Anyone know where we can get a free car repair estimate online

 

If you post what kind of work you're estimating for, some of the pro's here should be able to give you a fairly close estimate on repair costs.

 

Just start at 1000 and they'll call you when the money runs out

Actually, TowGuy's suggestion or just visit a shop. Most will give you an estimate for repairs at no charge as many have computerized labor programs that give them an idea.

 

Joe, do the alldata on-line subscriptions have the labor time info like the regular shop cd-roms?

 

Tow Guy:

I will be honest...I have an Alldata at work, so I only see the "professional" side.

I would gather the 25 buck Alldata ones have the factory diagrams and procedures. I believe the labor is a different module/disk.

 

That's what I figured, I've only seen the pro program, too.

 

The easiest way for an estimate is to call various shops. Most can tell you over the phone a ballpark estimate of doing the job as most have computerized labor programs.

There might be some online sources of repair/estimates through ASE links and various shops, but it's not worth finding.

A couple of calls through shops in the yellow pages should net you the information you need. That's what I would do.

 

AllData DIY does have the suggested number of hours listed, along with the price of the parts (dealer price). For the couple of parts I bought for my Camry the price was pretty close. The dealer was about $1 more expensive (on $50 parts), but I guess that depends on location. The number of hours per job also looks reasonably close, but some of them are way overated ( 1.8 hours to replace a brake light switch )

 

They might include diagnostic time, R&R and other service operations as well.

Coffee breaks and bathroom breaks not included

 

I suppose... but I wouldn't have paid any shop for 1.8 hours of labor (around $100 in Chicago) to replace my brake light switch. Even with diagnostic time it took me less then 30 minutes. And I'm not an auto mechanic.

 

Right, I was going to add for the original poster that you would need to know the labor rates in your area in order to make use of the labor time estimates. Runs $45-55/hr in this area (dealers higher).

 

Very true TowGuy .

110% right.

Guys like us pay little mind to labor, we're DIY mavens