Car repair quote: is it mandatory and what must it contain?

By the IZZI DEVIS team · Published 21 September 2026 · 7 min read

What the law says: not always mandatory, but never refusable

The Code de la consommation (the French Consumer Code) reserves the mandatory quote for a closed list of activities: building work and emergency repairs, removals, vehicle rental, optical care, hearing aids, personal services above €100 including VAT per month, mobility and autonomy aids, cosmetic surgery, funeral services. Vehicle servicing and repair are not on that list.

That does not mean you may answer “we'll see”. Article R111-3 of the Code de la consommation provides that any service provider must give a consumer who asks for it, where the price is not determined in advance for a given type of service, “the price of the service or, where an exact price cannot be stated, the calculation method allowing the recipient to check it, or a sufficiently detailed quote”.

In other words: you choose the form (firm price, calculation method, quote), but you cannot leave the customer without a figure. And as soon as the repair gets substantial, the only form that holds up in a disagreement is the written one.

What is genuinely mandatory in a garage

Three obligations exist regardless of any quote, and they are the ones inspections target first.

Price display

The order of 27 March 1987 (arrêté du 27 mars 1987) sets the price advertising rules for servicing, repair, roadworthiness testing, roadside assistance, towing and vehicle storage. The DGCCRF, the French consumer protection authority, reads it as requiring hourly rates including VAT and fixed-price services including VAT to be displayed outside the premises and in the customer reception area.

The repair order

Before any work, the nature of the job must be set out in writing. According to the DGCCRF, the repair order states the date, the customer's identity, the vehicle type and its mileage, the exact nature of the repairs to be carried out, the estimated cost or the method of calculating it, and how long the vehicle will be off the road. A useful point: a signed quote also counts as a repair order.

The invoice above €25

After the work, an invoice including VAT is mandatory for any amount above €25. It details each service and states whether parts are new, used or exchange units.

When to issue a quote even though you don't have to

A quote is not only a legal device: it pins down what both sides agreed on. Four situations where skipping it costs more than writing it.

• The amount is out of the ordinary. Timing belt, clutch, gearbox, engine: few customers take a four-figure total they did not see coming in good spirits.
• The vehicle is off the road for several days. The timeframe is part of what you commit to, so write it down.
• A third party is paying. Insurer, loss adjuster, employer, leasing company: without a quote, the file goes nowhere.
• The customer is comparing. A clear quote, sent quickly, converts better than a price given over the phone and forgotten by the evening.

And if you had to strip parts down to price the job, say so beforehand: fault-finding or dismantling charges cannot be decided after the fact.

What a car repair quote should contain

No French order sets a template specific to car repair. In practice you combine the details common to any quote with those the automotive rules already require on the repair order and the invoice.

Two habits that head off arguments: record the mileage from the quote onwards, and break labour down into time × rate rather than one lump sum, unless it really is a fixed price displayed in reception.

Free or chargeable, valid for how long, binding on whom

Free or chargeable

Nothing requires a car repair quote to be free. The DGCCRF points out that a quote is free in principle, but that the professional may charge for it where there is a call-out or an in-depth study. The condition is simple: the customer must have known beforehand, and the quote must say so.

Validity period

No duration is imposed by law, but the quote must state how long it remains valid. That is what stops you being held to a parts price from six months ago. Once the period has passed, you do not “patch” the quote: you issue a new, dated version.

Who is bound

Legally, a quote is an offer of contract. It binds you firmly on the scope of the work, the cost and the timeframe; the customer is bound only from the moment they accept it. Once accepted, it removes the need to repeat in the invoice every operation already itemised.

From quote to invoice: what has to match

The gap between quote and invoice is one of the most closely watched points, and one of the leading causes of dispute. The rule of conduct fits in three lines.

1. What was accepted is firm. Accepted services and prices are not revised because a part went up in the meantime.
2. Every addition needs an agreement. A fault found during dismantling does not entitle you to add it automatically: you need the customer's agreement, and preferably a record (signed amendment, written message, online approval). A customer may refuse to pay for work that was not on the original repair order.
3. The invoice repeats the detail. Same lines, same quantities, same hourly rate, plus the mileage and the type of parts used.

If the repair turns out to be unnecessary or lighter than expected, charge less: nothing obliges you to reach the amount on the quote.

What IZZI DEVIS does

IZZI DEVIS is voice-driven workshop management software for mechanical, body repair and motorcycle professionals. On the quoting side, here is what it does, factually.

• Vehicle identification from the registration plate, with mileage and VIN stored and carried over onto the documents.
• Quote generated from a dictated diagnosis, with parts, labour at standard times and consumables, drawn from a single price library (parts, hourly rates, labour time schedule).
• Server-side quote numbering, two output formats (customer or insurance assessor), and a plain-language document explaining the work to the customer.
• Validity date handled: an “expired” badge, reminders stopped, and two explicit options — extend the validity at the same prices, or refresh the prices, which creates a new dated version.
• A customer page to accept or decline online, with a notification to the garage; the decision is blocked if the quote has expired or been superseded.
• From the accepted quote to the repair order and job sheet, then to the invoice, with no re-keying; FEC, Factur-X and CSV exports.

What it does not do: it does not replace the price display in your reception area, it does not stand in for your technical judgement, and it takes no payment from consumers. The details are on the garage quote software page, and the full scope of a workshop tool in our guide what is garage management software.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• DGCCRF — Practical sheet “Devis” (quotes) (in French)
• DGCCRF — Motor vehicles: the repair order describes the work to be carried out (in French)
• Légifrance — Article R111-3 of the Code de la consommation (in French)
• Légifrance — Order of 27 March 1987 on price advertising rules for vehicle servicing and repair (in French)
• Service-Public — Mandatory quotation: activities concerned (in French)
• DGCCRF — Survey on the fairness of information in vehicle servicing and repair (4 June 2026) (in French)
• Légifrance — Article L224-67 of the Code de la consommation (circular-economy parts) (in French)

This article is general information, up to date as of 21 September 2026. It does not replace advice from your accountant or legal adviser.