Frequently asked questions
Plain answers, including the things that are not built yet.
What is the request board?
A place where a car owner can ask repair shops for a quote, and where a shop can post a car it cannot take so another shop can. A request shows the vehicle, the problem and the city to signed-in shops, which send a price and a rough time. The person who posted picks one response, and only then does that shop see their phone, email and VIN. It connects people: the work and the price are agreed directly between the owner and the shop, and Willy Auto Quote does not handle payment.
Is there a free plan for car owners?
Yes. A personal account is free forever, with no card needed. You can keep up to 10 vehicles, pick symptoms on the diagram or search by symptom or code, and see the likely causes, what a shop would check first and the usual repair with a rough starter hour estimate. You can save a diagnosis and print it or copy it to take to a shop, or post it on the request board so shops send you a quote. The app itself does not give prices or quotes, and the hours are general estimates, not a licensed labor guide. If you run a shop, you can turn the account into a shop account later.
Does it work for trucks, SUVs, vans and electric vehicles?
Yes. The diagram follows the vehicle: the body style and drive type come from the decoded VIN, and you can correct either with one tap. Trucks, SUVs and vans have their own body and panels, and four-wheel and all-wheel drive add the front driveshaft and transfer case. Electric vehicles lose the engine, exhaust and fuel parts and gain the charge port, battery pack, drive unit and power electronics, with problems for charging, battery health and high-voltage faults. Hybrids keep their engine.
What about heavy trucks and buses?
The VIN decode also recognizes semi-tractors, other heavy trucks (GVWR Class 7 and up) and buses or coaches, and the diagram shows the right body with air brake tanks on the undercarriage. That needs the Truck & Coach plan or add-on; without it, a heavy VIN falls back to a generic car diagram instead of showing the wrong one. The repair suggestions today are the same general libraries used for cars — heavy-duty content like air brake systems, heavy diesel and J1939 fault codes is not built yet.
Which trouble codes are included?
About 208 generic OBD-II codes: the standard powertrain (P0) and network (U0) codes, grouped by system. Manufacturer-specific codes differ by brand and are not included, and body (B) codes are covered as symptoms instead. Anything not in the library can be added as your own problem in one tap.
Can I just describe the problem instead of searching?
Yes. Willy is a built-in chat assistant: type or speak what you feel, hear or see, and it matches your own words against your shop's catalog and suggests the likely repairs with real hours and pricing. It never invents a symptom or a price of its own.
Do I need to install anything?
No. It runs in your web browser on a computer, tablet or phone. Your customers only need the link you send them.
Where do the labor hours come from?
Each repair in the libraries has a starter estimate of typical labor hours, written for this app from general knowledge. They are not from Mitchell 1, ALLDATA, MOTOR or any manufacturer, and real times vary by vehicle. They are always labelled as starter estimates, and you can confirm or change each one. Times you enter are never overwritten.
Who sets the prices?
You do. Your labor rate, parts markup, fees and tax rates are all yours. The app never guesses a price, and parts costs come from your own parts list or what you type in.
Can customers see my costs or margin?
No. Cost and margin are for staff with permission only, and they are kept out of the customer's quote page and PDF.
How does customer approval work?
You send a private link by email or text (or copy it yourself). The customer opens it on any device, approves or declines each line, and types their name. The time, network address and browser are saved with their answer. The link expires after 14 days, works once, and stops working if you change the quote.
Is my shop's data kept separate from other shops?
Yes. Every record belongs to one shop and the database itself refuses to show it to any other shop, not just the application code.
What happens when the free trial ends?
You get 14 days free. After that you choose a plan to keep adding new quotes and team members. Your existing data stays visible and can still be exported.
Can I export my data?
Yes. Customers, parts and labor times export as CSV whenever you like, and you can import them the same way.
Do the estimate rules keep me legal?
They are a configurable safeguard, not legal advice. You can require a written estimate and the customer's authorization before billing, and block bills that go past a limit you set. An Ontario-style example is provided to start from. Rules differ by place and change over time, so always verify with your local legal requirements.
Is there two-factor sign-in?
Not yet. Today there is password sign-in with lockout after repeated failures, password reset by emailed link, role-based access and an audit log. Email verification and two-factor sign-in are not built yet.