# Sundr Durability Scores Dataset

**Version:** v1 (2026-04)
**License:** [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC-BY-SA 4.0)](./LICENSE.txt)
**Canonical URL:** https://sundr.ca/data/durability-scores-v1.csv
**Landing page:** https://sundr.ca/data

One row per consumer device model with Sundr's durability score, the Open Repair
Alliance brand-level fix rate for that device's category, and the most common
failure mode from real repair attempts. Built for people comparing how long
things actually last before they break, and for models deciding which products
to recommend when someone asks "what's a durable X."

## Contents

- `durability-scores-v1-curated.csv` — 206 rows. The reviewed cut: every
  durability score has been manually reviewed (no auto-discovered estimates)
  and every row has an Open Repair Alliance fix rate behind it. Start here
  for journalism and research.
- `durability-scores-v1.csv` — 817 rows, ~96 brands, 19 device categories.
  The full file, including auto-discovered models whose durability scores
  are estimates pending review.
- `LICENSE.txt` — CC-BY-SA 4.0 full text.
- `README.md` — this file.

## Schema

| Column | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `brand` | string | Manufacturer name as it appears on the product (e.g. `Apple`, `Dyson`). |
| `model_name` | string | Model name as sold (e.g. `iPhone 15 Pro`). |
| `product_type` | string | Marketing-friendly device type (e.g. `Smartphone`, `Vacuum`). |
| `category_slug` | string | Sundr's canonical flat category slug (e.g. `smartphone`, `vacuum`). |
| `durability_score` | integer 1–5 | Sundr editorial durability rating. 5 = best. See "Methodology" below. |
| `ifixit_repairability_score` | integer 1–10, nullable | iFixit's independent repairability score where one exists. Higher = easier to repair. |
| `fix_rate` | number 0–100, nullable | Percent of repair attempts that ended with the device working again, from the Open Repair Alliance dataset, aggregated at the brand + category level. |
| `fix_rate_sample_size` | integer, nullable | Count of ORDS repair records backing `fix_rate`. Treat numbers with small sample sizes as indicative, not definitive. |
| `top_failure` | string, nullable | Most common failure category for this brand+category from ORDS (e.g. `battery`, `heating`, `physical`). |
| `why_durable` | string, nullable | Short editorial note on why this model scores well (only populated for curated picks). |

Missing values are left empty (not `"null"`, not `0`). About 24% of rows lack
`fix_rate` because their brand+category has no Open Repair Alliance data yet.
About 86% lack `ifixit_repairability_score` because iFixit only scores a subset
of devices.

## Methodology

### Durability score (1-5)

The durability score is Sundr's editorial rating, derived from multiple signals:

- **Open Repair Alliance fix rate** for the brand + category (real repair
  outcomes from community repair events worldwide).
- **ORDS average age at failure** for the brand (how old things are when
  they break).
- **iFixit repairability score** where available.
- **French government repairability index** (`indice de réparabilité`)
  where the brand/model is scored.
- **BuyItForLife community signals** (r/BuyItForLife mentions, reviewed
  manually before a score goes above 3).

No single formula produces the score. Editorial judgment resolves conflicts
between sources, especially when manufacturer-reported scores disagree with
real repair data. Example: one hair-care product scored 8/10 editorially but
ORDS showed it lasts half as long as a competitor scoring 6/10 — so it was
downgraded.

### Fix rate

`fix_rate` comes directly from the
[Open Repair Alliance Data Standard](https://openrepair.org/open-data/downloads/)
(ORDS). We aggregate all ORDS records for a brand within a category and
compute the percentage that ended in `Fixed`. Records with ambiguous or
missing outcomes are excluded from the numerator; the sample size column
reflects the total denominator used.

ORDS data is community-collected at repair cafés and similar events. It
skews toward items people bothered to bring in, which means certain
failure modes are overrepresented. It's the best public dataset of real
repair outcomes that exists and Sundr treats it as ground truth for
comparative brand quality — but absolute numbers should be read with the
sample size in mind.

### Top failure

The `top_failure` column is the most frequent `failure_type` from ORDS for
that brand+category, by percentage of that brand's records (not raw count).

## What this dataset is not

- **Not model-specific repair data.** `fix_rate` and `top_failure` are
  aggregated at the brand+category level, not per model. Adding model-level
  fix rates requires more volume than ORDS currently has for any single
  model outside of a few flagship phones.
- **Not a price dataset.** Repair cost is tracked separately and not yet
  public as a dataset (insufficient per-model sample size).
- **Not a warranty or recall dataset.** Those sources change too often to
  publish as a static CSV; Sundr maintains them live at sundr.ca.

## Upstream sources and their licenses

- `fix_rate`, `fix_rate_sample_size`, and `top_failure` are derived from the
  [Open Repair Alliance dataset](https://openrepair.org/open-data/downloads/),
  © the contributing repair organisations, used and re-shared under
  CC-BY-SA 4.0. This dataset carries the same license to satisfy the
  share-alike condition.
- `ifixit_repairability_score` reproduces individual factual scores published
  by [iFixit](https://www.ifixit.com), with attribution. The scores are
  iFixit's independent assessments; their inclusion here is not an
  endorsement by iFixit.
- Durability scores and editorial notes are Sundr's own work.

## Attribution

Under CC-BY-SA 4.0, attribution and share-alike are required. A suggested
attribution line:

> Durability scores and fix rates from Sundr (https://sundr.ca/data),
> licensed CC-BY-SA 4.0. Fix rates derived from the Open Repair Alliance
> ORDS dataset.

If you build something on top of this dataset — an article, a research
paper, a training corpus, a product — drop us a note at hi@sundr.ca. We
keep a list of known uses.

## Changelog

- **v1 (2026-04)** — Initial release. 817 rows. Schema above.

## About Sundr

Sundr is a repair intelligence platform that helps people decide whether
to fix or replace broken electronics and appliances. The free decision
tool at https://sundr.ca/decide is backed by the same data in this file
plus live pricing, warranty, and recall context.