Independent consumer tool · Not affiliated with any dealership

Audit it before
you pay it While you're still standing at the counter.

A dealership service invoice is designed to be signed, not read. Phantom quantities, chemicals the manufacturer never asked for, and percentage fees itemized nowhere hide inside a page of part numbers most people scan for ten seconds. This site exists to make that ten seconds enough — and every invoice consumers feed it makes it sharper.

Analyze your invoice → See the public case files

Case File #001 · A Honda dealership · Austin, TX 32%Ripoff rate $144.80 of this $451.46 invoice could not survive the audit Read the line-by-line audit →

The analyzer

Get your invoice audited for real

The automated reader is live. Create a free account, upload your invoice, and an AI auditor reads it the way Case #001 was read by hand — quantities against published capacities, fees against the arithmetic, chemicals against the maintenance schedule.

Create your free account

Sign up in about a minute. Finished analyses join the public case files by default — that's how each case helps the next person — and opting out is one click, at upload or any time after. Only the scrubbed findings are published: your name, contact details, VIN, invoice number, and the invoice images themselves never are.

Snap & upload the invoice

A phone photo of the printed copy is plenty. JPG, PNG, WebP, or PDF — up to 4 pages and 12 MB. Add every page: the fee that gets missed most often is printed on page two.

A line-by-line audit in about a minute

Our AI auditor reads every line and returns findings plus the exact sentence to say at the counter — each one an AI-generated opinion, cited to the spec so you can check it yourself.

Before you upload

A service invoice usually carries your full name, address, phone number, and VIN. None of that is needed to find padding in the pricing — cover or crop the customer block first. That matters because of how the audit works: your uploaded photo is transmitted, exactly as shot, to a third-party AI processing provider that reads it. The part numbers, quantities, and totals are the only part that matters here — and the only part worth sending. How your data is handled →

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Free · analyses join the public case files by default — opt out in one click · images and identity never published · one re-analysis per invoice per day

Why it gets sharper

It learns from every invoice

Every tactic this site can catch was taught to it by a real receipt. Nobody sat down and invented the pattern library — Case #001 alone contributed 12 of its 42 entries. Each invoice that runs through the analyzer becomes part of the playbook, and the playbook works for everyone who comes after.

An invoice comes in

Someone uploads a receipt to the analyzer — the way Case #001's $451.46 invoice arrived. New dealership, new tricks, new evidence.

The padding gets named

Every tactic found is documented: the tell, why it works, and the exact sentence that gets it removed. It joins the library for good.

Everyone's next check is faster

The detector now recognizes that trick on sight — on your invoice, not just the one that taught it. More participants, more patterns, faster catches.

42 patterns learned · 12 from Case #001 alone · 0 forgotten

The reference

How service invoices pad

Every one of these is a documented, ordinary practice in dealer service departments — none of them require anyone to be a villain, which is exactly why they survive. Every entry was learned from a real invoice, and the library grows as consumers add theirs. Search it, or filter by where on the invoice it hides.

Search tactics

Quantity & capacityCase #001 →

Fluid billed past the vehicle's capacity

Tell: Quantity on the line exceeds the change capacity in the owner's manual — six quarts of oil into a 4.2-quart engine.
Why: The extra either never entered the car, or entered it and overfilled a component the manufacturer warns against overfilling.
Say: "The manual says it holds 4.2. This is billed for 6 — where did the rest go?"

Quantity & capacityCase #001 →

The third bottle

Tell: A differential, transfer case or brake system billed three units of a fluid when it holds barely more than one.
Why: Opening a second sealed bottle is honest. A third has physically nowhere to go.
Say: "How much does this differential actually hold?"

Quantity & capacity

Rounding up to the case

Tell: Quantities that always land on 6, 8 or 12 regardless of what the vehicle takes.
Why: That's a case of product being billed out, not a measurement of what your car received.
Say: "Is that the amount that went in, or the amount that was opened?"

Quantity & capacity

Shop supplies billed twice

Tell: A per-item charge for rags, cleaner or lubricant on the line, and a percentage "shop supplies" fee in the totals box.
Why: The same consumables charged in two places, one of which is invisible until you look at the totals.
Say: "I'm being charged for supplies on the line and again at the bottom — which is it?"

Work not performedCase #001 →

Package price, partial package

Tell: A named menu service billed at menu price with one of its components struck out — "B1 service, no tire rotation."
Why: The omitted item is frequently the one that names the service. Charging full menu price for a menu item minus its headline ingredient is the cleanest overcharge on any invoice.
Say: "The rotation is what makes this a B1. It wasn't done — can we reprice the line?"

Work not performedCase #001 →

Inspection notes for parts you don't have

Tell: A checklist certifying work on equipment the vehicle never shipped with — spare tire pressure on a car that carries a sealant kit.
Why: A report that inspects a component that isn't there is copy-paste. It puts a fair question over every other box on that sheet.
Say: "This says you set the spare tire pressure. This car doesn't have a spare."

Work not performed

The multi-point that took no time

Tell: A thorough inspection logged on a visit whose in/out timestamps barely cover the billed labor.
Why: Time is the one resource an invoice can't fake. Compare the stamps to the work claimed.
Say: "The car was here two hours. Can you walk me through what got inspected?"

Work not performed

Pre-filled findings

Tell: Identical wear measurements or "recommended" items across every visit, or numbers that never change between services.
Why: Brake and tire measurements move. Ones that don't weren't taken.
Say: "My pads measured the same last visit. Were they actually measured today?"

Work not performed

Diagnostic charged, nothing diagnosed

Tell: A diagnostic fee alongside a repair that was obvious, requested by name, or already covered by the customer's own description.
Why: You can be charged to find a fault. Being charged to find one you drove in and named is different.
Say: "I told you which cylinder it was. What did the diagnostic add?"

Unrequested chemicalsCase #001 →

Fuel injection cleaner on a new car

Tell: A pour-in additive slipped into a routine oil change, usually $15–$40, usually unrequested.
Why: Almost no maintenance schedule calls for it at any interval. It is the single most common line-item pad in quick service because it's nearly pure margin.
Say: "I didn't ask for this. Please take it off."

Unrequested chemicalsCase #001 →

Aftermarket additive billed as a "part"

Tell: A chemical with a cryptic code — "GOT/12" — priced like a component, sometimes under an opcode that names the vendor.
Why: If the manufacturer specifies one fluid and lists no additives, an aftermarket chemical went into a warrantied drivetrain without disclosure.
Say: "What is this, and what does the manufacturer say about putting it in?"

Unrequested chemicals

Engine or transmission flush

Tell: A "flush" service on a modern sealed system, often recommended by mileage rather than by condition.
Why: Many manufacturers explicitly warn against flushing certain transmissions; a wrong flush can end a warranty claim.
Say: "Does the manufacturer call for a flush on this transmission, or a drain and fill?"

Unrequested chemicals

Nitrogen tire fill

Tell: A per-tire charge to fill with nitrogen, often on tires already holding air.
Why: Air is 78% nitrogen. The benefit on a passenger car is marginal at best and the charge is recurring.
Say: "Skip the nitrogen, regular air is fine."

Unrequested chemicals

Cabin deodorizing / ozone / A-C service

Tell: An air-quality treatment added to an unrelated visit, priced $40–$150.
Why: A comfort item sold as a maintenance item. It appears on no schedule and fixes no fault.
Say: "That's not something I asked for — remove it."

Unrequested chemicals

Protectants and sealants at the service desk

Tell: Paint sealant, fabric guard or undercoating appearing on a service invoice rather than a sale.
Why: F&I products sold from the service lane, where nobody is expecting to negotiate.
Say: "I'm only here for the scheduled service."

Fees & surchargesCase #001 →

The percentage fee with no line item

Tell: "Misc charges," "shop supplies" or "environmental fee" in the totals box that divides into a clean percentage of the work.
Why: Consumables don't scale with your bill. A round percentage is a rate card applied to your total, and it can't be verified because it corresponds to nothing.
Say: "That works out to exactly 11.5% of the job. Is it a percentage or is it supplies?"

Fees & surcharges

Hazardous waste disposal, per line

Tell: A disposal charge repeated on several lines of the same visit.
Why: One visit produces one disposal event. Charging it per service multiplies a real cost into an invented one.
Say: "I'm seeing disposal charged three times for one visit."

Fees & surchargesCase #001 →

Card surcharge in the smallest type

Tell: A 2–4% fee for paying by credit card, disclosed at the bottom of the page or on the back.
Why: Legal in most states — but only with disclosure, and the disclosure is engineered to be missed until the total is already computed.
Say: "What's the cash price?"

Fees & surcharges

Documentation or admin fee on service

Tell: A paperwork fee on a repair order, borrowed from the vehicle-sales side of the building.
Why: There is no documentation to prepare on an oil change. This is a sales-department fee wearing a service-department coat.
Say: "What document is this fee for?"

Fees & surcharges

Tax computed on labor where labor isn't taxable

Tell: Sales tax applied to the full total in a state that taxes parts only.
Why: Quiet, small, and entirely mechanical — which is why it survives for years once it's in the system.
Say: "Is labor taxable here? This looks like tax on the whole ticket."

Labor time

Overlapping labor charged twice

Tell: Two jobs that share the same teardown, each billed its full book time.
Why: If the intake manifold comes off once, it should be paid for once. Book time assumes each job starts from a bolted-together car.
Say: "Both of these need the same part removed. Is that time counted twice?"

Labor time

Book time on a job that took an hour

Tell: Labor billed at a flat-rate guide figure well above the actual time between the in and out stamps.
Why: Flat rate is a legitimate, disclosed industry practice — but it should be disclosed. Most customers believe they're paying for hours worked.
Say: "Is this billed at actual time or book time?"

Labor time

Diagnostic time not credited

Tell: A diagnostic fee that quietly stays on the invoice after you approve the repair it diagnosed.
Why: Most shops credit diagnostic time toward the repair. The ones that don't rarely mention it at the point of approval.
Say: "Does the diagnostic come off now that you're doing the work?"

Labor time

Shop rate that changed mid-invoice

Tell: Different effective hourly rates across lines of the same repair order.
Why: Sometimes legitimate — specialty work commands a different rate. Often it's the menu price backfilled into an hours column.
Say: "These two lines work out to different hourly rates. Why?"

Parts pricingCase #001 →

Identical parts, wildly different prices

Tell: Two versions of the same commodity part on one invoice at very different prices — a $1.48 crush washer and an $8.17 one.
Why: Same category, same job, same page. The comparison is printed on the invoice itself, which is what makes it so useful.
Say: "Why is this washer five times the price of the one on the line above?"

Parts pricing

Aftermarket billed at OEM price

Tell: A part number that doesn't match the manufacturer's format, priced as though it did.
Why: You can be sold an aftermarket part. Being sold one at genuine-part pricing is a different transaction.
Say: "Is this a genuine part? The number doesn't look like the others."

Parts pricing

The kit when you needed the clip

Tell: A complete assembly billed when a single component of it failed.
Why: Sometimes the kit is genuinely all that's sold. Often it's the higher-margin option chosen without a conversation.
Say: "Is the individual part available, or is the kit the only way to buy it?"

Parts pricing

Old parts unavailable for inspection

Tell: Replaced components already "disposed of" when you ask to see them.
Why: Many states give you a right to your old parts on request. A shop that can't produce them has removed your only way to verify the repair happened.
Say: "Can I have the old parts back?"

Schedule inflation

Severe-service intervals sold as normal

Tell: Services recommended at half the manual's interval, justified by "the way people drive around here."
Why: Severe-service schedules exist for towing, dust, extreme cold and constant short trips. Applied to everyone, they double the maintenance revenue per car.
Say: "Which schedule is that from — normal or severe?"

Schedule inflation

"Manufacturer recommended" that isn't

Tell: A dealer menu presented as the factory schedule, containing items the manual never mentions.
Why: The dealer menu and the maintenance schedule are two different documents. Only one of them came from the people who built the car.
Say: "Can you show me where that's in the maintenance schedule?"

Schedule inflation

Mileage-rounded upsells

Tell: A 30/60/90k service package sold at 41,000 miles because you happened to be in.
Why: The package is priced for the interval. Performing it early doesn't make the interval come later.
Say: "I'm at 41k. What in this package is actually due now?"

Schedule inflation

Lifetime fluid, replaced anyway

Tell: A fluid service on a system the manufacturer fills for life.
Why: Reasonable people disagree about whether "lifetime" fluid should ever be changed — but you should be told that's the debate you're buying into.
Say: "Isn't this sealed for life? What's the recommendation based on?"

Schedule inflation

The dirty-fluid demonstration

Tell: A sample of dark fluid produced as proof your car needs a service.
Why: Most fluids darken long before they stop working, and the sample is rarely proven to have come from your car.
Say: "Is that from my vehicle? What's the actual condition spec?"

Estimate & consentCase #001 →

Pre-signed consent to any increase

Tell: Boilerplate above the signature line acknowledging "oral approval of an increase in the original estimated price" — signed at drop-off, before any increase exists.
Why: You consent at 10 a.m. to a number that gets chosen at noon. Many states cap increases without fresh authorization; the boilerplate is designed to satisfy that on paper.
Say: "Please call me before anything goes above the written estimate."

Estimate & consentCase #001 →

Estimate creep

Tell: A written estimate at drop-off, a materially higher number at pickup, and no record of the call in between.
Why: Small enough not to argue over, repeated across every ticket. Ask when the approval happened and who took it.
Say: "This is $36 over the estimate. When was that approved, and by whom?"

Estimate & consent

Verbal-only authorization

Tell: Added work with no written record of your approval.
Why: If it wasn't written down, the only record of your consent is the shop's memory of it.
Say: "I don't recall approving that. Do you have it in writing?"

Estimate & consent

"We already have it apart"

Tell: Additional work presented as unavoidable because the car is disassembled.
Why: A real efficiency argument, used as a pressure tactic. The work is still optional, and it will still be optional tomorrow.
Say: "Put it back together. I'll decide after I've read the estimate."

Estimate & consent

Safety framing on a comfort item

Tell: Cabin filters, wipers or fluid services described as unsafe to drive on.
Why: Real safety items exist — brakes, tires, steering. Attaching that vocabulary to a $60 filter is what makes it hard to say no to.
Say: "Is that a safety issue or a maintenance item?"

Warranty & recallCase #001 →

Free recall deferred, paid upsell performed

Tell: An open safety recall logged as "not performed at this time" on a visit long enough to add optional chemicals.
Why: The manufacturer pays the dealer to complete recalls. Deferring one while finding time for margin work is a documented ordering of priorities.
Say: "The car was here two hours. Can the recall be done before I go?"

Warranty & recall

Charging for warranty work

Tell: A covered repair billed to the customer instead of the manufacturer.
Why: Warranty claims pay the shop less than you do. Check coverage before you pay, not after.
Say: "Is this covered under the factory warranty?"

Warranty & recall

Maintenance required to keep your warranty

Tell: Upsells justified by the claim that declining them voids your coverage.
Why: In the US, the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act bars conditioning a warranty on using a specific brand of part or service, absent a free provision or an FTC waiver.
Say: "Which part of the warranty says that?"

Warranty & recall

Bundled warranty and paid lines

Tell: Covered and non-covered work on one line, so the split is impossible to check.
Why: If you can't see which portion the manufacturer paid for, you can't see whether you paid for it too.
Say: "Can you separate the warranty work from the customer-pay work?"

Case files

Invoices this site has audited

Published with the customer's own copy as the source, every figure transcribed, every claim checked against the manufacturer's published specification.

Case #001 · Customer 001 · Filed 25 July 2026

A Franchised Honda Dealership

Austin metro · Texas · Invoice # on file

$451.46Paid

$144.80Disputed

32%Ripoff rate

7Findings

A 2025 CR-V Hybrid with 13,232 miles goes in for an oil service. It comes out with six quarts billed into a 4.2-quart engine, three quarts billed into a 1.32-quart differential, a $48.88 aftermarket additive the manufacturer specifies nowhere, an $18.99 injector cleaner nobody asked for, a technician's note certifying the pressure of a spare tire the car does not have — and an open safety recall still open, deferred for lack of time on a two-hour visit that found time for the upsells.

Read the line-by-line audit →

At the counter

What to actually do at the counter

Finding the padding is the easy half. Getting it removed is a tone problem, not an argument problem.

Ask before you pay

Every line is easier to remove before the card is run than after. "Can you walk me through this one?" is a complete sentence and costs nothing.

Quote the spec, not the grievance

"The manual says 4.2 quarts and this is billed for 6" ends differently than "this feels high." Numbers move an invoice. Feelings don't.

Get the correction in writing

Ask for the revised invoice, not a verbal promise or a credit "next time." If a line was wrong, the paper should say so.

Audit it beforeyou pay it While you're still standing at the counter.

Get your invoice audited for real

Create your free account

Snap & upload the invoice

A line-by-line audit in about a minute

Before you upload

It learns from every invoice

An invoice comes in

The padding gets named

Everyone's next check is faster

How service invoices pad

Fluid billed past the vehicle's capacity

The third bottle

Rounding up to the case

Shop supplies billed twice

Package price, partial package

Inspection notes for parts you don't have

The multi-point that took no time

Pre-filled findings

Diagnostic charged, nothing diagnosed

Fuel injection cleaner on a new car

Aftermarket additive billed as a "part"

Engine or transmission flush

Nitrogen tire fill

Cabin deodorizing / ozone / A-C service

Protectants and sealants at the service desk

The percentage fee with no line item

Hazardous waste disposal, per line

Card surcharge in the smallest type

Documentation or admin fee on service

Tax computed on labor where labor isn't taxable

Overlapping labor charged twice

Book time on a job that took an hour

Diagnostic time not credited

Shop rate that changed mid-invoice

Identical parts, wildly different prices

Aftermarket billed at OEM price

The kit when you needed the clip

Old parts unavailable for inspection

Severe-service intervals sold as normal

"Manufacturer recommended" that isn't

Mileage-rounded upsells

Lifetime fluid, replaced anyway

The dirty-fluid demonstration

Pre-signed consent to any increase

Estimate creep

Verbal-only authorization

"We already have it apart"

Safety framing on a comfort item

Free recall deferred, paid upsell performed

Charging for warranty work

Maintenance required to keep your warranty

Bundled warranty and paid lines

Invoices this site has audited

A Franchised Honda Dealership

What to actually do at the counter

Ask before you pay

Quote the spec, not the grievance

Get the correction in writing

Audit it before
you pay it While you're still standing at the counter.