Tool

Fix or Replace Calculator

Enter your repair quote, a replacement's price, and how you feel about the machine. The calculator shows the cost ratio, the typical service life left, and a plain-English verdict.

This tool runs in your browser, so it needs JavaScript on. The same math, worked by hand with every number shown, is the How this works section below.

Your numbers

Machine age (years)

Machine style

Repair cost (dollars)

Replacement cost (dollars)

How do you like the machine?

The verdict

Repair usually makes sense

The repair would cost 13 percent of a replacement. You like the machine, which counts in favor of repairing.

Repair cost: 40 dollars
Replacement cost: 300 dollars
Repair share of a replacement: 13 percent
Machine age: 2 years
Typical life for this style: 8 years
Life remaining: About 6 years

This is general guidance to help you weigh the decision, not professional repair advice. Check your machine's manual before you spend.

How this works

The calculator divides your repair cost by the replacement cost. Below 30 percent, repairs usually win. Between 30 and 50 percent, the call depends on the machine's age and how you feel about it. Above 50 percent, replacing usually makes more sense.

Two honest adjustments follow. A machine past the typical service life its style records (the widely reported range behind each option in the picker) shifts the verdict one step toward replacing once the repair reaches 30 percent of a new machine's price. So does a machine you are frustrated with.

Nothing is stored and nothing is sent anywhere. The math runs in your browser the moment you change a number, and the verdict updates live.