The system builds the estimate from the repair items the mechanic sets out, parts prices and labour times. The service adviser checks it and sends it to the customer.
Automation, paid once
from €3,000 net
Test on your process: €0
You pay 50% after acceptance
How much does automating estimates in a car workshop cost, and when does it pay back?
Short answer
Automating estimates in a car workshop costs from €3,000 net. In our scenario it pays back in 2 months. Today, putting together 200 estimates by hand costs €1,745 a month. With the system, the same work costs €266. Diagnosis and the choice of repair stay with the mechanic. The system builds the estimate from what the mechanic has already set out. The test on your process is free.
Statistics
Quotes and AI: statistics 2026
−95%
According to Anthropic (2025), compiling information from reports takes an estimated 95% less time with AI.
According to the European Commission (2026), 42% of EU small and mid-sized companies already use AI or automated management systems, mostly in a limited way.
a month for putting together 200 estimates by hand
Today€1,745
With the system€266
Payback: 2 mo.
In your company
Small workshop
60 estimates · €524 a month
6.8 mo. payback
Mid-sized workshop
200 estimates · €1,745 a month
2 mo. payback
Service network
500 estimates · €4,363 a month
0.8 mo. payback
We count the payback from the time saved. The process also brings extra margin from sales: about €920 a month in this scenario (the assumptions are under “How we calculate it”). According to Harvard Business Review (2011), in a study of 1.25 million sales leads, firms that tried to contact a lead within an hour were nearly 7 times more likely to reach a decision-maker than firms that tried an hour later.
200 × 15 min = 50 h × €34.90 = €1,745 a month. With the system, a person checks the output in 15% of the old time (€262) and the model costs €4. That leaves €266. The saving is €1,479 a month, so €3,000 pays back in 2 months. The payback counts the time saved only. On top of it comes extra margin from sales: about €920 a month in this scenario.
Assumptions: 15 minutes per estimate and checking in 15% of the old time are our assumptions. €34.90 an hour is the EU average hourly labour cost for 2025 according to Eurostat, for companies with 10 or more employees. Model cost: Claude Sonnet 5.5, about 4,000 + 1,500 tokens per draft quote, at the ECB rate of 1.1205 USD per euro on 22 October 2026. The extra margin is a scenario: we assume that 1 in 20 estimates sent the same day ends in an order that a slow reply loses today, with a margin of €92. In the review we count it on your sales process.
What stays with people: Diagnosis and the choice of repair stay with the mechanic. The system builds the estimate from what the mechanic has already set out.
foap.com customer service: 95% of replies are sent automatically.
Users from several countries write to foap.com, in several languages. The system reads the entire conversation and the terms of that person, and then sends a response in that person's language. Questions about money and exceptions go to the team with a ready draft, so they have to check and send them.
the system sends the answers itself, without human typing
95%
the system sends the answers itself, without human typing
time from the arrival of the e-mail to the ready response (median)
30 s
time from the arrival of the e-mail to the ready response (median)
e-mails that require a response receive a ready-made draft
100%
e-mails that require a response receive a ready-made draft
less work for every 1000 answers (estimate)
47 h
less work for every 1000 answers (estimate)
Data from foap.com production, October 20-21, 2026. Estimate: 3 minutes for handwritten response.
It splits an enquiry into line items and looks for the basis of each price in past quotes and approved rules. A line with no basis stays unpriced and goes to the right person with a specific question. Reading one enquiry costs about €0.0008 of model work.
“We started with my own AI agent. During the training that followed, I learned to build new applications myself. Today I am bringing this way of working with AI into my business. Working with Syntalith gave me exactly the skills and tools I needed.”
You choose the test cases. We anonymise them on request.
They stay in the EU and we delete them after the test.
We sign the NDA and the data processing agreement before we receive anything.
After acceptance you keep the code, the test set and the documentation. You pay for licences and model usage directly to the provider.
Questions
How much does estimate automation for a workshop cost?
From €3,000 net, paid once. After the 5-day test the build takes 2 to 6 weeks. You get a fixed price before the contract: 50% on signing and 50% after acceptance on your own estimates.
Does the system diagnose the fault?
No. Diagnosis, the choice of repair and the safety assessment stay with the mechanic. The system builds the estimate from the items the mechanic set out.
When does it not pay off?
Below 34 estimates a month the payback takes more than a year. Then it is better to start with ChatGPT or Claude for the team, from €1,150 net.
Would our workshop software be enough?
We check that first. If the software matches parts and times to the vehicle by itself, it is enough. The system makes sense when the adviser retypes prices from several suppliers and catalogues.
What do we need to prepare?
20 to 100 estimates from recent months, access to the parts catalogues you use and your labour rate.
What our OpenAI and Anthropic partnerships mean for you.
OpenAI makes ChatGPT and Anthropic makes Claude. We belong to the partnership programs of both companies, so we work with their tools every day and learn from the creators themselves.
Claude Partner Network
01We will select a tool for the task
We implement both ChatGPT and Claude. We check both on your documents, and you choose the one that makes fewer corrections and saves more time.
02Knowledge straight from the creators
We learn from official OpenAI and Anthropic courses and materials. Your team learns about the features and settings that work today.
03Licenses without our margin
You buy accounts directly from OpenAI or Anthropic and receive an invoice from them. We do not add anything to the license.
04Certified engineers
On the team, we have an AWS certification in machine learning and an Anthropic certification in systems architecture on Claude.
Participation in programs does not mean that OpenAI or Anthropic endorses our services.
customer service
