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Auto repair estimate template

Itemize the parts and labor you expect the job to take. The estimate builds as you type, with authorization language and a signature line already on it. Download the PDF or print a blank copy. No account, no email address.

Your shop

Customer & vehicle

Line items

$120.00
$0.00

Your work saves in this browser only. Nothing you type here reaches our servers. “Download PDF” opens your browser’s print dialog. Pick Save as PDF as the destination.

Your shop name
Estimate
EST-1001
Estimate date
—
Customer
—
Vehicle
—
DescriptionTypeQty / HrsRateAmount
—Labor1$120.00$120.00
—Part1$0.00$0.00
Subtotal$120.00
Sales tax $0.00
Estimated total $120.00
Authorization
This is an estimate, not a final bill. Parts prices and the work found once the vehicle is apart can change what the repair costs. We will contact you for approval before performing work beyond the amount authorized below.
Customer signature
Date
Thank you for your business.

The estimate is where jobs get lost

A quote that sits in an inbox for four days is a quote the customer has already started shopping. MyAutoShopPro sends the estimate as a link the customer taps to approve from their phone, with photos of what you found attached to the line items, and turns the approved version into the repair order without anyone rekeying it.

See pricing How estimates work →

Why the written estimate is a legal document

Every state has consumer-protection rules covering automotive repair, and nearly all of them turn on the same moment: the point where the customer authorizes the work. Get that in writing and a disputed bill is a conversation. Skip it and the dispute is decided by whoever the regulator believes.

The rules vary in their details and you should check your own, but the shape is consistent. You provide a written estimate before starting. The customer authorizes it. If the job turns out to need more than you quoted, you get a second authorization before doing the extra work, not after, and not on the invoice.

What to put on a car repair estimate

  • Shop and customer details, plus the vehicle with its plate and current mileage.
  • An estimate number and a date, so the document can be referenced later.
  • Itemized parts, each on its own line, marked if used or aftermarket.
  • Itemized labor, shown as hours at your posted rate rather than a single lump figure.
  • The diagnostic fee, if you charge one, and whether it is credited back against an approved repair.
  • A clear statement that this is an estimate, and that the customer will be contacted for approval before the cost exceeds it.
  • An expiry date, typically thirty days, because parts pricing moves.
  • A signature and date line for the authorization itself.

This template puts the authorization paragraph and the signature line on the document automatically, because that is the part shops most often leave off.

Pricing a job you have not opened yet

The hard part of an estimate is not the paperwork, it is the number. Two habits do most of the work here. First, quote from labor time rather than from memory, because a job you think takes two hours often takes three, and the difference is your margin. Second, be explicit about what the estimate does not cover. “Price assumes the caliper is serviceable” costs you one line and saves the phone call where you explain why the number went up.

If you are not sure your hourly rate is where it should be, the labor rates by state reference shows what shops charge across the country against local technician wages.

From estimate to invoice

An approved estimate should become the invoice with nothing retyped. On paper that means copying every line across by hand and hoping the totals match. In estimate software the approval is recorded against the document, the approved lines become the repair order, and the invoice is the same record at the end of its life. When the customer asks what they agreed to, the answer is one click, not a folder.

Once the work is done, the auto repair invoice template takes it from here.

Estimate FAQ

Auto repair estimate questions

Q1Does a written estimate have to be signed before work starts?

In most states, yes, above a dollar threshold. Consumer-protection statutes covering automotive repair generally require the shop to give a written estimate and get the customer's authorization before beginning work, and to get fresh authorization before exceeding it by more than a set percentage. California's Bureau of Automotive Repair, for example, requires written authorization and a new approval before going over the estimate at all. Check your own state's rule, because the threshold and the allowed overage vary.

Q2How much can the final bill exceed the estimate?

That number is set by state law, not by you. Ten percent is a common ceiling; some states set a flat dollar amount instead, and a few require re-authorization for any increase whatsoever. The safe practice everywhere is the same: when the job grows, stop, call the customer, describe what you found and what it costs, and record their approval before continuing.

Q3What should a car repair estimate include?

The shop's name and contact details, the date, an estimate number, the customer and vehicle, an itemized breakdown of the parts and labor you expect the job to need, the sales tax, the estimated total, and a statement that the amount is an estimate rather than a final bill. Add a signature line and a date line so the authorization lives on the document itself.

Q4Can I charge for producing an estimate?

Usually yes, if you disclose it before you do the work. Diagnostic time is real labor and plenty of shops bill for it, commonly crediting it back if the customer approves the repair. What you cannot do in most states is bill a diagnostic fee the customer was never told about.

Q5How long should an estimate stay valid?

Thirty days is the common default and it is mostly about parts pricing. Put the expiry on the document. If a customer comes back in March with a quote from November, an expiry date is what lets you re-price it without the conversation becoming an argument.

Q6Is this estimate template free?

Yes, entirely. No account, no email address, no watermark. It runs in your browser and nothing you enter is sent to us.

Q7What is the difference between an estimate and a quote?

In everyday use they are the same document, but the words carry different weight if a dispute ever gets formal. An estimate is a good-faith projection that can move as the job reveals itself. A quote implies a fixed price you are agreeing to honor. If you mean the number can change, call it an estimate and say so on the page.

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