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I've had this idea for a long time. It would be amazing to get the data on exactly what gets fixed in each of the auto repair shops, which then would let you fi

I've had this idea for a long time. It would be amazing to get the data on exactly what gets fixed in each of the auto repair shops, which then would let you figure out which cars are the most reliable, and how much owning one would cost in the long run, and maybe leads to some preventative measures to minimize the damage. I thought about it for years, and couldn't figure out a way to get the data cheaply.

Jupe 10y ago
There is no way to get the data cheaply. There's a sizable industry around this - of which YourMachanic is newer part. Repair data is used to set part prices, determine the TCO of a vehicle (similar this report shows). It is also used by the US government to mine the data for recalls. The residual data from the newer breed of online repair sites (YourMechanic, Mitchell's & Motor's offering, etc.) is hugely valuable... and in no way is easy to get to. The reason is that repair information (part #'s, labor costs, repair procedures, fluid levels, etc.) is extremely hard to digitize from 25 different manufacturers. No one uses a billing / estimating system unless is includes that data.