The Repair Estimate
OAC 109:4-3-13 — the choice you are owed, and the ten percent
Motor vehicle repair is governed by a rule under the consumer sales practices act rather than by a statute of its own, and the rule is unusually concrete about what happens before any work starts.
Who handles this in Ohio: Ohio Attorney General, Consumer Protection Section and Ohio State Bar Association lawyer referral; and legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Ohio directory.
Over fifty dollars, the shop owes you a choice, not a quote. Where the expected cost is more than fifty dollars, the consumer is entitled to choose: a written estimate, an oral estimate, or no estimate. The shop provides a form for that choice. A shop that simply starts work without offering the choice has skipped a step the rule requires, and most customers have never been told the step exists.
Ten percent is the ceiling over the estimate. The bill will not exceed the estimate by more than ten percent unless the consumer approves a larger amount before the repairs are finished. Before finished is the operative timing. Approval sought after the work is done is not the approval the rule contemplates.
Where a consumer asks for a written estimate, the shop makes a bona fide effort to provide it during the initial face to face contact, and gives it to the consumer before commencing the repair or service. A written estimate handed over with the finished car is not a written estimate for the purposes of the rule.
| The moment | What the rule requires |
|---|---|
| The momentExpected cost over fifty dollars | What the rule requiresThe consumer chooses written, oral or no estimate |
| The momentA written estimate requested | What the rule requiresA bona fide effort at the initial face to face contact |
| The momentBefore work starts | What the rule requiresThe written estimate is given to the consumer |
| The momentThe final bill | What the rule requiresNot more than ten percent over the estimate |
| The momentGoing above that | What the rule requiresApproval from the consumer before the repairs are finished |
A rule made under the consumer sales practices act matters because of what sits behind it. A violation of a rule made under that act is the kind of conduct the act itself addresses, with the remedies the act carries, rather than being a matter of shop policy or of goodwill.
The full rule covers more than is on this page, including record keeping, the return of replaced parts, and disclosures about used or rebuilt parts, and those are not reproduced here. New motor vehicle warranty work is covered by a different rule. What a particular remedy is worth, and whether a shop's conduct breached the rule, are questions for a licensed Ohio attorney, and the Ohio Attorney General's consumer protection section takes complaints about motor vehicle repair.
Sources for this section (2)
- OAC 109:4-3-13 — Motor vehicle repairs or services, the estimate choice and the ten percent
- ORC 1345.02 — Unfair or deceptive acts and practices in a consumer transaction
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Ohio attorney.