Repair Cost Estimator
Total a repair quote and compare it against buying new.
What you provide
Result
PASS$210 to repair, cheaper per year than replacing
Over the 3.0 years this device still has, the repair works out cheaper per year than buying new. Two things can still change the answer: whether the failed part is the first of several to go, since a device that has already had one board-level failure often has more coming, and whether anything else on it is close to end of life. Ask the shop what else they saw while it was open.
- 30Clearly worth it
- 50Judgement call
- 100Cost of new
- Parts
- $120.00
- Labour1.5 h at $60
- $90.00
- Diagnostic fee
- credited against the repair
- Total repair
- $210.00
- Share of replacement cost
- 35%
- Remaining life
- 3.0 years
- Repair cost per remaining year
- $70.00
- New device cost per year
- $100.00
What this cannot tell you
- Arithmetic on the figures you enter. It cannot inspect the device or judge whether the quoted repair is the right one.
- It compares money over time and nothing else. Data migration effort, warranty on the repair, and whether the failed part is the first of several are all real factors it does not price.
Take this with you
How this calculation works
The quote is totalled properly, including the diagnostic fee when it is not credited back, which is the line most estimates leave out. The comparison against replacement is then made per remaining year rather than as a flat percentage, because that is the honest way to weigh a repair on a device with four years left against the same repair on one with one year left. A flat rule of thumb treats both the same and gets one of them wrong.
What the results mean
- Share of replacement cost
- The repair as a percentage of buying new. The rough working rule is that above half needs a specific reason, and above two-thirds needs a good one.
- Repair cost per remaining year
- The total spread across the life the device still has. Compare it against the new-device figure below it, which is the same calculation for a replacement.
- Remaining life
- Expected total life minus current age. Be realistic here, since this figure drives the whole comparison.
Common problems and fixes
- The quote came in higher than the estimate over the phone
- Ask for the breakdown in the same shape as this calculator. The usual causes are a diagnostic fee that turned out not to be credited, a part quoted at trade price and billed at retail, and labour that ran over the estimate. All three are reasonable to ask about, and a shop that will not itemise a quote is telling you something.
- The repair is cheap but the device keeps failing
- Count the previous repairs into the decision rather than treating each as new. A device that has already needed one board-level repair is meaningfully more likely to need another, and the pattern usually reflects age or a design weakness rather than luck. Two repairs in a year on an older device is normally the point to stop.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a rule for when to repair rather than replace?
The common one is half the replacement cost, and it is a starting point rather than an answer because it ignores remaining life. A repair at 40% of replacement cost on a device with six months left is poor value, and one at 60% on a device with four good years is fine. That is why this calculates per remaining year.
Should I count the environmental cost?
It genuinely favours repair, and by more than most people assume. The great majority of a device lifetime carbon footprint is in manufacturing rather than in use, so keeping a working device for another two years avoids far more than any efficiency gain from a newer model. This calculator prices money only, so treat that as a thumb on the scale it does not show.
What about the time cost of replacing?
Real and usually underestimated. Setting up a new machine, migrating data, reinstalling software and finding the settings you had customised is typically half a day, and it carries a genuine risk of losing something. If your time has a value, that belongs in the comparison alongside the price.
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