Written Estimates, Itemized Invoices, the Sign: What Quebec Law Requires From Auto Repair Shops

A customer picks up their car, looks at the invoice, and asks why nobody showed them an estimate before the work started. For a garage, mechanic or body shop in Quebec, the answer isn't a judgment call: it's set out in the Consumer Protection Act, and it kicks in as soon as a car or motorcycle repair crosses specific dollar thresholds.

These obligations aren't new, but they get misapplied often: an estimate given over the phone instead of in writing, an invoice that doesn't break out the parts, a homemade sign instead of the one sold by Publications du Québec. Here is what the law actually requires.

When a written estimate becomes mandatory

Once a repair on a car or motorcycle is likely to cost more than $100, you must give the customer a written estimate before starting the work. The estimate has to cover the full scope of the job, not just part of it, and the customer has to accept it before you touch the vehicle.

If you charge for the estimate itself, you have to state that price before doing it. If you don't, the estimate is free, no matter how long it took you.

Once the estimate is accepted, you cannot bill more than the amount it states for the work listed on it. Anything extra needs the customer's authorization. That authorization can be given by phone, but you then have to log it yourself on your copy of the estimate: the name of the person who authorized it, the number you called, and the date and time of the call.

Another point that causes friction at the counter: if you never gave a written estimate before the work, or if the customer already paid the amount the accepted estimate stated, you cannot hold onto the vehicle to demand a higher amount. Holding it under those conditions is not a bargaining chip, it's a breach of the law.

Below $100, the written estimate requirement doesn't apply. Below $50, none of the protections in this section apply at all. There is also a specific exception: installing tires or a battery is not covered by these rules when the purchase and the installation are billed together on the same invoice.

What the itemized invoice has to include

Once a repair goes over $50, a plain receipt is no longer enough. The law sets out what the invoice must contain:

• the customer's name and address, and the garage's
• the vehicle's make, model and licence plate number
• the date the vehicle was returned to the customer and the odometer reading at that point
• a description of the repairs performed
• each part installed, stating whether it's new, used, rebuilt or reconditioned, and its price
• the number of labour hours billed, the hourly rate, and the total labour cost
• any fees required under federal or provincial law

A garage already issuing invoices through point-of-sale software probably has most of these fields by default. The one to check first is the new, used, rebuilt or reconditioned label on each part. It's the detail most often missing.

The sign the law requires you to post

A garage, mechanic or body shop has to post a sign, somewhere customers can clearly see it, informing them of their rights and the merchant's obligations around repairs. That sign is purchased from Publications du Québec. You cannot replace it with a homemade sign, or simply restate its content in your own words.

The sign summarizes the same thresholds above: a written estimate past $100, an itemized invoice past $50, and returning replaced parts if the customer asked for them when they dropped off the vehicle.

The warranty that applies without the customer asking for it

Any repair over $50 on a car carries a warranty of three months or 5,000 kilometres, whichever comes first. This warranty exists by law. You don't have to offer it, the customer doesn't have to request it in writing, and you cannot remove it by leaving it off your invoice.

It covers the repair itself, not misuse of the vehicle afterward. If the same problem comes back within that window, the burden is on you to show the cause was different, not on the customer to prove your work was at fault.

What to check this week

Pull out your estimate template and your invoice format, and compare them against the list above rather than against counter habit. Check your sign too: if it's several years old or someone redid it in house, replace it with the current version sold by Publications du Québec.