Terms and conditions for a tyre and exhaust centre

A tyre and exhaust centre needs terms that deal with the phone quote that changes once the wheel is off, the customer who turns up with tyres bought online, the guarantee you advertise on the forecourt and the car nobody comes back for. I draft those terms around your workshop for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Tyre and exhaust centres, fast-fit workshops and mobile fitting businesses in England and Wales, trading as sole traders or limited companies. Most of your customers are consumers driving in off the street, but you may also run credit accounts for local fleets, garages, taxi operators and leasing companies. The law treats those two groups very differently, so one set of terms has to be written with both in mind.

What matters in a tyre and exhaust centre's terms

Phone quotes and what appears on the ramp

A price given over the phone for a pair of tyres or a rear box assumes nothing is seized, snapped or missing. Locking wheel nut keys that do not fit, sheared studs, corroded clamps and back boxes that come apart in the hand are ordinary workshop life, and they cost time. The terms should say that the quoted figure covers the parts listed and the labour expected, that anything found once the vehicle is on the ramp is quoted before you continue, and what the customer pays if they then decline the work.

Tyres and parts the customer supplies

Customers arrive with tyres bought online or a part from a motor factor and ask you to fit it. Your terms should state whether you accept that work, that you give no guarantee on anything you did not supply, and that you may decline to fit a part you consider unsafe or the wrong specification for the vehicle. Fitting-only labour should be chargeable whether or not the part turns out to be correct. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 you remain responsible for carrying out the fitting with reasonable care and skill, so the drafting separates the goods from the work.

Consumer rights and the guarantees you advertise

Tyres and exhausts you supply to a motorist are goods under the Consumer Rights Act 2015: satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described, with a short-term right to reject within 30 days before repair or replacement. A term that cuts those rights down will not bind the consumer. Where you promote a road hazard guarantee or a long exhaust warranty, the terms should set out exactly what it covers, what it excludes such as kerbing, misalignment or competition use, and make clear it sits on top of the statutory rights rather than replacing them.

Mobile fitting and bookings taken remotely

If you fit at the customer's home or roadside, or take the booking by phone or through your website, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 apply. The consumer has 14 days to cancel, and where the cancellation information was never given that period can extend by up to 12 months. Off-premises contracts of £42 or less fall outside the regulations. There are exceptions for urgent repairs the customer asked for and for services fully performed in the period after an express request and acknowledgement. The terms should be drafted to use them, not ignore them.

Advisories and work the customer turns down

You see things nobody booked you for: a tyre below the legal minimum on the other axle, a weeping brake pipe, a split boot. The terms should record that you inspect only what the job requires, that an advisory is not a roadworthiness inspection, and that where a customer declines recommended work they drive away on that basis. Neither the Consumer Rights Act 2015 nor the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 allows liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence to be excluded, but that wording still matters when the complaint is that you should have said something.

Scrap tyres, storage and getting paid

Old tyres and exhausts are waste. If you move them off site yourself you need registration with the Environment Agency under the Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989 and the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011, and the terms should say removed parts are disposed of unless the customer asks to keep them at booking. Where vehicles are left with you, the terms should set out when storage charges start and what they are. For fleet and trade accounts, the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 gives statutory interest and fixed compensation on each overdue debt.

What it costs

Customer or supplier terms and conditions, £995. One set of terms, customer-facing or supplier-facing, drafted around your business. Five working days.

Review of your existing terms, £495. You already have terms and want to know how much of a problem they are. Returned marked up with my amendments and an explanation of the changes. Three working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the terms and conditions drafting page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A full set of terms drafted around your business, not a template with your name inserted
• A covering note in plain English explaining every commercial choice I made and why, so you can defend the terms in a negotiation without ringing me
• Liability, payment, termination and IP provisions set at a level that will survive a procurement review
• Consumer-facing wording drafted to be enforceable where you sell to consumers
• Guidance on how to incorporate the terms properly, which is where most businesses actually fail
• One round of amendments after you have read them

What is not included

• Negotiating your terms with individual customers
• Sector-specific regulatory compliance beyond the contract terms themselves
• Website privacy notice and cookie compliance, which I quote separately
• Terms governed by the law of another country

Questions I am often asked

Do I need separate terms for fleet and trade accounts?

One document can serve both if it carries a business section covering credit limits, payment periods, interest and a liability cap, alongside a consumer section. Where a business customer signs your standard terms, the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 tests any limit of liability for reasonableness, so the cap has to be one you can defend rather than one you hope nobody reads.

A customer says we damaged the alloy. What can the terms do?

The terms can ask for the vehicle's condition to be recorded when it is taken in and for any damage to be raised before the vehicle leaves or within a short stated period. That does not decide the claim by itself, but it puts the argument on ground you control and supports your position with your insurer. Photographs taken at handover are worth more than any clause.

How do I know the customer is actually bound by my terms?

Terms only bind a customer who had a genuine opportunity to see them before the work was agreed, and that is where most workshops come unstuck. Terms printed on the back of the invoice arrive far too late to count. Every set I draft comes with guidance on incorporating them properly across counter, telephone and online bookings.

Related guidance and services

• Terms and conditions drafting, £995, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Employment contracts and handbooks, £595
• Terms and conditions for a locksmith
• Terms and conditions for a handyman service

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.