Dealer Not Honoring a We Owe? How to Get the Work Done

A signed we owe form, also called a due bill, is a written promise that belongs to your purchase deal, and the dealer is bound to do the work listed on it. The usual path when a dealer stalls runs in three steps: a dated written demand to the general manager, then a complaint to the state dealer regulator or attorney general, then small claims court for what the work costs at another shop. Send the demand letter today.

What the signed form gives you

A we owe lists the work or items the dealer agreed to provide after you drive off: a repair, a part, a second key, a detail job. Once a dealership manager signs it at the sale, it is a term of your deal, just like the price. A promise about the car itself, such as replacing worn struts or fixing a dent, is also an express warranty under the Uniform Commercial Code (section 2-313).

Writing is what gives the promise teeth. The FTC Buyers Guide on a used car's window tells buyers that spoken promises are difficult to enforce and to get all promises in writing. The FTC also tells buyers of as-is cars to get any promise to repair the car written on the Buyers Guide. Your signed form is that writing.

Dealer regulators in Texas and Washington treat a broken written promise as a violation:

• Texas: the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV) penalty schedule lists "failed to fulfill written agreement" with sanctions from $1,000 to $4,000 or more. The agency also weighs a failure to fulfill a written agreement with a retail buyer when it decides whether to revoke a dealer license.
• Washington: RCW 46.70.180 makes it unlawful for a dealer to break a written guarantee to furnish goods, services or repairs within a reasonable period of time, or to fail to furnish the items specified in a sales agreement signed by seller and buyer. Every violation of the state dealer law also counts as a Consumer Protection Act violation.

What to do today

1. Read the form line by line. Note each promised item, any part description (new, factory, a named brand), any completion date, conditions such as "subject to parts availability," and who signed for the dealer. Lay it next to the buyer's order and the Buyers Guide.
2. Make a two-column list. Left: each promised item. Right: what happened, with the date you asked, who you spoke with and what they said. Save every email and text in one folder.
3. Get a written estimate from an independent shop for the promised work. That number becomes your claim amount if the dealer never performs, and it shows the general manager what stalling will cost.
4. Send a demand to the general manager. Copy the dealer principal (the owner) if the name appears on the dealer's website. Email it and send it by certified mail with a return receipt. Give one firm date, 10 business days out, to schedule the work or agree in writing to pay the estimate. The letter below is ready to fill in.
5. If the dealer sells new cars for a brand, call that brand's customer service line with your VIN and the dealer's name, and ask for a case on the unkept promise. Honda, for one, publishes this route in its warranty booklet for owners unhappy with a dealer's repair work: talk to the dealership's Service Manager or General Manager first, then call Honda Automobile Customer Service at (800) 999-1009, whose staff works with you and the dealership to find a satisfactory solution.
6. Log every call the same day: date, name, and what the person promised.

Where it splits

If the promise was spoken and never written down, email the salesperson and the general manager today and state it plainly: "On [date], [name] agreed the dealership would [work] at no charge." Ask them to sign a we owe for it. A written reply that confirms the promise becomes your evidence. California's DMV lists verbal vehicle agreements and statements made by the dealer among the things it cannot investigate, so the dealer's written reply is what turns a memory into a claim.

If the dealer keeps blaming parts, ask for the part number, the order date and the expected arrival in writing. Set one final date. Once it passes, photograph the car, have the work done at the shop that wrote your estimate, keep the replaced parts and the paid invoice, and claim that amount from the dealer.

If the dealer did the work and it failed, your claim becomes a repair-quality dispute. Use our guide for a paid repair that failed.

If the dealer offers cash or part of the work, get the offer in writing, with the amount and exactly which items it settles, before you sign any release. Compare it with your independent estimate.

Your leverage: the dealer regulator and small claims

The regulator puts the dealer's license and fines on the line, and small claims court gets you the money. In New York, file the VS-35 before small claims, because DMV drops restitution once you file or settle in small claims court; if the work is still undone when the DMV process ends, file in small claims.

Outside these four states, start with the attorney general's consumer office; the FTC points car buyers there, and USA.gov lists every state consumer office. Attach the signed we owe, your two-column list, the estimate and the demand letter.

In small claims, sue for the cost of the promised work, backed by the independent estimate or the paid invoice. Bring the signed form, the buyer's order, the certified mail receipt and your call log. Call a consumer lawyer when the work costs more than your state's small claims limit or the we owe covered up a bigger problem, such as hidden flood damage or a branded title. In Washington, call one even for a small we owe: a winning Consumer Protection Act claim includes a reasonable attorney's fee, paid by the dealer. Our guides cover undisclosed flood or salvage history and Texas car dealer fraud.

Demand letter for the general manager

To: [Name], General Manager, [Dealership name], [Address]

Re: Unfinished we owe items, [year, make, model], VIN [number], purchased [date]

On [purchase date], your dealership signed a we owe form promising [item 1] and [item 2]. A copy is enclosed. I asked for this work on [dates] by [email or phone] and spoke with [names]. The work remains unfinished.

Please schedule all listed work by [date, 10 business days from today], or confirm in writing that the dealership will pay [amount], the cost of this work in the enclosed estimate from [shop name]. If neither happens by that date, I will file a complaint with [state dealer regulator or attorney general] and a small claims case for [amount].

Reply in writing to [email] or call [phone].

[Your name], [date]

Enclosed: signed we owe form, buyer's order, repair estimate, copies of my earlier requests.

For proof of delivery, follow our steps on sending a demand letter by certified mail.

Today

1. Photograph the signed we owe and the buyer's order, and book one written estimate for the promised work.
2. Email and certified-mail the demand letter to the general manager with a date 10 business days out.
3. If the dealer carries a new-car brand, call that brand's customer service line with your VIN.

What comes back before your date: a scheduled appointment, a written offer, or silence. Silence means you file with your state dealer regulator the next morning and fill out the small claims form with the estimate as your amount. In New York, file the VS-35 first and go to small claims if the DMV process ends with the work still undone.