Over $6000 to install TTI headers on 66 Barracuda

Leadfoot said

Cops probably won't get involved. They usually don't in a civil matter. The Mechanic has every right to hold your car until payment is presented. What you need is a Judge to order the release of the car. As in "Court Order". The BAR should help in this area. They have ways of getting Mechanics to release cars.

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Depends on the state and laws.

Here in NY you have a right to removable property. If it's yours and can be removed from the ground it's sitting on then you have the right to take it, without payment, and the cops will see to it that you can. Ownership is nine tenth of the law. I had to call the Elmira cops on a shop for keeping Sarah's car and demanding payment for work she didn't agree to. At that point, according to NY law, they couldn't bill her as she never gave consent and the cops were called to point out to them that it's grand theft if they tried to keep her car in lieu of payment.

At that point a mechanic can put a lien on the title to seek payment and go to court. But you still have the right to keep your car. And, as the mechanic, you have to prove to the DMV that the work was consented to, by signature on a repair order from the customer, and the customer owed you payment.