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Email templates · Auto repair shop

How to email a repair shop to ask if the diagnostic fee applies to the repair

You are about to drop off a car for a warning light or a problem that comes and goes, and the shop will charge a diagnostic fee: a set amount, often equal to an hour or so of labor, for the time it takes to find out what is wrong. Some shops credit that fee toward the repair if you approve the work; others charge it on top. Some cap it at an hour and call you before going further; others keep going. Nobody volunteers this, and the difference can be a hundred dollars or more on the final bill. Asking by email before you book means the policy is in writing when the invoice arrives, and it lets you compare two or three shops on the same question without visiting any of them.

Before you send

  • The car's year, make, model and mileage, and a one-sentence description of the symptom. If you have a trouble code from a scanner, include it; it shortens the diagnosis.
  • Whether you expect to have this shop do the repair. If you only want the diagnosis to take elsewhere, say so; some shops price a standalone diagnosis differently.
  • The most you are willing to spend on diagnosis before the shop stops and calls you. Pick a number.
  • What you want handed back: a written finding with the cause and a repair estimate, not just a verbal "it's the sensor."
  • The days you could drop the car off.
Subject Diagnostic fee question before I book: [year make model] 
Hi [shop name],

I'd like to bring in my [year make model], about [mileage] miles, for a diagnosis. The issue is [one sentence, e.g. the check engine light came on last week and the car hesitates when pulling away from a stop]. [If you have it: the stored code is P0301.]

Before I book, could you tell me:

- What your diagnostic fee is and how much time it covers
- Whether that fee is credited toward the repair if I have you do the work, or charged in addition
- Whether you'll send me a written estimate before doing anything beyond the diagnosis

If the diagnosis takes longer than the fee covers, please stop and check with me before continuing. I'm comfortable up to $[amount] without a call.

I can drop the car off [days or dates]. Thanks for spelling this out; it helps me plan.

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Your phone number]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • The usual answers are: the fee is credited toward the repair if you approve the work (the best case), the fee is charged regardless (fine, as long as you know), or "it depends." For "it depends," ask for the rule in writing.
  • A bad answer is "we'll figure it out when you come in." Reply once. If it is still vague, book elsewhere; a shop that won't state a fee tends to be vague on the bill too.
  • When you drop the car off, have the diagnostic cap and the credit policy written on the work order you sign. That document is what the shop goes by.
  • If you take the diagnosis elsewhere, ask for the written findings and any codes. You paid for them, and the next shop will need them.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Find out what shops charge to diagnose my car 
Hi StandIn,

Please find out from a few repair shops what they charge to diagnose a problem with my car and whether the fee counts toward the repair.

The car: [year make model, mileage].
The problem: [symptom, when it started, any trouble code].
Where I am: [city or zip code].
Whether I'd have them do the repair: [probably yes / just want the diagnosis / undecided].
When I can drop it off: [days or dates].

Ask three or four shops nearby, get each one's fee, credit policy and rough turnaround in writing, follow up with any that don't reply, and bring me a short comparison with the one you'd pick.

Thanks,
[Your name]

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