Mavis has no set price for a check engine scan in 2026
Mavis does not publish what it charges to diagnose a check engine light, and the reports from customers who have paid it do not agree with each other. One owner was charged $167. Another was quoted $90. A third was charged nothing at all when the fault turned out to be a loose gas cap. That spread is not a range, it is a sign that the decision is made at your branch by the person at the counter. So ask first, and get the answer in writing.
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Is this price fair?
A fair price is $130 to $210.
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Middle of the range: $170
What you are paying for
How we calculate this
Prices are for the United States in 2026 from published cost guides, checked September 2026. This is an estimate, not a quote.
What you get for the fee
| Typical fee | Mavis publishes none. Its check engine light page explains what the light means and then tells you to call the store. Its cost pages cover 15 other services and skip this one, and its coupon pages carry no diagnostic offer. |
|---|---|
| What owners report paying | A customer in Orlando, Florida was charged $167 for a diagnostic test in August 2024. A customer was quoted a $90 diagnostic fee in August 2026, though that was on an electrical fault rather than an engine light. Both reports are one person's experience at one store. |
| Some stores charge nothing | An owner in Whitsett, North Carolina reported in June 2025 that her check engine light turned out to be the gas cap and Mavis did not charge for the diagnostic test. Another customer reported a manager scanning the car at no charge. So free does happen, store by store. |
| Credited if you repair | Mavis publishes no policy. The one dated report that speaks to it is negative: the Orlando customer asked for her $167 back after declining a $950 repair and was refused. Ask before you leave the car, not after. |
| How big Mavis is | Mavis reported more than 3,500 locations across the United States and Canada in June 2025, when it completed its purchase of Midas from TBC. It already owned NTB and Tire Kingdom. Its own figures for store counts do not always agree with each other. |
| What a real diagnosis is worth | Kelley Blue Book puts a 2026 check engine diagnosis at about $131 to $209 nationally. A Mavis quote well above that is worth questioning, and one well below it may be a code read rather than a test. |
Is your quote fair?
Type the price you were quoted. We compare it to the usual 2026 range of $131 to $209.
Why the fee exists
Mavis grew by buying other chains, and chains that grow that way often leave pricing decisions at the store while they work through integration. Diagnostic time is labor, which varies by city anyway. The result for you is that the fee is a judgment call made at the counter, which is also why some customers pay nothing and others pay well over $150 for what sounds like the same visit.
What Mavis customers actually report paying
Three reports in five years do not make an average
We are not going to print a Mavis diagnostic price, because there is nothing honest to print. Across five years of public reviews there are three dated dollar figures: $129 in December 2021, $167 in August 2024 and a $90 quote in August 2026, and that last one was for a power window switch rather than an engine light. Set against those are two customers who say they were charged nothing. Averaging five scattered anecdotes would produce a number that looks authoritative and means nothing. What the reports actually tell you is the useful part: the fee is discretionary, it is decided at your store, and it is worth asking whether it applies at all before you assume it does.
The chain behind the chain
Mavis is much bigger than most customers realize. It bought NTB and Tire Kingdom from TBC, completing in 2023, and then bought Midas from the same seller in June 2025. By its own count that is more than 3,500 locations across the United States and Canada. If you are ringing round for a second opinion on a diagnostic fee, check whose sign you are calling, because NTB, Tire Kingdom, Midas and Mavis now share a parent. An independent garage or a dealer service department is a genuinely different answer in a way that a sister brand is not.
Free inspections, not free scans
Mavis advertises a free alignment check, a free battery check, a free brake inspection, a free suspension inspection and a free muffler and exhaust inspection. Every one of those is visual. None of them reads your car's computer. The confusion is understandable and it is worth being precise on the phone, because asking whether the check is free can get you a yes that refers to something else entirely. Ask specifically whether there is a charge to read the check engine codes. If you want that part free and certain, AutoZone, O'Reilly and Advance Auto Parts all do it at no charge.
What to settle before you leave the car
Get three things straight at the counter. First, the dollar figure for the diagnostic, said out loud and written on the estimate. Second, whether it comes off the bill if you have the repair done there, since Mavis publishes nothing on that and at least one customer has been refused a refund after declining the work. Third, a ceiling: tell them to ring you before going past the agreed time rather than working on and billing you after. Those three sentences are the difference between the customers who report a fair experience and the ones who report a surprise.
Common questions
How much does Mavis charge for a check engine diagnostic?
Mavis publishes no price. Dated customer reports range from no charge at all up to $167, so the fee is decided at your store. Ask before you leave the car.
Does Mavis scan check engine codes for free?
Some stores have. One owner reported no charge in June 2025 when the fault was a gas cap. There is no company wide free scan offer, so you have to ask.
Does Mavis own NTB and Midas?
Yes. Mavis completed its purchase of the NTB and Tire Kingdom business in 2023 and bought Midas from TBC in June 2025, reporting more than 3,500 locations.
Will Mavis take the diagnostic fee off the repair?
Mavis publishes no policy. One customer who declined the repair was refused a refund of her $167, so get the answer in writing before work starts.
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