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AI quoting tools for garages and mechanics in the UK

Garage estimates need to be clear about parts, labour and what's urgent versus advisory. Customers trust a quote that separates 'must fix' from 'should fix soon', with photos.

Prices were re-checked on each provider's own page; the date is next to each one. Rules and figures from GOV.UK are linked where they're used.

Must, should, could

Split the estimate into safety-critical work, work needed soon, and advisories. Photos of worn parts help.

Parts and labour

Show parts and labour separately, with labour time and your hourly rate. QuickBooks lists sending estimates and turning them into invoices on all plans.

MOT and VAT

Don't add VAT to the MOT fee itself; GOV.UK says no VAT is charged on it (GOV.UK). Repairs are charged VAT as normal if you're registered.

The options, with prices

Tool	Price and free plan	UK notes and source
QuickBooks Cloud accounting with invoicing, expenses and VAT, plus Intuit Intelligence AI features (some in beta).	Plans: Sole Trader Plus, Simple Start, Essentials, Plus and Advanced, each with a 30-day free trial. All include CIS calculation and submission; VAT submission isn't in Sole Trader Plus. Prices load dynamically on the UK pricing page, so check the current figure there. No free plan; 30-day free trial.	UK pricing in pounds. Source, checked 15 October 2026
ServiceM8 Job management for trade and service businesses: quotes, scheduling, job cards, invoices and customer texts, priced by jobs a month rather than per user.	Free: £0 a month for 1 user and 30 jobs a month. Starter: £25 a month (50 jobs). Growing: £59 (150 jobs). Premium: £119 (500 jobs). Premium Plus: £269 (1,500+ jobs). All paid plans have unlimited users. 14-day free trial. Free plan: 1 user, 30 jobs a month, SMS at 5p each.	UK pricing in pounds on the UK site. Source, checked 15 October 2026
ChatGPT A general AI assistant for drafting emails, quotes, policies and posts, summarising documents and answering questions.	Free plan available. Paid plans (Go, Plus, Business, Enterprise) are priced per user per month; see the pricing page for current amounts. Unlimited everyday text chats, subject to abuse safeguards. Web search, file and image uploads, data analysis, image creation and 500 MB Library storage, each with its own usage limits. Ads may appear on the free plan in some countries.	Works in the UK. Ask for British English and UK context (VAT, HMRC) in your prompt. Source, checked 14 October 2026
Claude An AI assistant that is good with long documents, careful writing and summaries.	Free plan: $0. Pro: $20 a month, or $17 a month on an annual plan ($200 billed up front). Max: higher-usage plans; see the pricing page. Chat on web, desktop and mobile, web search, file creation, code, memory and Artifacts. Usage limits reset on a rolling five-hour window, with no fixed message count.	Prices are in US dollars. Source, checked 15 October 2026

What to check before you choose

Estimates converted to invoices.
Photos on estimates.
Customer approval by text or link.
Parts markup handled correctly.

A prompt to start with

Paste this into ChatGPT or Claude, filling in the brackets:

Turn these inspection notes into a customer estimate: [notes: front pads 2 mm, rear tyre near limit, oil leak from sump gasket, wiper blades split]. Group into 'needs doing now', 'needs doing soon' and 'advisory', with parts and labour lines and a plain-English explanation of each. British English.

Free tools

Price a job with the quote and VAT calculator (20%, 5%, 0% and reverse charge), or work out your day rate (see how much to charge per hour). Comparing job management apps? Read Tradify vs Jobber. Set deposits and due dates up front with payment terms for trades, and cover material price rises with the price-change clause generator.

Questions

Can AI write estimates?

It can turn your notes into clear wording. Prices and labour times must come from you.

Which tool?

QuickBooks includes estimates on all plans; ServiceM8 has a free plan for up to 30 jobs a month. Checked 15 October 2026.

Are these prices in pounds?

Not all. Where a provider only publishes US dollar prices we show dollars, so check the price in pounds at checkout.

Do you get paid if I sign up?

Some links may become affiliate links, and we'll label them when they do. It doesn't change what we list. See how we make money.

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