When we talk about the importance of receipts and invoices in the world of collector and vintage cars, we often hit on the value these records provide when proving you've made a certain level of investment in a vehicle. However, there's also a side to this that provides some comfort your shop of choice is performing the work as promised, or as described. I have a tale of caution that comes from a shop relationship that went sour, and how the lack of invoices for work performed was a major red flag.
The vehicle in question was a 1986 Isuzu Trooper that, quite honestly, was a bit of a fright pig. It ran, drove, and stopped, but it needed plenty of fine-tuning. I had a shop in Jamestown, Rhode Island with a small vintage/hobby car operation lined up to install a lift kit and fine-tune the jetting on the carb. Your first red flag is how long it takes the shop to actually pull your rig into the garage; in my case, it was about six months after it arrived on their property.
The first wave of work focused on the lift kit install, which was nothing ridiculous. Now, the truck did run decently, but it would occasionally cut out and stall. So, once the suspension was sorted out (and this occurred without issue), they turned to the carb issues. Supposedly, all was resolved and I paid my bill. However, I didn't receive an invoice of any kind; I was simply told that the carb needed some new O-rings or other miscellaneous hardware and the suspension install was clearly done based on visual inspection.
Here's when things get screwy: when I went to pick up the truck, I was told the stalling issue had come back and I likely needed new valve seals. At the same time, it was suggested that they do some paintwork to preserve the unique patina on the roof (clear-coating it, essentially.) I didn't care about the paintwork but it seemed like a reasonable thing to do given the shop had an excellent reputation for bodywork. But I ended up paying another bill - with no invoice - and the truck supposedly still didn't run right. All told, for someone who prides himself on being astute in my record-keeping, I was blinded by the fact that no other shop wanted to work on this truck. I willingly gave the shop quite a bit of air cover and should have been demanding printed records if for no other reason than to have them stand behind the work they claimed they were doing.
Invoices and shop receipts are not just a nice-to-have when it comes time to sell a car. They are also critical for having your shop in question put some skin in the game to confirm both parties agree with the quoted work being completed to a satisfactory level.