Can we make smarter decisions about cars? Trying to figure out the repair or replace problem
Up front, I am a real human (not a bot), personal finance nerd with a background in banking and FIRED in 2023. I am genuinely interested in helping others build wealth and making smarter decisions on these impossible financial issues. I am not promoting anything, not making any money, and do not collect any personal data, nor do I have any affiliations or partnerships.
I don't feel like anyone is on the side of the consumer when it comes time to decide when to repair or replace a vehicle, especially in this time of very high car prices. Dealers profit when you replace. Banks profit when you finance. Mechanics can oversell repairs.
After my father in law called me asking for advice on his 10 year old Jeep, I looked around to see if there was a tool that brought all the data we have on cars together into one spot to help make a verdict. After not seeing anything, I built SortYourAuto to get a clear result on this important question. Anyone can piece the data out there (Kelley Blue Book, JD Power, Repair Pal, etc.) together or type their car into google or chat or claude and after back and forth get some semblance of an answer. I was looking to shorten and refine that experience.
I am asking people to use this and see if it works for you or how it could be better. I genuinely want feedback. I have learned a ton from this and all of the FIRE threads. I hope this helps what seems to be a tough problem for many people.