take into consideration before you agree the contract or if you make a decision about the service after the contract is made will also form part of the contract
- reasonable price to be paid for a service. You are required to pay only a 'reasonable' price for the service that a trader provides unless the price (or the way in which the price is worked out) is fixed as part of the contract
- the service must be carried out within a reasonable time. Sometimes the contract will fix the time that a service must be completed by. If the time has not been fixed then the service must be completed 'within a reasonable time'
Service (covers vehicle repairs and routine servicing); key remedies:
- right to repeat performance. If you are dissatisfied with the way your vehicle has been repaired or serviced (because it has not been carried out with reasonable care and skill or the trader failed to complete the work in line with information they gave you beforehand) then they must perform the service again - for example, carry out a further repair. This should be carried out within a reasonable time, without significant inconvenience and at no cost to you
- right to a price reduction. If repeat performance of the repair or service fails to resolve the problem (perhaps it is impossible or it cannot be carried out within a reasonable time or without causing you significant inconvenience) then you are entitled to a price reduction, which can be as much as a full refund
See 'Supply of services: your consumer rights' for more information.
Goods, such as parts, oil or accessories, supplied during the repair or service; key rights:
- the trader must have the right to supply the goods to you. If they did not, perhaps they did not actually own them and could not therefore sell them to you. If that is the case then you have a legal remedy
- the goods must be of satisfactory quality. The description, price, condition of the goods, fitness for purpose, appearance and finish, safety, durability and freedom from minor defects are all important factors when considering quality. Public statements, such as those in advertising or on labelling, made by the trader, the producer or their representative about the goods must be accurate and can also be taken into account when deciding if the goods are of satisfactory quality
- if you make a trader aware that you want the goods to be fit for a particular purpose, even if it is something that they are not usually supplied for, then you have the right to expect they are fit for that purpose
- you have the right to expect that the goods are as described. For example, if a part is described as being made by a particular manufacturer, that is what should be supplied
- if you see or examine a sample, then the goods must match the sample. For example, if you saw a sample tyre, then the tyres fitted to your vehicle must match
- if you see or examine a model then the goods must match the model
Goods, such as parts, oil or accessories, supplied during the repair or service; key remedies:
- short term right to reject the goods and obtain a full refund
- right to a repair or replacement
- right to a price reduction or a final right to reject the goods
The 'Sale and supply of goods: your consumer rights' guide gives more information.
If you pay for the vehicle repair or service by credit card and if the work costs more than £100 but less than £30,000, you are protected by the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Section 75 of the Act makes the card provider as responsible as the trader for a breach of contract or a misrepresentation. You are entitled to take action against the trader, the card provider or both. This does not apply to charge cards or debit cards.
If you use a debit card to pay for the vehicle repair or service or if you use a credit card and the price of the work is less that £100 (your rights under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 would not apply) you may be able to take advantage of the chargeback scheme. Chargeback is the term used by card providers for reclaiming a card payment from the trader's bank. If you can provide evidence of a breach of contract - for example, if the repair is substandard or the trader has ceased trading - you can ask your card provider to attempt to recover the payment. Check with your card provider as to how the scheme rules apply to your card and what the time limit is for making a claim.
The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 prohibit commercial practices that are unfair to consumers. If a trader misleads you (for example, charging you for work it has not done, fitting inferior parts when you only agreed to have a particular manufacturer's parts, or fitting second-hand parts and claiming they are new) or engages in aggressive commercial practices, they may be in breach of the Regulations. You should report unfair practices to the Citizens Advice consumer service for referral to trading standards.
If you enter a contract because a trader misled you or because the trader used an aggressive commercial practice, the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 give you rights to redress: the right to unwind the contract, the right to a discount and the right to damages. The 'Misleading and aggressive practices: rights to redress' guide gives more information.
Under the Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012, which were amended by the Payment Services Regulations 2017, traders are banned from imposing surcharges on consumers for using the following payment methods:
- credit, debit or charge cards
- e-payment services such as Paypal
- Apple pay, Android pay or other similar payment methods