Get a free estimate on car repairs

Online service checks costs in your area

By Teresa Mears Sep 14, 2009 5:49PM

Do you ever wonder if your auto mechanic is charging too much?

You can get a second opinion for free. RepairPal provides free price quotes on repairs to most cars, customized by ZIP code. The quotes are created using a complex database that draws from a number of sources, including expert mechanics hired by RepairPal to analyze the data. You can access RepairPal on your computer or get the freeiPhone app.

Even if you're lucky enough to find a neighborhood mechanic you trust, it never hurts to double-check the price quote. And, if you want to work non-urgent repairs into your budget, you can research the cost ahead of time. For example, the new timing belt I'm going to need soon for my 1999 Honda CR-V should cost $285 to $368 in my area, according to RepairPal.

Cars are one of the largest expenses, after housing, for many people. If you're not careful, you can easily waste money on your car. Keeping your cars as long as you can is one good way to save money, and the last thing you want to do is overpay for repairs.

RepairPal joins several similar services: DriverSide, which is also free (and says the timing belt replacement will cost $337.33) and FairRepair, which charges $9.99 for an estimate once you enter your VIN number but gives you that cost back as a rebate if you use one of their participating mechanics, who have promised to honor the estimates.

David Sturtz, the co-founder and CEO of RepairPal, said he came up with the idea for the service in the mid-‘90s, while studying for his doctorate in international political economics at Stanford University. He told the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal that, even though he knew more about cars than 90 percent of drives, he still couldn't figure out when a repair was a good deal.

RepairPal launched last year and has partnerships with Cars.com, AutoNation and AAA of Northern California, Nevada and Utah. In addition to providing repair estimates, it provides information on recalls, explains the various repairs and answers questions. If you want to register your car data, you can keep your service records online. The website also lists repair shops with customer reviews, but that list is still a work in progress.

Related reading:

20 ways you can waste money on your car

Tags:

car repairscarsconsumer guidesavingsTeresa Mears

< Back to Smart Spending

0Comments

DATA PROVIDERS

Fundamental company data and historical chart data provided by Morningstar Inc. Real-time index quotes and delayed quotes supplied by Morningstar Inc. Quotes delayed by up to 15 minutes, except where indicated otherwise. Fund summary, fund performance and dividend data provided by Morningstar Inc. Analyst recommendations provided by Zacks Investment Research. StockScouter data provided by Verus Analytics. IPO data provided by Hoover's Inc. Index membership data provided by Morningstar Inc.

Feedback

ABOUT SMART SPENDING

Smart Spending brings you the best money-saving tips from MSN Money and the rest of the Web. Join the conversation on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Editor Bev O'Shea lives and works in the foothills of the Appalachians. A former copy editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Orlando Sentinel, she joined MSN Money in 2007. She's a fan of sunsets, college football and free shipping, among other things.

Having worked as a writer, reporter and editor for more than 25 years, Editor Julie Tilsner is the sort of person who can't help but correct grammar in Facebook postings and on billboards. She's written for BusinessWeek, the Los Angeles Times, Parenting, Redbook, AOL and others. She lives in Los Angeles County with her family and loves to drink wine and practice yoga, although not generally at the same time.

A writer for MSN Money since January 2007, Donna Freedman won regional and national prizes during an 18-year newspaper career and earned a college degree in midlife without taking out student loans. She also writes about smart money tactics for magazines and on her own site, Surviving and Thriving.

Mitch Lipka has been warning people about scams and shining light on questionable business practices for more than 20 years. Mitch, the consumer columnist for The Boston Globe, has also been a reporter and editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer, Consumer Reports, South Florida Sun-Sentinel and AOL. He won the 2010 New York Press Club award for best consumer reporting online and was honored in 2011 for his reporting on child product safety.

Marilyn Lewis is an award-winning writer with a passion for getting readers clear, straight information that helps them stay out of financial trouble. A former reporter for The San Jose Mercury News, she works from her home in Port Townsend, Wash. Contact her at MarilynLewis@Outlook.com.