REPAIR OR REPLACE
Customer copy
Pre-filled with an example engine job and an average used-car payment. Type over any field, then print it for the customer.
THIS CAR
THE REPLACEMENT
| The test | Value |
|---|---|
| Repair as a share of repaired value | 45% |
| Your line (50% of $8,500) | $4,250 |
| Value the repair adds (after − as-is) | $7,000 |
| Keep: repair + other repairs, 12 months | $4,400 |
| Replace: 12 payments − as-is sale | $5,004 |
| Repair spread over 24 months kept, per month | $208 |
| Replacement payment, per month | $542 |
Rule: $3,800 ÷ $8,500 = 45% — at or under the 50% line.
Verdict
Under the 50% line and cheaper to keep over 12 months: repairing is the better buy.
Repair vs repaired value
45%
Decision: Repair ☐ Replace ☐
Customer initials ______
What the sheet tests
Three questions, in the order a customer asks them. Is the repair a big share of what the car will be worth? Does the repair add more value than it costs? And over the next year, is it cheaper to keep this car running or to make payments on another one? The verdict uses the first as the line and the third as the tiebreak. The second is printed so nobody is surprised at trade-in time.
How to use it at the counter
- Enter the full quote from your estimate calculator, parts, labor and fees.
- Enter what the car would sell for today, broken, and what it would sell for repaired. Use the same pricing guide for both.
- Add anything else your inspection found due within a year: tires, brakes, a leaking seal.
- Enter the replacement as a payment, or as an amount, APR and term if the customer has a loan quote.
- Leave the line at 50% unless you have a reason to move it, then print the sheet for the customer to initial.
Worked example: the engine that costs more than the car
| Line | Figure |
|---|---|
| Engine swap quote | $5,200 |
| Worth as-is / after the repair | $1,200 / $7,000 |
| Other repairs due within 12 months | $900 |
| Replacement payment | $542 per month |
| Repair as a share of repaired value | 74% |
| Keep, 12 months / replace, 12 months | $6,100 / $5,304 |
The swap is 74% of the repaired value, well past the line. Keeping it also costs more over 12 months, even after the $1,200 the broken car would fetch is counted against the replacement. Both tests point the same way, so the advice is easy: price the replacement. The engine repair cost guide covers the cheaper paths, used or rebuilt, that might bring the quote back under the line. If the failure is only a gasket, the head gasket repair cost guide shows what that job runs.
Why the line sits at half
The site’s transmission calculator uses a rule of thumb: replace the unit when the repair costs more than half of a replacement. This sheet applies the same half to the whole car, measured against what it will be worth once fixed. It is editable because it is a judgment, not a law. Lower it for a car with other problems coming. Raise it for a paid-off car the owner means to drive into the ground: a repair that costs less than a year of payments can still be the better buy.
Record the decision
Whichever way it goes, staple the printed sheet to the repair order. A declined repair with the customer’s initials beside the numbers protects you if the car comes back on a tow. A repair they chose with the numbers in front of them is one they do not argue about later.
REPAIR OR REPLACE
- Default line
- repair > 50% of repaired value → price a replacement
- Average used-car payment, Q2 2026
- $542 per month
- Average new-car payment, Q2 2026
- $765 per month
- Average used-car APR
- 11.19%
- Average used-car loan term
- 67.9 months
Payment averages are Experian's national figures; use the customer's real quote when they have one.