Vehicle Repair Terms and Conditions
Vehicle Repair Terms and Conditions
Terms and Conditions for the Execution of Work on Motor Vehicles, Trailers, Assemblies and their Parts, and for Cost Estimates (Vehicle Repair Terms and Conditions – Non-binding recommendation of the German Federation for Motor Trades and Repairs (ZDK))
I. ORDER PLACEMENT
1. The services to be rendered and the estimated or binding completion date must be specified in the order form or a confirmation letter.
2. The client shall receive a copy of the order form.
3. The order authorizes the contractor to place subcontracts and to carry out test drives and transfer drives.
4. Transfers of the client’s rights and obligations arising from the order require the contractor’s consent in text form. This does not apply to monetary claims of the client against the contractor. For other claims of the client against the contractor, the contractor’s prior consent is not required if the contractor has no legitimate interest in an exclusion of assignment, or if the client’s legitimate interests in the assignability of the right outweigh the contractor’s legitimate interest in an exclusion of assignment.
II. PRICE INFORMATION IN THE ORDER FORM; COST ESTIMATE
1. Upon the client’s request, the contractor shall also note in the order form the prices that are likely to be applied during the execution of the order. Price information in the order form may also be provided by reference to the relevant items in the price and labor value catalogs available at the contractor’s premises.
2. If the client desires a binding price quote, a written cost estimate is required; in this, the work and spare parts must be listed individually and provided with the respective price. The contractor is bound by this cost estimate for a period of 3 weeks after its submission. Services rendered for the preparation of a cost estimate may be charged to the client if agreed upon in individual cases. If an order is placed based on the cost estimate, any costs for the cost estimate will be offset against the order invoice, and the total price may only be exceeded during the calculation of the order with the client’s consent. 3. If price information is included in the order form, the sales tax must be stated, as with the cost estimate.
III. COMPLETION
1. The contractor is obliged to adhere to a completion date designated as binding in writing. If the scope of work changes or expands compared to the original order, resulting in a delay, the contractor must immediately state a new completion date, providing reasons.
2. If, for orders involving the repair of a motor vehicle, the contractor culpably fails to meet a completion date bindingly agreed upon in writing for more than 24 hours, the contractor shall, at their discretion, provide the client with a replacement vehicle of comparable value free of charge, according to the contractor’s applicable terms, or reimburse 80% of the costs for the actual use of a comparable rental vehicle. The client must return the replacement or rental vehicle immediately upon notification of the completion of the ordered work; further compensation for delay damages is excluded. The contractor is also responsible for the impossibility of performance occurring by chance during the delay, unless the damage would have occurred even with timely performance. For commercially used vehicles, the contractor may, instead of providing a replacement vehicle or covering rental car costs, compensate for the loss of earnings incurred due to the delayed completion.
3. The exclusions of liability in paragraph 2 do not apply to damages resulting from a grossly negligent or intentional breach of duties by the contractor, their legal representative, or their vicarious agent, as well as in cases of injury to life, body, or health.
4. If the contractor cannot meet the completion date due to force majeure or operational disruptions for which they are not responsible, there is no obligation to pay damages due to delays caused thereby, in particular not for providing a replacement vehicle or reimbursing costs for the actual use of a rental vehicle. However, the contractor is obliged to inform the client about the delays, as far as this is possible and reasonable.
IV. ACCEPTANCE
1. The acceptance of the ordered work by the client takes place at the contractor’s premises, unless otherwise agreed.
2. The client is obliged to collect the ordered work within 1 week from receipt of the completion notification and handover or dispatch of the invoice. In case of non-acceptance, the contractor may exercise their legal rights. For repair work completed within one working day, the period is shortened to 2 working days.
3. In case of delayed acceptance, the contractor may charge the customary storage fee. The ordered work may also be stored elsewhere at the contractor’s discretion. Costs and risks of storage shall be borne by the client.
V. INVOICING OF THE ORDER
1. The invoice must separately itemize prices or price factors for each technically complete work service, as well as for used spare parts and materials. If the client requests collection or delivery of the ordered work, these shall be at their expense and risk. Liability for fault remains unaffected.
2. If the order is executed based on a binding cost estimate, a reference to the cost estimate is sufficient, whereby only additional work must be specifically listed.
3. The calculation of the exchange price in the exchange procedure requires that the removed assembly or part corresponds to the scope of delivery of the replacement assembly or part and that it shows no damage that makes reconditioning impossible.
4. The sales tax shall be borne by the client.
5. Any correction of the invoice by the contractor, as well as any complaint by the client, must be made no later than 6 weeks after receipt of the invoice.
VI. PAYMENT
1. The invoice amount and prices for ancillary services are due for cash payment upon acceptance of the ordered work and handover or dispatch of the invoice, but no later than 1 week after notification of completion and handover or dispatch of the invoice.
2. The client may only offset claims against the contractor if the client’s counterclaim is undisputed or a legally enforceable title exists. Excluded from this are counterclaims of the client arising from the same order. A right of retention can only be asserted if it is based on claims arising from the same contractual relationship. The contractor is entitled to demand a reasonable advance payment upon placing the order.
VII. EXTENDED LIEN
The contractor is entitled to a contractual lien on the items that have come into their possession due to the order, for their claim arising from the order. The contractual lien may also be asserted for claims arising from previously performed work, spare parts deliveries, and other services, insofar as they are related to the ordered work. For other claims arising from the business relationship, the contractual lien only applies insofar as these are undisputed or a legally enforceable title exists and the ordered work belongs to the client.
VIII. LIABILITY FOR MATERIAL DEFECTS
1. Claims of the client due to material defects expire one year after acceptance of the ordered work. If the client accepts the ordered work despite knowledge of a defect, they are only entitled to claims for material defects if they reserve these rights upon acceptance.
2. If the subject of the order is the delivery of movable goods to be manufactured or produced, and the client is a legal entity under public law, a special fund under public law, or an entrepreneur acting in the exercise of their commercial or independent professional activity when concluding the contract, claims of the client due to material defects expire one year after delivery. For other clients (consumers), the statutory provisions apply in this case.
3. The reductions in the limitation period in paragraph 1, sentence 1 and paragraph 2, sentence 1 do not apply to damages resulting from a grossly negligent or intentional breach of duties by the contractor, their legal representative, or their vicarious agent, as well as in cases of injury to life, body, or health.
4. If the contractor is liable for damages caused by slight negligence according to statutory provisions, the contractor’s liability is limited: Liability exists only for the breach of essential contractual obligations, such as those that the order intends to impose on the contractor according to its content and purpose, or whose fulfillment enables the proper execution of the order in the first place and on whose observance the client regularly relies and may rely. This liability is limited to the typical damage foreseeable at the time of concluding the contract. The personal liability of the contractor’s legal representatives, vicarious agents, and employees for damages caused by them through slight negligence is excluded. Paragraph 3 of this section applies mutatis mutandis to the aforementioned limitation of liability and exclusion of liability.
5. Irrespective of any fault on the part of the contractor, any liability of the contractor for fraudulent concealment of the defect, from the assumption of a guarantee or a procurement risk, and under the Product Liability Act remains unaffected.
6. If a defect rectification is to be carried out, the following applies:
a) Claims due to material defects must be asserted by the client with the contractor; for verbal notifications, the contractor shall provide the client with a confirmation of receipt of the notification in text form.
b) If the ordered work becomes inoperable due to a material defect, the client may, with the contractor’s prior consent, contact another certified motor vehicle repair shop. In this case, the client must have it noted in the order form that this concerns the rectification of a defect by the contractor and that removed parts must be kept available for the contractor for a reasonable period. The contractor is obliged to reimburse the client for demonstrably incurred repair costs.
c) In the event of rectification, the client may assert claims for material defects for the parts installed for defect rectification based on the order until the expiry of the limitation period for the ordered work. Replaced parts become the property of the contractor.
IX. LIABILITY FOR OTHER DAMAGES
1. Liability for the loss of money and valuables of any kind that are not expressly taken into custody is excluded.
2. Other claims of the client not regulated in Section VIII. “Liability for Material Defects” expire within the regular limitation period.
3. For claims for damages against the contractor, the provisions in Section VIII. “Liability for Material Defects”, paragraphs 4 and 5 apply mutatis mutandis.
X. RETENTION OF TITLE
Insofar as installed accessories, spare parts, and assemblies have not become essential components of the ordered work, the contractor reserves title thereto until full and undisputed payment.
XI. PLACE OF JURISDICTION
For all current and future claims arising from the business relationship with merchants, including claims from bills of exchange and checks, the exclusive place of jurisdiction is the contractor’s registered office. The same place of jurisdiction applies if the client has no general place of jurisdiction in Germany, relocates their domicile or habitual residence from Germany after concluding the contract, or if their domicile or habitual residence is unknown at the time the action is filed.
XII. OUT-OF-COURT DISPUTE RESOLUTION
1. Vehicle Arbitration Boards
a) If the business is a member of the locally competent guild of the motor vehicle trade, the client may, in disputes arising from this order (with the exception of commercial vehicles with a gross weight of more than 3.5 t), or – with their consent – the contractor may appeal to the competent motor vehicle arbitration board for the contractor. The appeal must be made immediately after knowledge of the point of dispute by submitting a written statement (appeal document) to the arbitration board.
f) No fees are charged for using the motor vehicle arbitration board.
2. Notice according to § 36 Consumer Dispute Resolution Act (VSBG) The contractor will not participate in a dispute resolution procedure before a consumer arbitration board within the meaning of the VSBG and is not obliged to do so.