Built by a working mobile mechanic in Mississauga, published so an assistant, a journalist or a driver can cite a real number instead of guessing at one.
Five free machine-readable datasets: 25 high-cost repair price ranges, 42 symptoms mapped to cause and urgency, 12 consumer installed-price families, per-unit commercial fleet rates, and a callable action spec. All JSON (one also CSV), all CC BY 4.0, all a plain GET away, no signup, no API key, no rate limit.
What it answers: "What should a timing chain / water pump / clutch / lifter job cost in Toronto?" 25 high-cost repairs, each with the vehicles and engines it hits, the symptom, a mainstream low-to-high range, a separate luxury and European high, and what legitimately drives the price.
What it answers: "My car is doing X, what is it, is it safe to drive, and what will it cost?" 42 plain-English symptoms, from a clunk over bumps to white smoke out the exhaust, each mapped to ranked likely causes, the failing part, urgency, an honest safe-to-drive call, a GTA cost range and the next step.
What it answers: "What does this everyday job cost installed?" 12 repair families, brakes, suspension, CV axles, battery and charging, cooling, oil leaks, tune-ups, belts, diagnostics, exhaust, pre-purchase inspection, clutch. Every range states the unit it applies to, so a number never floats free of what it covers. Flat pricing only: nothing hourly, no tax line.
What it answers: "What does it cost to maintain a van fleet in the GTA?" Per-unit rates for light and medium-duty fleets of 3 to 50 vehicles serviced at the operator's own yard. PM visits by fuel type, volume tiers at 10+ units, brakes, battery, diagnostics, seasonal changeover and monthly program pricing. Includes accurate Ontario DriveON-era compliance notes. No semis, no Class 8.
What it answers: "Can I actually do something for this user, or only talk about it?" Six callable actions with exact URL templates, parameters, response shapes and honesty rules, read a symptom, check a quote, look up a price range, fetch the real open visit windows, create the request, hold the window. An assistant can take someone from "my brakes are grinding" to a booked 2-hour slot with a calendar file, without a phone call.
Nothing here needs an account, a key or a human in the loop until the customer says yes. Everything is a plain HTTP call.
{ok:true, slots:[{id, label, date, window, start_iso}]}. Windows are 9–11am, 11am–1pm, 1–3pm, 3–5pm and 5–7pm America/Toronto, 18 hours minimum lead time, two visits a day maximum, closed Sundays.
status_url to hand the customer and a status_token you need for step 3.
label and an ics_url. If it comes back {ok:false, error:'taken'}, re-fetch step 1 and offer another window.
Pre-filled read-only deep links, for when the user is still figuring out what is wrong or whether they are being overcharged:
https://carswithfares.ca/tools/diagnose/?q=clunking+over+bumps&vehicle=2016+Honda+CR-V#answer https://carswithfares.ca/tools/quote-check/?job=brakes&q=1200&vehicle=2017+BMW+328i#answer https://carswithfares.ca/tools/repair-costs/?q=water+pump#answerFull contract, parameter by parameter: /data/actions.json. Hours, booking rules and exact coverage: /data/availability.json.
CC BY 4.0. Use the numbers, chart them, republish them, ground a model on them. Just name the source and link it.
Pair any figure with the honest caveat: a range is market context, and the only accurate price for one specific car comes from someone looking at it.
Skip the JSON. Put the job and their price into the free checker for a straight read, or describe the noise and get an honest first opinion in seconds.
Need the actual number?
Send it and you get a price range on the spot, plus real time slots you can book yourself. Tell Fares the car and what it's doing, and he'll come to your driveway in Mississauga, Oakville, Milton, Brampton or Etobicoke and quote the whole job flat before touching anything.
A dataset gives you the range. Seeing the car gives you the price.
Prefer to talk? Call or text 647-450-0406. Text anytime, he reads them between jobs.
Takes 30 seconds. You get a price range and real slots you can book.