No, a Florida repair shop may not hold your car over charges you never approved

No. A Florida repair shop may not keep your car because you refuse to pay for repairs you never approved, or for charges above your estimate that the law does not allow.

TL;DR:Florida's Motor Vehicle Repair Act protects you when a shop works on your car. If a repair will cost more than $150, the shop must give you a written estimate first, unless you waive it. The shop needs your OK before the bill goes more than a set amount over the estimate. It may not keep your car because you refuse to pay for work you never approved. You can also get the car back by posting a bond with the court while you dispute the bill.

Florida's law on car repair shops is the Florida Motor Vehicle Repair Act. It is in Sections 559.901 to 559.9221, Florida Statutes. It covers more than used cars. It applies to cars, trucks, motorcycles, scooters, and RVs, new or old. This article explains what Florida's law says when a shop is holding your car. If you live outside Florida, your state's rules may differ.

Can a mechanic hold your car in Florida?

Sometimes, but not over charges you never approved. Florida's law lets a shop claim a lien on a car for work it did. A lien is a legal claim on the car until a bill is paid. But the Repair Act limits that claim. It is against the law for a shop to refuse to return your car because you will not pay for repairs you never approved. The same is true for charges over the estimate beyond what the law allows. A shop that has not mostly followed the Repair Act also may not hold your car under a lien.

People search for this as a “mechanic holding my car hostage.” The law does not use that phrase. It uses the rules below.

Does the shop need to give you an estimate?

Yes, if the work will cost more than $150. The shop must give you a written repair estimate before it does any repair or even any diagnostic work. A written repair estimate is a form that lists the expected cost. The shop must also give you a short form where you choose whether you want the written estimate.

You can waive the estimate in writing. If you drop the car off when the shop is closed, the law treats that as a partial waiver. Even then, once the shop finds out what is wrong, it must contact you about the cost.

This rule covers many kinds of shops. It includes dealers, garages, gas stations, body shops, brake and muffler shops, glass shops, and mobile mechanics. A few are left out, such as government shops.

How much over the estimate can the shop charge?

Not much without your OK. If the bill will go more than $10 or 10 percent over the written estimate, whichever is greater, the shop must contact you first. Without your OK, the extra can never be more than $50. You then tell the shop to go ahead, change the order, or cancel it. You can do that out loud or in writing.

Here is an example. On a $1,000 estimate, 10 percent is $100. But the cap is $50. So the shop needs your OK before the bill goes over $1,050.

You also have a right to see the old parts the shop took off your car. In some cases you can have them returned. You must ask for this when you approve the work.

How can you get your car back while you dispute the bill?

Florida's law gives you a way to get your car back without first winning the dispute. You can file a cash or surety bond with the clerk of court in the circuit where the dispute happened. A surety bond is a bond from a bonding company. The bond is for the amount on the bill, plus any storage charges, minus what you already paid.

You do not have to file a lawsuit to post the bond. Once you post it, the clerk issues a notice to the shop telling it to release your car. The shop then has 60 days to sue to collect on the bond. If it does not, the clerk releases the bond. A shop that refuses to release the car after getting the notice commits a crime under Florida law.

This process applies to repair work done under a written repair estimate. The law also has a warning built in. A person who stops payment on a credit card charge or a check for the bill loses the use of this bond process.

Can the shop sell your car?

Florida's law lets a shop sell a car to collect a lien for repair work, but only after many steps. One of them is time. A shop may not sell the car earlier than 60 days after it finished the repair work.

There is also a rule on storage fees. Storage charges may not start until 3 working days after the shop tells you the work is done.

Florida's law also protects the shop. Taking the car from the shop without paying, and without the shop's written OK, is a crime if the person means to cheat the shop. Stopping payment on a check after taking the car counts as evidence of that intent.

What if the shop breaks these rules?

A customer harmed by a shop that breaks the Repair Act can file a lawsuit. The winner of that lawsuit may get damages, court costs, and legal fees. The law calls them reasonable attorney's fees. That works both ways. If the shop wins, it may be the one awarded fees. A customer can also ask a court to order the shop to stop.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services handles complaints about repair shops.

For more Florida guides, see all of our used car guides. You may also want to read why odometer rollback is illegal in Florida.

What this article does not cover

This article explains when a Florida repair shop may hold your car. It leaves some things out on purpose:

• The full lien sale process beyond the 60-day rule.
• Title, DMV, and lien records questions.
• Whether the repair was done well, and warranty claims.
• Whether a shop charged too much for parts or labor.
• Lemon law claims and dealer sales.

It also does not say whether what is happening to you breaks the law. It describes the rules.

Frequently asked questions

Educational only. Not legal advice.

Nothing here is legal services or advice about your situation. I am not available to represent you or to review your case. Reading this article does not create an attorney-client, fiduciary, or advisory relationship. Used-car laws, lemon laws, and consumer-protection statutes vary by state. Verify every rule, deadline, and remedy against the law where you live. If you have a problem like the one described above, the strongest protection is a consumer-protection attorney licensed in your state. Many consumer-protection statutes include fee-shifting and damages multipliers, which often makes representation affordable.