Having a Non-Jewish Mechanic Repair a Car on Shabbos
Question: Is it permitted to leave a car with a non-Jewish mechanic on Friday afternoon even though the mechanic may repair the car on Shabbos?
Discussion: It is clearly forbidden to expressly ask a non-Jewish mechanic to repair a car on Shabbos.[1] Moreover, even if there was no express request to repair the car on Shabbos, but the mechanic would have no time other than Shabbos to repair the car, that is considered as if he is being asked expressly to repair the car on Shabbos and it is strictly forbidden to do so. It is prohibited, therefore, to bring a car in for repair late on Friday and ask to pick it up on Saturday night immediately after Shabbos.[2]
If, however, the car was brought in with enough time to repair it before or after Shabbos, but the mechanic chooses to do the job on Shabbos, that is of no concern to us, since the work being done on Shabbos is not a result of the car owner’s instructions but rather by choice of the non-Jewish mechanic, which is permitted. This is permitted even if the mechanic clearly states in advance that he will do the work on Shabbos.[3]
It is, therefore, permitted to bring a car in for repairs on Friday afternoon right before Shabbos and ask the mechanic if it can be picked up first thing Monday morning, even if this particular mechanic is always closed on Saturday nights and Sundays, and the work will surely be done on Shabbos. This is permitted because in fact there is enough time for the mechanic to repair the car after Shabbos. The fact that the car will be repaired on Shabbos is due to the decision of the mechanic, not to the instruction of the Jew.[4]
In a case where the mechanic is unable to repair the car at any time other than Shabbos due to circumstance beyond his control, e.g., a part needed for the repair cannot be purchased at any other time except Shabbos, that may be considered as if the mechanic is being instructed to repair the car on Shabbos and would be forbidden.
[1] O.C. 252:2.
[2] Mishnah Berurah 247:4, 252:16, 307:15.
[3] Rav S.Z. Auerbach (Shemiras Shabbos k’Hilchasah 30, note 83).
[4] Igros Moshe, O.C. 4:53; 4:54; Chazon Ovadyah, Shabbos, vol. 1, pg. 159. Other poskim disagree and maintain that bringing the car into a mechanic right before Shabbos, when one knows that he never works Sundays or overtime, is tantamount to instructing him to work on Shabbos; see The Sanctity of Shabbos, pgs. 66-68, quoting oral ruling heard from Rav Y.S. Elyashiv.