DIY vs Shop Calculator
“How much does this cost?” is the most common question people ask about car repair, and the honest answer depends on a quote only you have. So this asks for your numbers rather than pretending to know them: the shop’s price, what the parts cost, what any tool costs, and how long the job takes you. It works out what you keep, what that makes your own time worth per hour, and how many jobs it takes before a tool pays for itself. Nothing is sent anywhere — the math runs in your browser.
Your numbers, not ours
Get the shop’s quote first — most will give one over the phone. Look up the parts at any auto parts retailer. Be honest about the hours: a first attempt takes longer than the video makes it look.
What you keep, and what it pays you
Three things this number does not know
It does not price the risk. Brakes, suspension and anything holding the car off the ground are safety-critical. A job you are not sure about is not a job with a low hourly rate — it is one to hand over, whatever this says. The same goes for anything that voids a warranty.
It does not count the tools you keep. Spread the tool cost over the jobs you will genuinely use it on and the answer changes, which is why that field is there. A socket set bought once serves a decade; a specialist puller might serve one job.
It does not know whether you enjoy it. Plenty of people work on their own car at an hourly rate they would never accept at work, and that is a perfectly good reason. This is the money, not the whole decision.
No prices are built into this page, deliberately. Shop labour rates vary by several times across the country and part prices move constantly, so a “typical cost” printed here would look authoritative and be wrong for most readers. Every figure above is one you entered.
The repair you did not plan for
Most repair bills are not a surprise because the part failed — they are a surprise because nothing was set aside for them. Forgenta tracks what your car actually costs across a year, so the next quote comes out of a fund instead of a credit card.
Related reading: budgeting for car maintenance · the true cost of owning a car · change your own oil · change your brake pads · emergency fund calculator