The Repair Estimate

OAC 109:4-3-13 — the choice you are owed, and the ten per cent

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.

Over twenty five dollars, the shop owes you a choice, not a quote. Where the expected cost is more than twenty five 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.

OAC 109:4-3-13

Ten per cent is the ceiling over the estimate. The bill will not exceed the estimate by more than ten per cent 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.

OAC 109:4-3-13

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.

OAC 109:4-3-13

The moment	What the rule requires
Expected cost over twenty five dollars	The consumer chooses written, oral or no estimate
A written estimate requested	A bona fide effort at the initial face to face contact
Before work starts	The written estimate is given to the consumer
The final bill	Not more than ten per cent over the estimate
Going above that	Approval from the consumer before the repairs are finished

OAC 109:4-3-13

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.

OAC 109:4-3-13

Sources for this section (2)

OAC 109:4-3-13 — Motor vehicle repairs or services, the estimate choice and the ten per cent
ORC 1345.02 — Unfair or deceptive acts and practices in a consumer transaction

Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Talk to a licensed Ohio attorney about your situation.

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