Localized Labor Estimates

Your AI Estimates Now Speak Your Market

If you’ve ever looked at an AI-generated parts estimate and thought, “That’s not what it costs around here,” you’re not alone. Shop owners from Phoenix to Melbourne have told us the same thing: the numbers looked like they were pulled from a different city—or a different country.

So, we fixed it.

What’s New

ARI’s AI Parts & Labor estimator now localizes every price to your shop’s market. It uses the city, state, and currency saved in your profile to pull parts pricing from retailers that actually serve your area, and it generates a regional labor rate based on what local shops charge.

No more Los Angeles pricing showing up on a quote for a shop in rural Montana, and no more US-dollar numbers on estimates for a shop in Argentina or the UK.

How It Works

You don’t need to change a thing. As long as your profile is up to date, the next time you tap Get Parts & Labor in Labor Guides or Diagnose, the estimator will:

Regional Sourcing: Search retailers that ship to or have stores in your region.
Currency Matching: Quote every price in your local currency.
Market Insight: Pull a regional market labor rate to compare against your own Primary rate.

Price Indicators

We’ve added color-coded labels, so you know exactly where each number came from:

🟢 Green (Local Market): Found via regional search; the most accurate data for your area.
🟠 Orange (National Avg): No regional data available; perform a “sanity check” before quoting.
🔵 Blue (OEM List): Pulled directly from manufacturer list pricing.

Pro Tip: A new Total Selected card below the grid adds up your checked parts and labor live, allowing you to see your totals before you Transfer Items into the invoice. The AI also surfaces its own reasoning—such as “Shop Location used for regional pricing; waterborne paint system assumed; ADAS calibration required”—so you can see exactly what it checked.

Why It Matters for Your Shop

The regional labor rate is the feature that surprises most shop owners.

If your Primary rate is $65/hr and the local market is $120/hr, you’ll see that gap on every estimate—a clear signal that you might be leaving money on the table. Conversely, if your rate is already above market, it provides the data you need when a client pushes back on price.

For international shops, this update is the difference between a usable estimate and one you previously had to manually convert. Prices now match what you’d actually pay your parts rep, in the currency you use to invoice.

Find It in ARI (Auto Repair Software)

Ready to see it in action? Navigate to: Labor Guides > [Any Service] > Get Parts & Labor or Diagnose > Get Parts & Labor

Just a reminder: Ensure your city, state, and currency are set in your profile, and you’re good to go!

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