Taking your vehicle to the garage when you don’t know the root cause of the fault or issue can be a stressful experience full of uncertainty. On top of this, some motorists feel that they are unfairly quoted for the work being done, with communication and explanation largely absent.
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To assist with this issue and give more control back to drivers, UK car tech company Carly recently announced the launch of the company’s latest solution: Carly Repair Costs.
We spoke to Dan Meeghan, country manager, UK marketing, Carly, to discuss the new solution and how it aims to help not only customers but also garages.
Just Auto (JA): What is Carly Repair Costs and what does it do?
Dan Meeghan (DM): Carly Repair Costs is a free tool designed to provide car owners and buyers with accurate and instant repair cost estimates based on real-time vehicle data. This service helps users anticipate potential expenses and make informed decisions about car maintenance and repairs.
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By GlobalDataWithin a matter of seconds you can input basic data to teh web-based tool – what car you drive, the mileage you do and the issues that you are having with your car. It will come up with the three most common issues and a breakdown of costs, from the highest to the least expensive. This includes labour, part costs and parts fitment.
Once we have gone through all the various issues that the car could have, we then explain what the components are and what they do. As you go through you can start to really understand what the component does in the car, what effect it has in the car and appreciate and understand the issue in a lot more detail.
How does the AI within the tool work?
The AI in Carly Repair Costs analyses our database of over 60 million data points from vehicle diagnostics to generate precise cost estimates for repairs. It uses machine learning algorithms to understand patterns related to common vehicle issues, their symptoms, and the corresponding repair costs, offering users detailed and reliable estimates.
What was the key aim and idea behind launching this tool?
The primary aim behind launching Carly Repair Costs was to empower car owners with transparency and control over their vehicle maintenance expenses. We wanted to demystify car repair costs, reduce the anxiety associated with unexpected repairs, and help users manage their car maintenance budgets more effectively.
The primary aim behind launching Carly Repair Costs was to empower car owners with transparency and control over their vehicle maintenance expenses.
We have numerous case studies of people who have been ripped off by garages and been quoted extremely high prices, and this price has varied in price from garage to garage. By using the Carly Repair Costs, we are able to protect consumers; they know what the issue could be, they know what they might be paying to fix it, so it takes the pain of uncertainty and the unknown out.
There’s very much a fear among the public that cars are very complicated machines. But, in essence, there is a lot that can be understood in fairly simple terms. If you understand the role of the basic system components, how they work, and what they do with each other, you can get your head around the rudiments of how a car works and what you need to do if there’s a problem or fault. We’re trying to translate that actually; it’s not difficult to understand cars, and you can get your head around the basics.
How can a tool like this not only assist customers but also garages?
For customers, Carly Repair Costs provides transparency, helping them understand and anticipate repair costs before visiting a garage. For garages, it serves as a trust-building tool that aligns estimated costs with actual charges, fostering a more transparent and trusting relationship with customers.
What a lot of people do when they have an issue with their car is they will ring a garage and say something like: “I have a problem with my car, it is making a strange noise” and an experienced mechanic can probably tell them what the problem is over the phone.
With our solution, even if you want to speak to a garage, having all this extra knowledge will improve the experience. You can help them by giving them the information. This could help to reduce labour costs, and part sourcing time, because you have given them information so they can be more accurate and timelier with the diagnostics and solution. It protects people from garages who might take advantage.
With our solution, even if you want to speak to a garage, having all this extra knowledge will improve the experience.
Mechanics have got lots of practical experience and they know cars. They need an opportunity to explain and that’s where the industry struggles; there’s a real breakdown of communication. That breakdown of communication means a lack of sharing knowledge, a lack of transparency; this will sometimes cause people to think they’ve been ripped off. It’s a simple fix to put more transparency back into the picture for people and it will really help the motor industry.
This is helping people to understand what they need to pay for, what they don’t, and what they need to get done and when.
How would someone go about using the tool?
Using Carly Repair Costs is straightforward. On the website, users need to enter their vehicle details, including make, model, and year, along with the specific symptoms or issues they’re experiencing. The tool then processes this information to provide a detailed breakdown of potential faults and the estimated costs for parts and labour.
The system is easy to use, it’s broken down into areas such as broken transmissions, strange noises, electrical issues, so you can start categorising and put in all the details.
Do you see AI/tools such as this continuing to grow in the automotive space, if so why?
Absolutely. As vehicles become more technologically advanced, the need for sophisticated diagnostic tools will continue to grow. AI-driven tools like Carly Repair Costs can adapt to new technologies and repair techniques, making them invaluable for both vehicle owners and service providers in the evolving automotive landscape.
Companies are now using AI chatbots, it takes the emotion out of it, takes the pain, ego and bias out of it – it’s completely transparent.
