Honest-1 Auto Care: Roadworthy Warranty, Exclusions and Owner

Honest-1 Auto Care is a franchised general repair chain whose written promise is a 36-month, 36,000-mile warranty made by the individual shop, with exclusions that matter more than the headline. On 16 October 2026 we read the warranty page and its fine print, the FAQ, Our Story, the service, specials and franchise pages on honest1.com, two location pages, the franchise disclosure document (FDD) of H-1 Auto Care, LLC issued March 26, 2026, from Minnesota’s franchise registry, and the federal warranty and environmental-claim rules on govinfo. The name is written Honest 1, Honest-1 and Honest1; the FDD says all three mean the same franchisor. This site has no commercial relationship with Honest-1 Auto Care or any repair chain.

Who owns Honest-1 Auto Care

The brand belongs to H-1 Auto Care, LLC, which sells the franchises. The FDD settles the spelling: “‘H-1’, ‘H1’, ‘Honest-1’, and ‘Honest1’ means H-1 Auto Care, LLC, the franchisor.” It is “a Nevada limited liability company formed on June 29, 2007,” based in St. Petersburg, Florida, and says “All rights in and goodwill from the use of our Trademarks accrue solely to us.”

The chain is older than the company. Its predecessor, Honest-1 Auto Care, Inc., was a Nevada corporation incorporated on March 17, 2003 that “offered franchises for Honest-1 Centers from June 2003 to June 2006.” On July 10, 2007 H-1 Auto Care bought its assets, including an Oregon center the predecessor opened in 2005. That is why Our Story says “since 2003” while the FAQ says “Since opening our first shop in 2005.”

Above the franchisor sits H-1 Holdings LLC, formed in Delaware on September 22, 2011, which the FDD calls “a non-operating holding company” that on October 12, 2011 “acquired 100% of us.” The FDD does not say who owns Holdings, and we read no record that does. Michael B. Cowan “has been our President and CEO since January 2018” and co-founded SLC Capital Partners, “a private investment firm located in St. Petersburg, Florida.” An affiliate, Honest-1 Auto Care, LLC, runs the company-owned centers opened in “Fall 2018, Winter 2020, and Fall 2023,” which the franchise pages call the “3 Model Training Stores.” Another affiliate is a regional master franchisee of the JAN-PRO commercial cleaning brand in Florida.

The FDD names its competitors as “Midas, Firestone, Monro, Sun Auto, Mavis, Christian Brothers and Meineke.” Our pages on Midas, Firestone, Monro, Mavis, Christian Brothers Automotive and Meineke read those chains’ own terms.

Franchised shops: who you actually deal with

Almost always a local franchisee. The FDD says “There were 61 total locations in the System as of December 31, 2025 (58 franchised and 3 company-owned),” so 95.1% were franchised by our arithmetic. The company’s own pages round the number differently:

Use the FDD’s 61. The sitemap count is 20 lower by our arithmetic, so check that a shop is a current Honest-1 location before you rely on the brand’s warranty.

The footprint is lopsided. Minnesota had 16 franchised locations at the end of 2025, 27.6% of the franchised total by our arithmetic; Oregon had 6, Texas 5, and Florida 5 franchised plus the 3 company-owned centers, 8 in all. Shops sat in 17 states. The chain has shrunk slowly, from 64 locations at the start of 2023 to 61, and the outlet table shows no new franchised location opening in 2023, 2024 or 2025. Twelve signed franchises were waiting to open, 4 of them in Minnesota.

The franchise agreement tells you whose business you are paying. Each franchisee must present itself “as an independent contractor operating the Franchised Business pursuant to a license from the Franchisor,” with a sign “in a conspicuous place” (section 18.2), and put a “notice of independent ownership on all forms, business cards, stationery, advertising, signs and other materials” (section 18.5). Nothing in the agreement lets a franchisee make any “warranty or representation on the Franchisor’s behalf” (section 18.4), though shops must use “only the standard service order, warranty and other forms approved or provided by the Franchisor.”

One clause helps if something goes wrong: “any and all consumer related complaints shall be answered by the Franchise Owner within fifteen (15) days after receipt,” with a copy to the franchisor “within three (3) days.” Put a complaint in writing to the shop and keep a copy. Item 20 also warns that some franchisees “sign provisions restricting their ability to speak openly about their experience with ‘Honest1’ System.”

What Honest-1 does: services, the digital inspection and estimates

Honest-1 sells general repair and maintenance. Its services index lists 16 services, from oil changes, brakes, cooling and exhaust to alignment, tires, transmission, electrical, battery and diagnostics, and the foreign and domestic page says “From Acura to Volvo, we cover most automotive makes and models.” Ask the shop near you whether it does the job you need.

The selling point is a free digital check. The home page says “Our ASE-certified technicians only fix what needs fixing” and offers “complimentary digital Roadworthy Inspections®,” and the FAQ promises “the what, why, and how much.” The diagnostics page lists checks from “Assessing air bag/passive restraint/SRS” to “Locating fluid leaks,” and says the team will “present any recommended repairs or safety concerns.” Our guide to the check engine light helps you read a warning before you agree to a diagnosis.

The FDD shows the system behind it. Every franchisee must buy “a digital vehicle inspection computer system,” and the confidential Operations Manual has an exhibit titled “Deferred Services” and a planned one for “Personalized Mailed Deferred Service Letters with Coupon,” so expect a follow-up on work you decline. No page promises in so many words that nothing is done without your approval: ask for the estimate in writing, line by line, and approve each item yourself. The franchise pages add a claim of their own, “In 2025, our shops had an average Google Rating of 4.6,” which we did not check.

The Roadworthy Warranty: 36 months and 36,000 miles, made by your shop

The warranty page leads with the number: “The Honest1 Roadworthy Warranty® covers 36 months and 36,000 miles, whichever is to your advantage. If we or the parts manufacturer mess up, and it’s been less than 36 months or 36,000 miles, it’s on us.” The binding text is the fine print linked below it, a form headed “WHO MAKES THIS LIMITED WARRANTY,” marked “Copyright ® 2021 Sonsio, LLC” and revised 10/21. Six points matter most:

• The shop makes it. “This Warranty is made by the Independent Service Facility (‘Facility’) who is so named on the original repair invoice,” and it “is not a warranty of H-1 Auto Care, LLC or Sonsio Administrative Services, LLC.”
• The clock starts at the repair. Cover is “measured from the date of the first repair and the odometer reading shown on the original repair invoice.”
• Commercial vehicles get less. The same sentence gives “24 months or 24,000 miles, whichever comes first, for Light Duty Commercial Vehicles,” and commercial vehicles over 1 1/2 tons are excluded.
• It does not pass to a buyer. It “is extended only to you, the original purchaser.”
• The shop chooses the fix. It may repair, replace the part “or refund to you the entire charge for the warranted repairs,” and “Warranty repair costs shall in no case exceed the costs of the original repair or service.” Cover is conditioned on “reasonable and necessary maintenance.”
• No knock-on costs. It does not include “INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (additional expenses which you may incur as the result of faulty repair or service),” though “Some states do not allow the exclusion.” In California the period is extended by the days the car is out of your hands for warranty repairs, and a failed warranty repair must be reported “within 60 days after they were completed.”

The phrase “whichever is to your advantage” appears on four pages and is defined on none. By our arithmetic, a car driven 18,000 miles a year reaches 36,000 miles 24 months after the repair: under “whichever comes first” cover would stop then, while a warranty running to the later limit would last the full 36 months. Read plainly, “to your advantage” points to the later limit, but the landing page’s “less than 36 months or 36,000 miles” can be read either way.

The form is labelled a “LIMITED WARRANTY,” as 15 U.S.C. 2303 requires of a warranty that does not meet the federal minimum standards: it “shall be conspicuously designated a ‘limited warranty’.” Because the text is online, you can do what 16 CFR 702.3 intends for products costing more than $15.00, where the seller “shall make a text of the warranty readily available for examination by the prospective buyer”: read it before work starts. And since the shop gives a written warranty, 15 U.S.C. 2308 says it may not “disclaim or modify ... any implied warranty”; the fine print does not try to.

Here is how other chains print the same term, copied from our pages with their read dates. We compare the wording only:

What the warranty covers, and what it leaves out

The fine print covers only the repair types it lists, “even though the Facility may offer other services.” There are 16 covered groups and 7 exclusion groups:

Set that beside Honest-1’s service pages and the gaps show. The engine page offers “a minor engine repair or a full replacement”; the transmission page says “the engine often needs to be removed”; the foreign and domestic page promises “any foreign or domestic auto service, all backed by our one-of-a-kind Roadworthy Warranty®.” Yet internal engine and transmission work, and any repair that removes the engine or transmission, are excluded by name. If you are quoted for that kind of job, ask in writing what warranty it carries. Our pages on transmission symptoms and AAMCO cover transmission repair separately.

Tires and batteries follow the same pattern. The tire page says to book “your next tire repair, rotation, or replacement at Honest1 for a Roadworthy Guarantee®,” and the battery page says technicians “perform car battery replacements daily,” but tires and ordinary batteries sit outside the warranty, as do oil changes and filters. For tires and batteries the maker’s warranty is usually what you have; see our guides to tire manufacturer warranties and car battery warranties, and ask for the brand on the invoice. Inspections are a grey zone too: the diagnostics page says “we back every car inspection or diagnostic with our Roadworthy Warranty®,” but neither appears in the covered groups, which end with “Other minor repairs and services.”

Making a claim away from home, and the 365 Roadside program

Where you claim depends on distance from the shop that did the work:

• Within 25 miles. “you must return your vehicle to that Facility and present your copy of the original repair invoice,” which you must “temporarily surrender” if warranty work is done.
• Farther away. Call the original shop first, “prior to calling the Warranty Administrator or having repairs performed at another facility,” says the warranty page, adding “We have programs in place to help cover costs of towing, if needed.” The fine print then requires a call to the Warranty Administrator “prior to any Warranty repair work being performed,” from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on weekdays and 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, “excluding U.S. holidays.”
• No participating shop nearby. You “may take your vehicle to a non-participating service facility,” and if it will not bill the administrator, “you must pay for the Warranty service and submit your original repair invoice and subsequent Warranty repair invoice to the Warranty Administrator for reimbursement.”

The marketing is broader. The warranty page says “More than 58,000 auto repair and service centers throughout the US honor our Roadworthy Warranty®,” and the FAQ says “It’s valid at 58,000 locations across the country.” The fine print says it “may be honored by any Honest1 Auto Care Facility participating in this program, or other authorized facility anywhere in the United States and Canada,” once the administrator directs you. The administrator’s hours list no Sunday, and nothing provides for warranty work done before that call.

Behind the network is the franchise agreement. Section 4.9 makes each franchisee join “a national warranty program” and fix covered work “even if the original products or services were provided to the customer by another Honest1 location.” The FDD says “Currently, the fees for the Warranty Programs are paid by the National Fund,” the advertising fund, “although this policy is subject to change at any time.” The manual’s warranty chapter lists exhibits titled “NAPA Car Care Center,” “Sonsio” and “National Warranty, the To Your RESCUE Program and Road Hazard Warranty”; the 17-page Roadworthy Warranty Manual is confidential, and no road hazard plan appears on the public site.

365 Roadside. “With any purchase of $25 or more at any Honest1 service center, you’re automatically a member of the 365 Roadside Assistance Program,” covering a tow, a flat tire, a jump-start or a lockout, and “we’ll reimburse up to $75 of the fee. Membership lasts a year from your last $25 purchase.” You pay first and are reimbursed “up to a maximum of $75.00 per occurrence” with a “limit (2) occurrences per coverage period,” so at most $150 a period by our arithmetic. It works “in the USA and Canada,” and “The driver of the vehicle must be present when the service provider arrives.”

The “Honesty Policy,” the “Roadworthy Guarantee” and “Eco-Friendly Auto Care”

With a name like Honest-1, people look for an honesty promise. The one on the Our Story page is the warranty, headed “Our Honesty Policy: Roadworthy Warranty®”: “We’re so confident in our services we back them up with a 36-month / 36,000-mile warranty, whichever is to your advantage. No one else offers a better nationwide warranty.” That last sentence is the company’s claim; the terms table above shows another chain printing 36,000 miles with a stated end point. We found no satisfaction guarantee and no money-back promise on any national page.

The “Roadworthy Guarantee®” is a name rather than a document. The brake page says “Schedule your next brake repair or replacement with Honest1 for our Roadworthy Guarantee®,” and the tire and diagnostics pages use it too. The FDD’s trademark table lists ROADWORTHY GUARANTEE as registered on 06/25/2024, the same day as ROADWORTHY WARRANTY, both on the Supplemental Register. No page says what the guarantee covers, for how long or who honors it; if a shop invokes it, ask for the terms in writing.

The other theme is the planet. “Eco-Friendly Auto Care®” is on almost every page and has been a registered mark since 10/20/2009, the FDD shows. The FAQ explains it as “We deliver top-notch auto care services while minimizing our environmental footprint,” and Our Story points to “our complementary Roadworthy Inspection®, or operational processes like safe waste removal” and an “ESA® Program (Environmentally Sustainable Actions),” whose manual runs about 10 pages and is not public.

The FTC’s Green Guides, at 16 CFR 260.4, address exactly this kind of phrase: “marketers should not make unqualified general environmental benefit claims,” and their first example says “The brand name ‘Eco-friendly’ likely conveys that the product has far-reaching environmental benefits.” They allow “clear and prominent qualifying language that limits the claim to a specific benefit or benefits.” The guides are the FTC’s reading of the law, not a finding about any company, and we found no FTC action naming Honest-1. The practical step for a driver: ask the shop what it recycles and how it disposes of oil, coolant and old parts.

One premise does not hold. Honest-1 is often described as family-friendly, but its pages never use the phrase. Our Story has a heading “Family-operated, community-minded,” about training and technicians who “are Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Certified,” and promises “a cozy waiting area.”

Factory warranties, maintenance schedules and your records

Honest-1’s national pages say nothing about a carmaker’s warranty. The maintenance page takes its own line: “Your vehicle’s manual suggests a maintenance schedule; however, we believe in a more customized approach.” The oil change page suggests changes “every 5,000 to 7,500 miles,” with the oil type “as listed in your owner’s manual.”

If your car is still under its factory warranty, follow the carmaker’s schedule rather than a custom plan, and have every visit recorded. Federal law lets you use an independent shop. Under 15 U.S.C. 2302(c), “No warrantor of a consumer product may condition his written or implied warranty of such product on the consumer’s using” a branded article or service unless it is free, and 16 CFR 700.10(c) bars requiring “the use of only authorized repair service and/or authorized replacement parts for non-warranty service and maintenance.” Your proof is the invoice. Our guides to oil-change intervals and routine maintenance explain what a schedule usually asks for.

Keep those records yourself. Section 5.16 of the franchise agreement counts “any customer service history, customer invoices, customer warranty information, and customer contact information” among the “trade secrets of the Franchisor,” and the FDD records shops leaving the system: 2 locations ceased operating in 2024 and 1 franchise was terminated in 2025. If your shop closes, the invoice in your glovebox is the one you can count on. Our page on getting service records covers what to do when a shop holds them.

Prices, coupons and paying

Honest-1 prints no national price for any job. The Specials page says only “Find your local Honest1 to see current specials.” The two location pages we read, in Aurora, Illinois and McKinney, Texas, list local specials with expiry dates, some for rewards members only; we record no amounts. Prices are each shop’s decision, though the franchisor “may provide guidance on suggested prices.” Ask for the total, with any fees and tax, before you approve work.

We found no customer financing: no card, lender or payment plan on the national pages or the two location pages, and the roadside fine print has you pay a provider by “credit card or cash” and claim back. The financing lines on the site concern franchise buyers: “Honest1 does not provide direct financing to its franchisees,” and the FDD says “We do not offer direct or indirect financing.” If a shop offers a payment plan at the counter, it is that shop’s arrangement; read the lender’s terms first.

For franchise buyers, the FDD prints a $75,000 initial fee, a total investment of “$285,250 to $1,317,250,” a royalty of 6% of weekly gross sales and an advertising fee of 2% to 4% (2% now).

What filings and regulators show

Lawsuits in the FDD. Item 3 lists two cases, both “Franchisor Initiated Litigation” against franchise owners. In H-1 Auto Care, LLC v. Driven Ventures, Inc., et al., Case No. 6-25-cv-00573-AGM-DCI (M.D. Fla.), “On March 31, 2025, Honest1 filed a Verified Complaint for Injunctive Relief and Damages.” On May 20, 2025 the court “converted the Temporary Restraining Order to a Preliminary Injunction,” barring the defendants from transferring their franchised businesses or misusing trade secrets while the case runs, and by agreement “enjoined Honest1 from terminating the DV Franchise Agreements”; the franchisees’ counterclaims “were, therefore, abandoned.” In H-1 Auto Care, LLC v. Green Auto, LLC, et al., Case No. 8:25-cv-02885 (C.D. Cal.), “On December 21, 2025, Honest1 filed a Verified Complaint” claiming a former franchisee failed “to pay past due royalties, advertising fund contributions, and comply with post-termination covenants.” These are the franchisor’s allegations as its own document describes them; we read no court file, and neither case concerns a customer’s repair.

Settlements. The audited notes say the company sued “a now former franchisee, its owners and personal guarantors, and competing businesses” in 2023, and that a settlement effective March 8, 2024 carried “total monetary consideration” of $5,000,000. In 2025 it “settled two legal matters and received total proceeds of approximately $1,210,000.” Item 4 says “No bankruptcy is required to be disclosed in this Item.”

Minnesota’s registry. H-1 Auto Care, LLC is registered under file number 10880 for the franchise name “Honest-1”; its renewed registration took effect on 06/12/2026, with the next annual report due 06/12/2027.

What we did not find. Searches on 16 October 2026 turned up no action by the FTC or a state attorney general naming Honest-1 Auto Care, Honest1 or H-1 Auto Care. The Better Business Bureau’s site blocked our reader, so no rating is reported, and we read no court file for private suits. If a repair dispute goes nowhere with the shop, your state’s consumer protection office is the next stop.

Where Honest-1’s own documents disagree

We recorded 13 places where the company’s documents disagree. Those that matter to a customer:

• Who stands behind it. “it’s on us” and “Our Honesty Policy” on the marketing pages; “not a warranty of H-1 Auto Care, LLC” in the fine print.
• Engines, transmissions, tires and batteries. Sold on service pages “all backed by our one-of-a-kind Roadworthy Warranty®” or “for a Roadworthy Guarantee®”; excluded in the fine print.
• Inspections. “we back every car inspection or diagnostic with our Roadworthy Warranty®”; neither appears among the covered repair types.
• Reach. “58,000 locations across the country”; participating Honest-1 shops or other authorized facilities, reached through the administrator, in the fine print.
• Every vehicle. “parts and labor up to 36 months and 36,000 miles” in the FAQ; 24 months or 24,000 miles for light duty commercial vehicles, and a refund option, in the fine print.
• Size and age. “60+ locations,” “50+ franchised stores and 3 Model Training Stores” and 61 in the FDD; “since 2003” and “first shop in 2005,” both explained by the FDD.

Smaller slips: the maintenance page rotates tires “every 6,000 to 8,000 miles” while the tire page cites “5,000 to 8,000 miles”; the fine print names “Sonsio Administrative Services, LLC.” and then “Administrative Services, LLC”; and the FDD’s Item 19 says one 2024 location “was mutually terminated” while its outlet table shows no 2024 terminations. None of this changes your invoice, which is why the invoice is the document to check.

Common questions

Who owns Honest-1 Auto Care?

H-1 Auto Care, LLC, a Nevada company based in St. Petersburg, Florida, owns the brand and sells the franchises. It is wholly owned by H-1 Holdings LLC, a non-operating holding company. Michael B. Cowan has been President and CEO since January 2018. Each shop is owned by a local franchisee, apart from 3 company-owned centers in Florida.

Is Honest-1 the same as Honest1 or Honest 1?

Yes. The franchise disclosure document says “H-1”, “H1”, “Honest-1” and “Honest1” all mean H-1 Auto Care, LLC. The website writes Honest1; Minnesota’s registry lists the franchise as Honest-1.

What does the Honest-1 Roadworthy Warranty cover?

Listed repair types, including brakes, A/C and heating, cooling, steering and suspension, exhaust, fuel, ignition, electrical, clutches and drive axles, for 36 months and 36,000 miles “whichever is to your advantage” from the repair date. It excludes internal engine and transmission work, tires, batteries other than hybrid drive batteries, oil and fluid changes, filters, body work and glass.

Is the Honest-1 warranty honored nationwide?

At participating Honest-1 shops and other authorized facilities in the United States and Canada. Within 25 miles you go back to the original shop. Farther away, call the original shop and the Warranty Administrator before any work; a non-participating shop may mean paying and claiming back with both invoices.

Does Honest-1 offer financing?

Not on its website. We found no customer credit card, lender or payment plan on the national pages or the location pages we read; the financing statements concern franchise buyers.

Will servicing my car at Honest-1 void my factory warranty?

Federal law bars a carmaker from requiring authorized dealers or branded parts for maintenance it does not pay for, so an independent shop can do the work. Follow the owner’s manual schedule rather than a custom plan, and keep every invoice; Honest-1’s own pages say nothing about factory warranties.