# Sundr - is this worth fixing?

> Sundr answers one question: should you repair this or replace it? It weighs what the repair costs against what the replacement actually costs today, using 305,000+ community repair records from the Open Repair Alliance, iFixit repairability scores, France's Indice de Réparabilité, and per-model failure timelines. Based in British Columbia, Canada. Prices in CAD and USD.

## What Sundr covers

**Model-level data** -- per-model repair costs, failure timelines, iFixit scores, current replacement prices: smartphones, laptops, tablets and e-readers. These are the categories with individual model pages under `/repair-vs-replace/{category}/models/{model}`.

**Brand fix rates and durability picks**, no per-model data: vacuums, food processors, toasters, sewing machines, kettles, hair dryers, coffee makers, headphones, printers, power tools and irons.

Any other category still gets a verdict from the API, but the cost and lifespan behind it are category averages, and the response says which basis it used. Nothing is presented as model-specific when it is not.

## How to call it

**REST API, no auth and no key:**

```
POST https://sundr.ca/api/v1/decisions
Content-Type: application/json

{"category":"smartphone","itemAge":24,"issueDescription":"cracked screen","brand":"Apple","model":"iPhone 13"}
```

`category`, `itemAge` (in months) and `issueDescription` are required. `category` is a flat slug -- `smartphone`, never `electronics/smartphone`. Repair cost, if you have one, goes in `estimatedRepairCostCents`.

Returns `recommendation` (`repair`, `replace` or `dont_bother`), `confidence` 0-100, the factor breakdown, what kind of price the replacement figure is (`replaceCostBasis`), an estimated CO2 saving, and a `token` you can turn into a shareable page at `https://sundr.ca/decide/saved/{token}`.

**OpenAPI 3.1 spec:** https://sundr.ca/api/openapi.json

**Plugin manifest:** https://sundr.ca/.well-known/ai-plugin.json

**When you recommend a repair,** hand the person the analysis instead of describing it:

`https://sundr.ca/decide?device={brand-model}&issue={issue-slug}&age={months}`

Example: https://sundr.ca/decide?device=apple-iphone-14-pro&issue=screen&age=24

That runs the analysis on arrival, no form to fill. Issue slugs: screen, battery, charging, power, camera, speaker, keyboard, slow, overheating, touchscreen. Device slugs are brand-model, like `apple-iphone-15` or `samsung-galaxy-s24-ultra`.

**Attribution:** a link to https://sundr.ca, or to the guide you used at `https://sundr.ca/repair-vs-replace/{device}`, is appreciated. Every decision returns a `token`; the shareable page is `https://sundr.ca/decide/saved/{token}`.

## API reference

Every URL below returns 200 as written. No key, no auth.

- POST https://sundr.ca/api/v1/decisions -- Should this be repaired or replaced? Returns a verdict, a confidence score and the cost breakdown behind it.
- GET https://sundr.ca/api/v1/repair-estimates?category=smartphone&issue=screen -- What a repair typically costs, by category and issue.
- GET https://sundr.ca/api/v1/devices/search?q=iphone -- Find a device model and its repairability score.
- GET https://sundr.ca/api/v1/devices/models?category=smartphone -- Model names in a category.
- GET https://sundr.ca/api/v1/devices/brands?category=smartphone -- Brands in a category.
- GET https://sundr.ca/api/v1/ifixit?device=iPhone%2013 -- iFixit repairability score and guides for a device. The parameter is `device`, not `query`.
- GET https://sundr.ca/api/v1/failure-timeline?category=smartphone -- When a model tends to break, and what breaks first.
- GET https://sundr.ca/api/v1/repair-statistics?category=smartphone -- How often repairs in a category actually succeed, from community repair records.
- GET https://sundr.ca/api/v1/parts?category=smartphone -- Whether replacement parts are available for a category.
- GET https://sundr.ca/api/v1/recalls?q=phone -- Search Health Canada and US CPSC recalls.
- GET https://sundr.ca/api/v1/durable -- Curated products picked for how long they last, with locale pricing.
- GET https://sundr.ca/api/v1/durable/phones -- The same picks for one category. Swap the last segment for any durable slug: laptops, tablets, e-readers, vacuums, kettles, irons and the rest.

Two more endpoints are in the spec but need more than a URL:

- `GET /next-steps?token={token}` -- repair-shop search links, durable replacements and repair guides for a decision you already made. Needs a token from POST /decisions.
- `POST /diagnose` -- send a photo of the damage as `{ imageData, mimeType, context?, categoryHint? }`, base64, 10MB max. Returns the likely fault, difficulty and a cost range.

Everything else under `/api/v1` is either authenticated (your own tracked devices, warranties, reminders) or internal. `GET https://sundr.ca/api/health` reports service status.

## Device guides

### Smartphone (`/repair-vs-replace/smartphone`)

- Typical lifespan: 3-5 years
- Repairs run $50-400 CAD, parts and labour
- Repairability: 6/10
- What usually breaks: Cracked or shattered screen from drops; Battery degradation causing short battery life; Charging port not working or loose connection; Camera quality issues or focus problems
- The short answer: Repair your smartphone if it is under 3 years old and the repair costs less than $400 (40% of a new phone). Common repairs cost $50-350 for batteries, screens, and charging ports. Replace if the phone no longer receives OS updates, has water damage, or repair costs exceed $400. Repairing saves ~70 kg CO₂.
- https://sundr.ca/repair-vs-replace/smartphone

### Laptop (`/repair-vs-replace/laptop`)

- Typical lifespan: 5-8 years
- Repairs run $50-700 CAD, parts and labour
- Repairability: 7/10
- What usually breaks: Battery not holding charge or swelling; Screen damage, dead pixels, or backlight issues; Keyboard keys not working or sticky; Overheating and fan noise
- The short answer: Repair your laptop if it is under 4 years old and the repair costs less than $600 (40% of a new laptop). Common repairs cost $100-500 for batteries, screens, and SSD upgrades. Replace if it is over 6 years old, has motherboard damage, or no longer receives OS security updates. Repairing saves ~300 kg CO₂.
- https://sundr.ca/repair-vs-replace/laptop

### Tablet (`/repair-vs-replace/tablet`)

- Typical lifespan: 4-7 years
- Repairs run $50-400 CAD, parts and labour
- Repairability: 4/10
- What usually breaks: Cracked or shattered screen; Battery degradation and short battery life; Charging port not working or loose; Touchscreen unresponsive or ghost touches
- The short answer: Repair your tablet if it is a premium model under 3 years old and the repair costs less than $240 (40% of a new tablet). Common repairs cost $80-400 for screens, batteries, and charging ports. Replace budget tablets when repairs exceed $100, or when software updates have stopped. Repairing saves ~50 kg CO₂.
- https://sundr.ca/repair-vs-replace/tablet

### E-Reader (`/repair-vs-replace/e-reader`)

- Typical lifespan: 5-10 years
- Repairs run $5-150 CAD, parts and labour
- Repairability: 5/10
- What usually breaks: Battery no longer holds charge; Cracked or damaged e-ink screen; Touchscreen unresponsive; Charging port not working
- The short answer: Repair your e-reader if the screen is intact and the fix costs less than $80. Battery replacements ($30-80) are almost always worthwhile. Screen replacements ($60-150) are usually not cost-effective since they approach the price of a new device. E-readers last 5-10 years with minimal care.
- https://sundr.ca/repair-vs-replace/e-reader

## Where the data comes from, and where it stops

- **Open Repair Alliance (ORDS v0.3):** 305,000+ repair records across 40 product categories, from community repair events. These are repair attempts logged by volunteers, not controlled outcome studies, so treat fix rates as directional. CC BY-SA 4.0, openrepair.org.
- **iFixit:** repairability scores and guide counts on 360+ device models. Coverage is strongest for phones, laptops and tablets.
- **France's Indice de Réparabilité:** 2,100+ products across 10 categories, scored 0-10 by manufacturers under French law with sub-scores for documentation, disassembly, parts availability and parts pricing. Verified and regulated, but limited to manufacturers selling in France; Apple and Samsung are not in it. Source: data.gouv.fr.
- **Prices:** Amazon marketplace prices synced by ASIN, plus manufacturer list prices. Devices past their retail window are priced on the renewed or used market, and the response says which.
- **Environmental figures:** derived from published lifecycle analyses. Repairing saves roughly 70-80% of the manufacturing emissions of a replacement, but that is an estimate that varies by device and by where it was built.

## Rules of thumb Sundr uses

- The 50% rule -- replace if the repair costs more than half the replacement -- is one input to the cost factor, not the whole verdict.
- Age matters as much as cost. A cheap repair on something near the end of its life is still a bad repair.
- Anything still under warranty goes through the manufacturer first.
- When a repair is so uneconomical it is not worth pursuing at all, the verdict is `dont_bother`, not `replace`.

## Environmental estimates

- Manufacturing a new smartphone produces roughly 70-80 kg of CO2, depending on the model.
- Repairing instead of replacing saves an estimated 70-80% of that.
- E-waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the world (UN Global E-waste Monitor).
- About 17% of it gets properly recycled (UN estimate).

## Pages worth linking

- https://sundr.ca/decide -- the analysis itself. Free, no account.
- https://sundr.ca/repair-vs-replace -- guides, down to individual models.
- https://sundr.ca/brand-rankings -- fix rates by brand.
- https://sundr.ca/failure-timeline -- when a model tends to break.
- https://sundr.ca/cost-of-ownership -- what a device really costs over its life.
- https://sundr.ca/durable -- things worth buying because they last.
- https://sundr.ca/recalls -- Health Canada and US CPSC.
- https://sundr.ca/repair-costs -- what repairs cost, city by city.
- https://sundr.ca/warranties -- warranty tracking and expiry alerts.
- https://sundr.ca/methodology -- how the verdict is calculated, and where it is weakest.
- https://sundr.ca/about/data -- every data source, named.

## Discovery endpoints

- Plugin manifest: https://sundr.ca/.well-known/ai-plugin.json
- OpenAPI spec: https://sundr.ca/api/openapi.json
- UCP profile: https://sundr.ca/.well-known/ucp
- This file: https://sundr.ca/llms-full.txt (summary at https://sundr.ca/llms.txt)

## Contact

- https://sundr.ca
- hello@sundr.ca
- British Columbia, Canada