The law already puts a warranty on the repair, whatever the shop promised
Under Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act, a repairer warrants the new or reconditioned parts it installed and the labour it performed for at least 90 days or 5,000 kilometres, whichever comes first. That minimum applies to repairs on motor vehicles whether or not the shop wrote a warranty on the invoice, and a shop cannot sign it away. The same part of the Act is where the rules on written estimates come from.
Most body shops offer more than the minimum on their own terms, often a longer warranty on paint and refinish. That written promise is a separate layer. If it is longer than the statutory one, it is the one you will lean on most of the time. If the shop gave nothing in writing, the law still gives you the 90 days.
Past both, you are not out of options. A repair that was never done to a reasonable standard can still be pursued as a contract claim, and under Ontario’s Limitations Act the clock on that runs two years, starting on the day the defect was discovered or reasonably should have been.
Build the record before you make the call
Start with evidence, because every later step relies on it. Photograph the defect in daylight from several angles, with something in frame that shows which panel and which side of the car it is. A colour mismatch photographs best outdoors in overcast light; a wavy panel shows best with a straight reflection running across it, such as a row of fluorescent tubes in an underground garage.
Pull together the paperwork. The estimate, the final invoice, any supplement, the warranty terms and the insurance company’s claim number belong in one folder. Write down when you first noticed the problem and what you were doing. A seam sealer crack that appeared after the first freeze-thaw week in January is a different story from a dent that appeared after a weekend at a cottage.
- Daylight photos and a short video walking the length of the panel.
- The invoice showing which panels were repaired, replaced or blended.
- A dated note of when the defect appeared and the mileage that day.
- Every email or text exchanged with the shop since pickup.
Go back to the shop first, and do it in writing
The first remedy is the shop that did the work. Book a time, bring the car, and show the defect in person, then follow up by email summarizing what you showed them and what you are asking for. Many problems end here: a rub-through in the clear, a trim clip left out, a door that needs its striker adjusted. A shop that stands behind its work would rather fix it than lose the customer.
Ask for the answer in writing too. If the shop agrees, you want a date. If it says the problem is new damage or wear, you want that reasoning on paper. A refusal you can show to someone else is worth more than a conversation you have to describe.
Do not let another shop start correcting the work before the original shop has had its chance, unless the car is unsafe to drive. Undoing someone else’s repair destroys the evidence of what was done, and the original shop can then argue it was never given the opportunity.
When your insurance company chose or paid for the shop
If the repair was paid under a claim, tell the adjuster as soon as you have photos. The insurance company approved the estimate and paid the invoice, and it has an interest in the car being repaired to the standard it paid for. Where the shop was one the insurance company recommended through its network, ask the adjuster what guarantee that network gives on its repairs and how it is claimed.
If you chose the shop yourself, the adjuster can still reopen the file for a re-inspection, but the shop’s own warranty and the Consumer Protection Act do most of the work. Either way, keep the claim number on every email so the record joins up.
If the shop refuses, Consumer Protection Ontario and Small Claims Court come next
If the shop will not correct the work, Consumer Protection Ontario takes complaints about businesses, including vehicle repairers, and can mediate with the business on your behalf. File with your folder of photos and paperwork attached. A complaint record also matters if other customers have had the same experience.
If you paid any of the bill by credit card and the dispute is about work that was not done as agreed, speak to the card issuer; the Act has provisions for charges in some disputed repair situations, and the issuer will tell you what applies. For larger losses, Small Claims Court in Ontario hears repair disputes without requiring a lawyer, and an independent written assessment from another shop is usually the most useful exhibit you can bring.
If you do need someone else to put it right, the answer on whether another shop can fix a bad repair explains what that involves. Our estimator can write that assessment from the car itself, panel by panel, without commenting on anything we cannot see.
Questions people ask
The paint started lifting eight months after pickup. Is the 90-day minimum already gone?
The statutory minimum may have run out, but a shop’s written paint warranty is often longer, and it is the one to cite. If there was no written warranty, a refinish that fails that quickly can still support a claim that the work was not done to a reasonable standard.
Can the shop refuse because my insurance company paid instead of me?
No. You are the customer whose car was repaired, and the warranty runs with the work. Who paid the invoice does not change whether the repair was done properly, though it does mean the adjuster should hear about the problem as well.
Should I pay the final bill if I can already see a defect at pickup?
Point it out before you sign anything, photograph it at the counter, and ask for it to be corrected before you take the car. If you pay and leave, note the defect on the invoice or in an email that day so nobody can say it appeared later.