Your rights on estimates and repair charges in Ohio
Ohio's motor vehicle repair rule, OAC 109:4-3-13, took effect on March 21, 2026 and applies to a consumer transaction involving repairs or any service upon a motor vehicle. Where the expected cost is more than fifty dollars you choose between a written estimate, an oral estimate and no estimate, and your bill cannot exceed the estimate by ten per cent or more without your approval. It is not a blanket right to a written estimate on every job, and the rule does not squarely address a face-to-face visit at your address rather than at the supplier's place of business.
The fifty dollar line and the three-way choice
OAC 109:4-3-13(A)(1) makes it deceptive for a supplier to fail to give the consumer a form carrying this disclosure: "You have the right to an estimate if the expected cost of repairs or services will be more than fifty dollars. Initial your choice: ___ written estimate ___ oral estimate ___ no estimate". The same form records the date, the supplier's identity, your name and telephone number, the anticipated completion date, and on request the anticipated cost.
The posted-sign wording at (A)(2) says the same thing in plainer words: if the expected cost of a repair or service is more than fifty dollars you have the right to receive a written estimate, an oral estimate, or to choose no estimate before work begins, and your bill will not be higher than the estimate by more than ten per cent unless you approve a larger amount before repairs are finished.
Read that carefully, because it is routinely overstated. The trigger is an anticipated cost above fifty dollars, the choice among the three options is yours rather than automatic, and paragraph (A) is written for face-to-face contact at the supplier's place of business.
The part that is unsettled for mobile work
The rule has a second branch. OAC 109:4-3-13(B) governs a consumer transaction where there has not been face-to-face contact between the consumer and the supplier before the repair or service commences. Where (B) applies, the supplier must inform you on first contact of the right to receive a written or oral estimate at (B)(2), give an oral estimate before commencing where one is requested at (B)(3), and prepare a written estimate, tell you it is available and hand it over on request before commencing at (B)(4).
A mobile visit is often neither case exactly. The contact is face-to-face, but it happens at your location rather than at the supplier's place of business, and the rule does not address that third situation in terms. We do not tell you which branch governs a mobile job, because the text does not say.
What follows practically is the same either way: ask for the estimate before any work starts, ask for it in writing, and get the answer on the phone rather than in the driveway. Nothing stops a supplier giving you a written estimate it is not compelled to give.
Charges that must be disclosed at first contact
OAC 109:4-3-13(C)(6) makes it deceptive to fail to disclose, upon first contact with the consumer, that a charge not directly related to the actual performance of the repair or service will be imposed whether or not repairs or services are performed. That is the paragraph that covers a call-out, dispatch or trip charge, which matters more in mobile work than anywhere else.
OAC 109:4-3-13(C)(7) requires the same first-contact disclosure of the basis on which a towing charge will be imposed where towing will be performed.
Teardown is covered separately at (C)(4): before accepting a vehicle for inspection, repair or service, the supplier must disclose that a charge will be imposed for disassembly, reassembly or partially completed work if you authorize commencement but not completion, and any such charge must be directly related to the actual labor or parts involved.
Once an estimate has been requested, (C)(2) requires the supplier to obtain your oral or written authorization for additional, unforeseen but necessary work whose cost amounts to ten per cent or more of the original estimate, excluding tax. Where the anticipated cost was under fifty dollars and no estimate was given, (C)(3) applies the same authorization duty once the total will cross fifty dollars.
What you get when the work is done
OAC 109:4-3-13(C)(12) entitles you to a written itemized list of the repairs performed or services rendered, including the parts or materials and a statement of whether they are used, remanufactured or rebuilt if not new, their cost to you, the amount charged for labor, and the identity of the individual who performed the work.
Under (C)(13) your replaced parts must be tendered back to you unless a disclosed exception applies. Under (C)(16) the supplier must disclose work sublet to somebody else where it disclaims warranty on that work, and under (C)(17) it must disclose the use of remanufactured, rebuilt or used parts before doing the work.
What a supplier may not do
OAC 109:4-3-13(C)(5) makes it deceptive to charge for any repair or service the consumer has not authorized, and (C)(1) prohibits conditioning service on a waiver of these rights. A signature giving away the estimate rules is not the price of getting your car looked at.
Behind the rule sits ORC 1345.02(A): no supplier shall commit an unfair or deceptive act or practice in connection with a consumer transaction, and it applies whether the act occurs before, during or after the transaction.
Complaints submitted about Ohio businesses can be searched at https://complaintsummary.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/. It is worth looking at before you book as well as after something goes wrong.
Browse the directory of providers. Each listing shows its verification status and the date it was last checked, so you can see how current the information is before you reach out.