E 1.0
Seven steps, two of them yours
Nothing is done to your car that you did not approve, and a number that needs to grow needs approving again. That is the whole of it, and it is worth being boring about.
There are two signatures in the list below and they are the point of the whole page.
The first authorizes diagnosis and nothing else. At that moment you have committed to $149 and to no repair at all, which means you can stop there with a known cost and a written finding.
The second authorizes the repair, at a number you have read, for an operation that is named on paper. Between those two signatures you are not exposed, and that is deliberate: the thing people are actually afraid of is being committed to an amount they never agreed to.
E 2.0 The repair order
From write-up to hand-back
-
R1
Write-up
You describe the symptom in your own words. When it happens, how long it has been going on, whether it changes with speed, temperature, braking or turning. We write that down as you said it rather than translating it, because the translation is where information gets lost. This is also the moment to ask for your old parts back.
10 min -
R2Your signature
Authorize diagnosis
You approve the diagnostic charge and nothing else. Your total exposure at this point is $149. Some jobs skip this step entirely — an oil change or a known interval service does not need diagnosing — and where that is the case we go straight to an estimate.
$149 -
R3
Diagnosis
Codes read, live data and freeze-frame reviewed, and the mechanical and electrical testing the symptom actually calls for. It ends with a named fault and the evidence for it, not a suspicion. If the fault is intermittent and will not present, you are told exactly what was ruled out rather than being sold a guess.
1–3 hr -
R4Your signature
Written estimate
The operation named, the flat-rate time shown, the parts grade stated, and the total, with shop supplies and tax itemised rather than folded in. You authorize it, or you do not. If you do not, you pay the diagnostic charge, take the written finding and the car, and owe nothing further — including to another shop, if you would rather use it there.
same day -
R5
The repair
Done to the authorized estimate. If something is found once the car is apart that changes the number — a seized fastener that breaks, a second worn component only visible now — work stops and you get a second call. A revised estimate is authorized separately. You will never find out on the invoice.
as estimated -
R6
Quality control
The repair is verified, and where the fault was something you noticed while driving, the car is road-tested for that specific symptom. A brake job is not finished when the wheels go back on, and a misfire repair is not finished until the engine has been run under the conditions that produced it.
30 min -
R7
Hand-back
The invoice matches the authorized estimate. You get the written finding, the warranty term in months and miles, and your old parts if you asked at write-up. If the invoice does not match, do not pay it — ask, because something has gone wrong on our side.
warranty
Estimate and authorization, in detail · Parts grades and warranty
E 3.0 Practicalities
While the car is with us
Waiting or leaving it. There is a waiting area with wi-fi for short jobs, and a shuttle if you would rather not sit. For anything involving diagnosis, leaving the car is usually faster for everyone.
How long. An interval service or a brake job is generally a same-day job. Diagnosis plus a repair frequently is too, but it depends on parts availability, and we will tell you at R2 rather than at five o’clock.
Being reachable. The one thing that slows a repair down more than anything is not being able to reach you at R4. A car cannot be worked on while it is waiting for an authorization, and it is occupying a lift the whole time. Give us the number you will actually answer.
Parts. Most common parts are same-day. Special order is next-day or longer, and where that applies it is on the estimate before you authorize it, not discovered afterwards.
- After R1
- Nothing
- After R2
- $149 and no more
- After R3
- $149 and no more
- After R4
- The figure you authorized
- Mid-repair
- Still the figure you authorized
- A change
- Needs a second authorization first
At no point in this list are you exposed to an amount you have not read and approved. If that ever stops being true, it is our mistake and you should say so before you pay.
Ask at write-up
- For your old parts back, if you want them.
- What parts grades are available and what each costs.
- For a call before any revision, at any amount.
- What the warranty term will be on the work.
Start at step one
Telephone with the year, make, model and what it is doing. We will give you a realistic range before the car arrives, and the written number once it is here.
Arlington Motor Company, Inc. · 10939 Atlantic Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32225