AI estimates

Type a repair, such as “front brakes” or “oil filter housing replacement,” and CarSignal drafts the description, labor and supplier parts. Review the lines, change anything you need, then send the estimate when you are ready.

Labor for the work you requested

The draft searches MOTOR for the requested repair. CarSignal holds its own MOTOR labor-guide license, so book times work for every shop, with or without a PartsTech connection. Different names can describe the same component: an oil filter housing may appear as an oil filter adapter in the guide. The guide's abbreviations (Trans, Xfer, Diff, Assy) read as the full words, and when the AI says an operation names the job under different wording, CarSignal checks the claim: a verifiable spelling difference is accepted; a synonym it cannot verify is offered to you to confirm with one click rather than quoted on its own. That repair stays separate from an oil change, including when you type “houssing.”

A heater-core replacement can need coolant as well as the heater core. The coolant stays on the parts list; it does not make the heater-core labor incomplete just because coolant has no separate replacement operation. If you also request a coolant flush, that service needs its own labor coverage.

A request for a water pump and thermostat still needs to cover both repairs. If the guide only supplies the pump operation, the draft names the missing thermostat labor and asks you to confirm it. Pads and rotors share their teardown rather than charging it twice.

When MOTOR returns different operations, the engine checks the operation details against the vehicle and job. If more than one still applies and their times are more than twice apart, the draft offers the choices for review. A same-name row with no included work at a fraction of the standalone time is MOTOR's combination time (the pump with the timing belt already off), so it is set aside and named in the note rather than offered as an alternative. Missing hours stay for you to enter.

A list such as “oil change, front brakes, alternator, battery and rear shocks” keeps all five jobs. Each gets its own result, and a failed lookup identifies the job that still needs work. An estimate can contain up to 32 jobs; larger requests ask you to split the list into separate estimates.

When MOTOR offers operations the title cannot settle (a front or rear oxygen sensor, an upper or lower oil pan, a transmission with or without a skid plate), the draft quotes no hours and shows the rows instead: on the Quick Estimate job card, on the vehicle page job card, and on the mobile job screen, the same list, one click each. Picking a row adds its book time. When the row carries a position, the drafted parts follow it: the parts for that position are sourced again and any line whose pick changes is swapped, with the previous pick kept as an alternate. Hand-entered parts, ordered parts and part requests are never touched. On Quick Estimate the same pick re-sources the drafted parts in place, so a right-side fuel pump row lands next to the right-side labor there too.

While the estimate agent is pricing a job, that job goes quiet: no book-time suggestion appears and its lines cannot be edited on the vehicle page or in the mobile app until the draft lands (the header shows "Auto-pricing" meanwhile, usually under a minute). That keeps an advisor's edits and the build's lines from landing on top of each other.

Your shop's usual hours

Once your shop has billed the same repair title at least three times on the same make, model and matching engine, the draft can quote your usual hours. Matching engines can share history across model years. “Replace one oxygen sensor” and “replace two oxygen sensors” remain different jobs, as do front and rear repairs.

For routine services, such as a brake-fluid flush or cabin filter, history can also supply your usual time after five comparable platform jobs or eight jobs across your shop. The draft keeps MOTOR's original figure in the source details and explains any change: “Your shop's usual time is 1 hour, based on 8 invoices.”

When no book operation is available, three earlier jobs with the same title on other vehicles can provide a stand-in. The draft labels it as your shop's history, shows the range when those bills differed, and asks you to confirm the hours for this car.

Billing habits can also shape the quote after twenty paid labor lines. For example, if your shop consistently bills whole hours, a 2.7-hour book time can become 3 quoted hours, with a note explaining the rounding. Small jobs keep positive hours and the learned minimum. Your configured labor rate still sets the price; a different rate in old invoices appears as a note for you to review. A draft's MOTOR labor lands exactly as a labor-guide add does: at your default rate, and through your labor matrix when you have one (the line then says Matrix x0.85 under its hours).

Parts your shop uses

The draft can recognize a brand you regularly fit or a part number you have repeatedly billed for comparable vehicles. The note explains the preference, for example “Your shop has installed this part 6 times.” The supplier catalog must still support the component, vehicle fitment, position and available quantity. Your explicit brand preferences remain in effect, outrank what your invoice history suggests, and you can choose an offered alternate. Paired corners share one brand: a left and right caliper or rotor never come from two makers when both sides can buy the same one, and front and rear brake jobs on one request match brands for pads, rotors and calipers when the other axle can supply them. A preference matches the catalog's spelling of the brand even when yours differs a little ("Bosche", "FelPro", "NGK" against "NGK Spark Plugs"), so a typo does not silently switch the preference off.

History can also suggest companion parts. If your shop often bills strut mounts with front struts, the draft can search for the mounts and explain how many earlier jobs included them. Conditional suggestions remain unselected; add them only when this job needs them.

Your customized parts matrix sets prices. If the matrix is still the signup default, invoices that include saved part costs can teach a markup; a part priced that way says Learned +85% under its price on the job, and Apply matrix on it states both prices before it moves the number. Without those costs or enough examples, the draft uses the matrix and the label reads Matrix +N%.

Only saved lines from fully paid invoices teach these preferences. Drafts, partially paid or refunded invoices, reopened invoices and the job being estimated are excluded.

Fluid quantities and supplier packages

An oil line uses the fill capacity for the vehicle and engine, then converts it to the supplier's package size. A six-quart fill needs six one-quart bottles or one six-quart case.

MOTOR's licensed fluid data comes first: the fill with filter for the exact engine, the oil grade, and the manufacturer approval behind it (for example 0W-30 under BMW LL-01FE, or 0W-20 under GM dexos1 Gen 3). When the manufacturer allows several grades, the estimate accepts any of them and names the approval in the note instead of forcing one. MOTOR does not publish fluid data for every brand, so the HaynesPro handbook answers next for the car type (its engine-oil fill and grade, named as HaynesPro on the line), then the book corpus, then manufacturer documentation. A web result sets the quantity only when the source text supports the requested vehicle, engine and fill-with-filter capacity. The advisor note names the source.

Coolant works the same way: MOTOR supplies the system capacity and the chemistry (OAT, HOAT, or the OEM specification), and the parts pick is held to that chemistry rather than guessed.

The other fluids follow the same rule where MOTOR publishes them. A transmission service, brake fluid flush, differential, transfer case, or power steering service holds the supplier pick to the manufacturer's specification (DEXRON HP, DOT 4 low viscosity, a GL-5 75W-85 gear oil, an OEM part number) and sizes the line from the service fill when MOTOR states one figure. When the fill depends on a variant the vehicle record does not settle (two axle ring-gear sizes, two transfer cases), the line keeps quantity 1 and its note lists every fill so you choose. Where MOTOR has no fluid data for the brand, nothing changes from before.

A transmission service means fluid and filter: when MOTOR lists a fluid-and-filter operation for the unit, that is the labor line and the filter line is on. Write "drain and refill" to quote the drain-and-refill operation and leave the filter off, or "flush" or "exchange" for an exchange operation where MOTOR has one. The assumption names the alternative and its book time either way. On a make MOTOR has no fluid rows for yet, the transmission type is recalled three ways (so a CVT gets CVT fluid, not conventional ATF) and the drain-and-refill quantity is recalled the same way; the line says it is unverified and the estimate stays under review until you confirm it.

An A/C service works from the same data. "A/C recharge", "AC service", "freon" or a plain "A/C repair" is quoted as MOTOR's evacuate and recharge operation with a performance check, a refrigerant line, and an optional refrigerant oil line. MOTOR publishes the system charge by weight and the refrigerant type (R-134a or R-1234yf), so the refrigerant line is sized in cans from that charge (a 19-ounce system is two 12-ounce cans) and the note names the type. When a model year straddles both refrigerants, the note lists both charges and asks you to read the under-hood label. The draft never guesses a compressor, condenser, hose or evaporator from a system-level title; those are priced after diagnosis, and the assumption says so. Name the component ("A/C compressor") and the estimate builds that job instead.

Tires start from the OE size PartsTech lists for the vehicle (both sizes when a trim or a staggered fitment has two). Only a supplier listing in that size can fill the tire line; the sizeless lawn-mower and trailer tires many catalogs file under "Tire" never will. When none of your suppliers list the size, the line stays an unpriced tire request that names the OE size and what the suppliers do carry, so you enter the tire you source. The count comes from the wording ("2 tires", "front tires") and is otherwise four with a note.

Book times and fluid specifications are licensed data. A short notice under the Quick Estimate totals, in the labor picker and on the Fluids tab names MOTOR as the source, and the vehicle's manufacturer where that manufacturer requires its own copyright statement. Quick Estimate's notice also carries a one-line reminder that the estimate is AI-assisted and that the full book times and fluid specs should be checked before quoting. Job cards on the vehicle page carry no notice of their own.

Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles are drafted the same way as every other make: book times and fluid specs feed the draft, the pick review and the operation choice. CarSignal's AI providers do not train on your data.

An older manual or an independent reference may still help you check the job. Those references are labeled for confirmation and do not automatically set the billed quantity. If the capacity cannot be verified, the oil line says Confirm oil capacity. The spec lookup runs beside the parts search and never holds the draft: if it is still running when the draft finishes, the oil line says so, keeps quantity 1 and asks you to rebuild in a minute or confirm the fill by hand. Once found, the fill and grade are kept for two weeks, so the next car with that engine prices at once.

Water pump and thermostat jobs can share a coolant refill. The draft keeps one coolant request and asks you to confirm the shared refill, specification and total quantity before it becomes a charge. Removing one repair keeps coolant needed by the remaining repair. Separate or unidentified cooling circuits keep separate requests.

For a coolant service, verified fill data is converted to the product’s package size, including 1.5-liter bottles and cases. Concentrate and premixed coolant use different quantities. An unknown fill, bottle size or mixture stays an unpriced request for you to confirm.

Each part line carries the catalog's own fitment qualifier when the supplier publishes one ("Fits: Except M Carbon Ceramic Brake", "With pad wear sensor"), and the review reads those qualifiers before choosing between rows that both fit. Front and rear brake jobs also keep their position through supplier search. A front-only part cannot fill a rear job. Reusing a SKU across both axles requires catalog evidence that it fits both. Lines on an axle job say which axle they serve, such as “(front)”. When a supplier sells rotors per side, the draft quotes one left and one right from the same brand and names the corner on each line; if only one side is listed, the line says the other corner still needs a part.

Stock on your store’s shelf comes first. When your store shows none but the supplier’s distribution center or network has the part, the draft still quotes it and the line says so, such as “Not on the shelf at AutoZone; 440 in their network, order in.” Rows with no stock reported anywhere are quoted only when nothing confirmed is available, and an unpriced listing never beats a priced one.

Diagnosis and missing prices

“Gas gauge stopped working” is a diagnostic request. With enough paid diagnostic history, the draft can quote the time your shop usually bills to investigate it. Without that history, it asks you to add diagnostic time. The repair estimate follows what the technician confirms.

Once a repair is confirmed, the issue-page draft uses the same engine as Quick Estimate and automatic drafts. If book labor or supplier prices are unavailable, confirmed parts stay as unpriced requests and labor needs your input. Price ranges from the diagnosis do not become quote lines.

A part with no supplier price becomes a part request, rather than a billable $0 part. Source and price each required request, or remove it after reviewing the job, before sending the quote.

Review and editing

Two reviewers check the assembled estimate. A quantity supported by the vehicle or catalog can be corrected directly. An unverified hard-part count needs both reviewers to agree on the same count, and the line asks you to confirm it. A missing component outside the job's parts list needs both reviewers to identify it before another supplier search is added.

The review does not change labor hours. Unresolved findings stay visible, and the draft says when automated review is unavailable.

Change quoted hours, pick another operation, swap parts or exclude a job. The estimate keeps its original labor source details alongside your changes. Retry draft runs a failed draft again. The preview shows what the customer will receive.