6 Ways To Protect Your Rights When Undergoing Car Repairs

When your car breaks down, it might seem like the end of the world. You may have to bring your traveling plans to a halt, start planning for bus fares, and worse still, budget for the possibly expensive repair costs. To add to the frustrations, the thought of getting an incompetent mechanic working on your vehicle will undoubtedly make you uneasy. 

However, since you’ll still require mechanic services, you must know the rights that the mechanic should accord you. With this knowledge, you’ll know what to expect from the mechanic, and how to safeguard yourself from the possibility of exploitation. This article focuses on how you can protect these rights so that you enjoy quality expert mechanic services. Read on to find out more. 

1. Research On Good Referrals

If it’s the first time your vehicle is experiencing mechanical failure, you may not know where to seek good mechanical services. In another case, you may have visited several repair garages, but you receive shoddy services and your car leaves the mechanic shop worse than when it arrived. 

To solve your problem, you could try asking reliable sources to refer you to a dependable mechanic. Alternatively, you can do some digging of your own online for a mechanic shop that has the best customer reviews.

Most complaints from dissatisfied customers arise because of mechanic laxity. On the other hand, good reviews on a mechanic’s profile indicate his thoroughness when attending to the customer’s vehicles. Therefore, to enjoy the right of good services, find a reliable mechanic to repair your car.

2. Sue A Sloppy Mechanic

As you take your vehicle to the repair shop, you expect a remedy for the malfunction. However, in some cases, the mechanic may do shoddy repair work on it, which may result in further damages to the car or injury upon yourself or other people. In this case, you have the right to sue them for mechanic negligence. You should contact your car accident lawyer to help you with the legal formalities.

By law, the mechanic will be faced with several compensation claims, including:

• Repair costs incurred
• Vehicle disuse, including any rental fees
• Vehicle replacement in case the car was completely ruined
• Medical expenses and lost wages if injuries occur
• Fatal illness and funeral costs if wrongful deaths occur
• Penalty charges in fraudulent cases

3. Get Services From Registered Mechanics

Before a mechanic sets up their business, they should register with the governmental motor vehicle authority, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in the United States. The registration process will ensure that the mechanic meets all the required standards for operation. Upon a satisfactory review by the authority, the mechanic is issued with a license to run the business. 

Therefore, for high-standard services, ensure that you go to a registered mechanic. You can comfortably let them fix your car without having to constantly monitor them. Should you choose to work with unregistered and unqualified mechanics, failure to watch their every move may mean you get substandard services.

4. Keep The Vehicle Service Records

Your mechanic should keep detailed records of the services they carry out on your car. Some of these records include:

• Purchase receipts for any car part you bought
• Service invoices and receipts
• Warranties
• Service estimates

Despite the record-keeping done by the mechanic; you should also make a point of keeping copies for yourself in a file. You shouldn’t undervalue any record of your vehicle maintenance, even if it’s just a simple headlight inspection.

The records are an indication that you constantly maintain your car, and this may affect the car’s value in case you want to sell it in the future. Additionally, in case of a future lawsuit against your mechanic, these records will act as evidence.

5. Get Your Replaced Parts Back

When you visit a garage for car part replacement, it’s your right to ask for and be given the damaged parts. This is due to the fact that some mechanics may be dishonest, and deceive you into believing that a car part is faulty and needs replacement. You’ll thus have to buy a new component, and they’ll get to keep the old one, which wasn’t faulty in the first place.

Therefore, before authorizing a replacement, ask for the old part and inspect it to ascertain whether or not it’s faulty. And if you aren’t versed with car parts, keep it as you may require it in the future. It could be used as evidence in case you need to take legal action against the mechanic. Keeping your replaced parts is a reasonable measure that ensures transparency between you and your mechanic. 

6. Take Notes

Ensure that you’re well informed about all the repair operations on your car. This is more so if you remotely give the work authorization. For instance, via phone or online communications. Take notes of the time, date, mechanic’s name, charges, and other relevant information. This information might come in handy in the future as it’ll prevent confusion or exploitation, as you’ll have a record of the conditions surrounding the services rendered on your vehicle and the handling expert. 

Conclusion

To protect yourself and your car from exploitation, you must know your auto rights. With the knowledge of these rights, you can protect yourself from abuse that could occur from a mechanic, such as fraud, faulty work, or negligence. 

Some ways to protect your rights from exploitation by mechanics include: researching good referrals, getting services from registered mechanics, keeping service records, getting your replaced services back, and taking notes on the services. If you implement these measures, you’ll steer clear from mechanic negligence, and thus, your car will receive the care it deserves.