The auto repair shop performed additional repairs without my consent. Do I have to pay for them?

Quick Legal Advice: Not automatically. The decisive factor is, above all, the scope of the repair you agreed upon with the service center. A car repair is a contract for work, and the service center is entitled to payment for the work agreed upon by the parties. If you only ordered a brake pad replacement, the repair shop cannot unilaterally expand the scope of the job—for example, to include replacing the rotors—and then demand payment for them simply because the shop deemed this repair necessary.

If, while working on the vehicle, the service center discovers that the rotors are in poor condition or that the repair cannot be properly performed without additional work, it must notify you of this fact and agree on the additional scope of work with you. The mere fact that the service center considered the additional repair important for the safe operation of the vehicle does not, in and of itself, justify performing any additional work at your expense without your consent. Of course, the content of the order or work order is significant—for example, whether you ordered only a “brake pad replacement” or, more generally, “brake repair,” or whether you authorized additional work up to a certain amount in advance.

A different situation arises if the scope of the ordered work did not change, but it simply turned out that the previously estimated price would be significantly higher. In such a case, pursuant to Section 2612 of the Civil Code, the service center must notify the customer without undue delay and provide a justified new price. If it fails to do so, it has no right to payment of the difference from the original estimate.

Therefore, if you actually ordered only the replacement of brake pads and did not subsequently approve the replacement of brake rotors or any other work, the service provider generally has no contractual claim for payment for those services. Nor is a potential claim based on unjust enrichment automatic in the case of work knowingly not ordered; the Civil Code explicitly provides for situations where someone performs work at their own risk or with the knowledge that they are not obligated to do so. However, it always depends on the specific circumstances.

Therefore, ask the service provider for a work order, an itemized invoice, and proof of when and how you were supposed to approve the additional repairs. If they cannot provide such proof, you can dispute the unordered portion of the invoice in writing. For future reference, it is advisable to include the following directly in the work order: “Any work beyond the agreed-upon scope or price must be approved in advance by the customer.”