Cox found the number where a consumer facing a repair stops wanting to fix the car and starts thinking about replacing it. $3,195.
The number is useful. The direction is more useful. In 2022, 70% of consumers facing a major repair preferred to fix it. By 2024 that was 53%. Seventeen points in two years.
What it means in the drive
Every estimate your shop writes above roughly three grand is a customer who is, right then, half decided about the car. He is standing at your counter having the exact conversation that ends in a transaction, and in most stores the only offer on the table is the repair.
That is a strange thing to leave alone. You have the car, the history, the customer, and a number he is already unhappy about. What you do not have is a second option to put next to it.
Why the direction matters more than the threshold
A shifting preference means the threshold itself is soft. As more consumers default to replacing rather than repairing, the estimate that triggers the conversation drops. Stores set up to make a number at the counter get more chances every year. Stores that are not get the same number of declined ROs and a customer who solves it somewhere else.