Unhappy with a car repair? Refunds, your rights and the Disputes Tribunal

Your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act

When you pay a business to repair your car for personal use, the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (CGA) automatically gives you four guarantees about the service:

Parts fitted during the repair are covered too. The guarantees for goods, including acceptable quality, apply to parts and materials whether or not they are supplied as part of a service.

A repairer can’t sign you out of these rights. Any term in a job sheet or terms and conditions that tries to remove them doesn’t apply to a consumer. The exception is a car used for business, where both sides are in trade and have agreed in writing to contract out.

Step 1: raise it with the repairer

Go back to the workshop as soon as you notice the problem. Waiting a long time can weaken your position. Explain what is wrong, and give them the chance to fix it: under the CGA, the first remedy for a service that can be put right is to ask the repairer to put it right within a reasonable time.

What happens next depends on their response and how serious the problem is:

A failure is “substantial” if, for example, a reasonable person who knew about the problem wouldn’t have paid for the repair, or the result is unsafe.

Disputes about the bill

A quote is an offer to do the job for a fixed price. Once you accept it, the repairer can’t charge more unless you agree to extra work. An estimate is a best guess, and official guidance says the final bill should generally be within 10–15% of it. If the workshop did extra work you didn’t agree to, you may not have to pay for it. And if no price was agreed at all, you only have to pay a reasonable one.

Keep a record

Keep the quote, the invoice, photos of the problem, any messages and a note of dates and conversations. If you get a second opinion from another workshop, ask for it in writing.

Step 2: put your complaint in writing

If talking doesn’t sort it out, write to the business. Consumer Protection, part of MBIE, publishes free complaint letter templates, including one for faulty services. A good complaint letter:

• fits on one page and sticks to the facts
• says what work was done, when, and what is wrong with it
• says what you want: the problem fixed, a refund, or the cost of having it fixed elsewhere
• gives a reasonable date to reply by
• includes copies, never originals, of the invoice and other evidence

If the workshop is a member of the Motor Trade Association (MTA), you can also ask the MTA about its free mediation service.

Step 3: take it to the Disputes Tribunal

If the repairer still won’t put things right, you can claim a car repair refund, the cost of having the work fixed elsewhere, or compensation through the Disputes Tribunal. Claims about whether work was done properly, and about how much was charged for it, are exactly the kind of case it hears.

Claim limit and fees

Since 24 January 2026 the tribunal can hear claims of up to $60,000. The filing fee depends on how much you are claiming:

You usually need to make a claim within six years of the event that caused the dispute.

How to make a claim

1. Apply online or on paper. Online is quickest. A paper claim form (three copies) can be posted or taken to a District Court.
2. Give the business’s legal name. Check the name on the invoice or the Companies Register, not just the trading name on the sign.
3. Say how much you are claiming and why, and what you have already done to try to settle it.
4. Attach your evidence: the quote, invoice, photos, letters and any second opinion.

The hearing

Hearings are private and run by a referee, not a judge. The referee first tries to help both sides reach an agreement. If you can’t agree, the referee decides the case on its merits, having regard to the law. Lawyers can’t represent either side. Some hearings are held by phone or video.

What the tribunal can order

The referee can order the repairer to pay you money, to do work, or to return property, or can decide that you don’t owe some or all of a disputed bill. Decisions are final and binding. You can apply for a rehearing within 20 working days, but not just because you disagree with the result, and an appeal to the District Court within 20 working days is only possible if the hearing was conducted unfairly.

If the garage won’t give your car back

A repairer is generally entitled to hold on to a car until the bill for the work on it is paid. If the bill stays unpaid for two months or more after it was due, the law lets the repairer sell the car at auction after giving the owner at least a week’s notice and advertising locally.

If you have paid the price you agreed or were quoted, the garage can’t keep the car. If the amount is in dispute, official guidance suggests paying what you think is reasonable to get the car back and asking the Disputes Tribunal to decide whether you owe the rest.

How to avoid a dispute in the first place

Most car repair disputes come down to a misunderstanding about what was agreed. Transparent car repair pricing protects both you and the workshop:

• ask for a written quote, not just an estimate, for anything significant
• make sure the quote lists parts, labour time, the hourly rate and GST
• tell the workshop to call you before doing any work that isn’t on the quote
• describe the fault clearly, and say what result you expect
• ask for the old parts back, so you can see what was replaced
• check the invoice against the quote before you pay

Our guide to getting a fair repair quote covers this step by step.

Official sources

• Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, ss 15, 28–32, 36, 43 (New Zealand Legislation)
• Disputes Tribunal Act 1988 (New Zealand Legislation)
• Disputes Tribunal: forms and fees and how to make a claim
• Consumer Protection: fixing your car and quotes and estimates (MBIE)
• Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017, ss 341–342, repairers’ power of sale
• Citizens Advice Bureau, 0800 367 222