Fix it or Tow it

I saw this on jalopnik.

And it reminded me of when I worked in a shop. I didnt come up much at one shop, but when it did a coworker told a lady her E36 M3 was so unsafe she had to tow it or fix it, and it was quite unsafe Ill give him that. Of course it turned into a huge ordeal, cops came, said legally in TX you couldnt refuse to give someones car back because its unsafe, but you could call the cops and they would ticket them for driving on public roads if it was indeed that unsafe, and they told her they would ticket her as soon as she hit the road or tow it.

At the next shop I worked at they told us the same thing, you cant shut a car down in TX, but to let someone know upfront, if its obviously a big problem, they will have to tow it, if they dont repair it. It was rarely a problem. because when you told someone that it, the people who wouldnt fix it generally wouldnt have it checked. If someone refused afterwards, the shop would even pay for the tow sometimes.

The bosses always said they were worried about the liability of the driver crashing into some other unsuspecting driver, and injuring someone and beeing the last one to look at it.

I always wondered about this, and I know many of our GRM brethren work in shops, just wanting to get your outlook. `

Years ago I had a woman come in for an alignment. When the tech pulled the car into the shop he nearly drove out the other side. The brakes were down to metal and leaking, the front end was completely worn out. I told the woman we couldn't align the car without repairs and that it was unsafe to drive. She got all upset and said we were trying to scam her, called her husband. When the husband arrived in his brand new car,I showed him all the problems with the car and he refused repairs. Told his wife to drive the car as is. I made him sign a repair order stating all the problems and that it should be towed as it was unsafe to drive. I think he wanted a new wife