How Kwoute Works
Transparency about our data and methods is core to what we do. Here's exactly what we check, where our data comes from, and what we don't cover.
What Kwoute checks
When you upload a repair quote, Kwoute analyses up to six things: the labour hours charged, the parts prices, the garage's regional labour rate, whether the recommended repairs match your reported symptoms, whether any commonly required parts are missing from the quote, and how the total compares to typical costs for that job on that vehicle.
Not every check applies to every quote. A total-only quote without a labour breakdown will receive a range assessment rather than a full line-by-line analysis. We'll always tell you what we checked and what we couldn't.
Where our data comes from
Labour benchmarks
Our labour time estimates are compiled from published repair industry guides and cross-referenced against data from a wide sample of UK repair quotes. These benchmarks represent the typical time range for a given job on a given vehicle type — not a single fixed number, because real repair times vary by garage setup, vehicle condition, and regional working practices. We express benchmarks as ranges, not absolutes.
Parts pricing
Parts price data is sourced from live trade and retail sources, including eBay Motors and other UK automotive parts marketplaces. This gives us a real-time view of what components cost to buy — from budget aftermarket through to OEM-equivalent. We use this to contextualise the parts cost on your quote against what the garage likely paid.
Regional labour rates
Hourly labour rates vary significantly across the UK — a London main dealer charges very differently from a rural independent. Our regional benchmarks are built from publicly available data on garage hourly rates across UK postcode areas, allowing us to compare your quote against local rates rather than a national average.
Diagnostic and symptom matching
When you provide symptoms or diagnostic context (warning lights, garage verbal advice, OBD codes), we use an AI language model to assess whether the recommended repairs are consistent with those symptoms. This is a plausibility check — we flag when recommended work seems unrelated to reported symptoms, which can indicate either a misdiagnosis or unnecessary upselling.
What we don't check
Kwoute is a benchmarking tool, not an inspection. We cannot tell you:
- —The physical condition of your vehicle or whether the repair is actually needed.
- —Whether the parts used will be genuine OEM, branded aftermarket, or unbranded budget parts (unless your quote specifies).
- —Whether a higher price reflects specialist expertise, premium parts, or exceptional service quality — we note this when context suggests it (e.g., main dealer vs. independent).
- —Electric vehicle-specific repair costs — our data covers petrol and diesel vehicles most comprehensively. EV-specific repairs (battery replacement, inverter failure, thermal management) are outside our current data coverage.
How we handle uncertainty
We believe it's better to be honest about what we don't know than to give you a false sense of precision. When our data coverage for a specific vehicle, repair type, or region is limited, we tell you — and we widen the confidence range accordingly. An assessment from Kwoute is a data-backed starting point for an informed conversation with your garage, not a final ruling.
About our data (and where it's going)
Kwoute launched in 2026 as an independent benchmarking tool for UK car repair pricing. Our current database is built from research across publicly available sources. We are actively working toward licensing additional data from specialist automotive data providers to improve the accuracy and coverage of our labour benchmarks.
As more quotes are checked through Kwoute, our aggregate (anonymised) dataset grows — improving the precision of our benchmarks over time. Individual quotes are never published or shared. Your data helps make Kwoute better for everyone.
A note on garage pricing
Most UK garages price fairly. Our analysis exists because repair pricing is genuinely complex — not because garages are dishonest. The same job on the same car can legitimately cost £200 at an independent and £500 at a main dealer, and both prices can be reasonable. Kwoute helps you understand why your quote is what it is, and gives you the confidence to approve, question, or seek a second opinion.
Have a question about our methodology? Try checking a quote and see how it works in practice.