AUTO REPAIR WARRANTY TEMPLATE

What an auto repair warranty actually promises

Every repair carries two warranties whether you write them down or not. The part has one from whoever made it, and the work has one from you. A written shop warranty joins the two into a single promise the customer can read: if what we installed, or the way we installed it, fails inside this window, we put it right at no charge. A defective part can go back to your supplier under its own terms. A workmanship failure is yours alone.

That is why the paper matters more than the number. A long term with no exclusions invites claims for worn pads and a customer’s own parts. A short term with a vague claim process reads as a shop with something to hide. The sheet above starts from a common independent-shop shape and makes every line editable, so what prints is what you will honour.

Where federal warranty law comes in

The federal law is the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, and the FTC’s guide for businesses is direct about its reach: “the Act does not apply to warranties on services. Only warranties on goods are covered.” A labor-only promise sits outside it. But the same guide adds that if your warranty “covers both the parts provided for a repair and the workmanship in making that repair,” the Act does apply to you. A parts-and-labor shop warranty is exactly that.

Two cost lines decide which rules bite. The guide says the full-or-limited title applies to written warranties on consumer products costing more than $10, and the disclosure and pre-sale availability rules to those costing more than $15. Most parts on a repair order clear both.

Full or limited

A written warranty has to be titled one or the other. It can only be called full if it meets every standard below, so a policy that limits implied warranties, covers only the original customer, or excludes towing is a limited warranty, and should say so. The sheet is titled that way for that reason.

What the written terms must disclose

The FTC’s Disclosure Rule, 16 CFR 701.3, lists what has to appear “in a single document in simple and readily understood language.” Here is each item and the block of the sheet that carries it. Item (a)(6) applies only if you use a formal dispute-settlement program, which most shops do not.

What state repair laws add

State auto repair acts are where the warranty meets the estimate. Florida requires both the written estimate and the invoice to carry “a statement indicating what, if anything, is guaranteed in connection with the repair work and the time and mileage period for which the guarantee is effective” (s. 559.905 and s. 559.911). Washington requires a shop to hand over a copy of any express warranty covering the repair on request (RCW 46.71.051). Pennsylvania treats failing to fix, at no charge, work that was not done “in a skilled and workmanlike manner” as a deceptive practice when the customer complains promptly (37 Pa. Code § 301.5(7)), so a workmanship duty exists there even before you write one down.

The full state-by-state picture for estimates, authorisation and invoices is in the guide to written estimate laws. Put your warranty sentence on the estimate as well as the invoice, and on the repair order the customer signs.

How to set your terms

Start from your parts supplier, not from a competitor’s sign. Your labor warranty should not outrun the parts warranty behind it, or every failure in the gap is a part you buy twice. If you fit both OEM and aftermarket parts, the term can differ by line, and the invoice is the place to note it.

• Term. The seed is 12 months or 12,000 miles, the same terms the BaySlip invoice template prints. Raise it only if your comeback rate and your supplier’s terms support it.
• Customer-supplied parts. Exclude the part and the labor to redo it. That is the claim you cannot recover from anyone.
• Wear items. Say that pads, blades and filters are covered for defects, not for being used up.
• Nationwide network. If your parts program gives you a network warranty, switch it on and print the network’s own claims number and radius. If you do not belong to one, leave it off and claims come back to your bay.
• Remanufactured units. A reman alternator often carries different supplier terms from a new one. Match your term to the part on the line.

Worked example: a front brake comeback

A customer had front pads and rotors replaced. Seven months and 6,800 miles later they call about a pulsing pedal. Here is the claim run against the seed policy.

Price the original job on the brake job cost calculator, and keep the comeback labor visible on the invoice even at $0. A comeback that never reaches the paperwork never reaches your efficiency numbers either.