- Where it gets stuck
- The phone rings while the advisor is writing an estimate or talking to a customer at the counter. The answer is on the repair order and the parts order, but someone has to stop, look it up and call back.
- What the workflow does
- Your system already sends “car ready”. This covers the delays: when the ETA changes on the parts order (in your parts ordering tool or the vendor’s email), a text is drafted with the new pickup time. The advisor confirms the time. Where your shop system allows it, the text goes out from its own texting, in the same thread; if not, the advisor pastes it. Only customers who opted in get texts.
AI for auto repair shops
The car in bay 2 needs rotors, the inspection is still unanswered, and the phone keeps ringing with “is my car ready?”
We draft the delay text, the follow-up on an unanswered inspection and the follow-up on stalled insurance supplements. The service advisor reads each draft, fixes it if needed, and sends it.
We haven’t worked with a shop yet. The test runs on your own repair orders for an agreed period, and we measure three numbers you already track before you decide.
Today
- Customer asking if it’s readyThird call this morning, the job is waiting on a partAdvisor stops writing an estimate to look it up
- Rotors found wornInspection sent at 9 am, no answer by noonCar ties up bay 2
- Collision repairSupplement sent Monday, adjuster hasn’t approvedCar sits torn down in a stall
With the workflow
- Status textDrafted from the repair order and the parts order: part due tomorrow, new pickup timeAdvisor sends
- Authorization follow-upThe tech’s notes in plain words, sent when the customer hasn’t answered the inspectionAdvisor sends
- Supplement chaseNo adjuster reply after the days you set: follow-up drafted for the portal or emailEstimator or office manager sends
Three moments where the counter loses time
Each one comes up every week in a shop that does both mechanical and collision work, and the information it needs is already in your shop management system or your inbox.
Customers call to ask whether their car is ready
Authorizations stall when the customer goes quiet
- Where it gets stuck
- Your inspection software already sends the photos and the approve link. Then the customer doesn’t open it, or opens it and doesn’t understand why the rotors matter, and the car ties up a bay until someone calls.
- What the workflow does
- When an inspection goes unanswered, a short follow-up is drafted in plain words from the tech’s concern, cause and correction notes. It only says what the tech wrote, with no safety claim the tech didn’t make. The advisor checks the price before it goes, and the customer’s answer is logged on the repair order.
Collision repairs stall on supplements and paperwork
- Where it gets stuck
- A collision job needs the claim number, the adjuster’s estimate, approval of every supplement, the signed repair authorization, the direction to pay, rental extensions and the photos the adjuster asked for. Each sits with a different person, and the car stays torn down in a stall while the office chases them by phone.
- What the workflow does
- Each claim gets its list of open items. Supplements with no response after the number of days you set are flagged, and a follow-up email or portal note is drafted for the estimator or office manager; a missing document gets a message to the customer. It never edits the estimate or submits a supplement; it only chases the ones already sent. On DRP jobs, the insurer’s own process comes first.
These are examples of flows to scope with you. The first one runs as a test on your own repair orders: we agree up front how long it runs and how many minutes a day the advisor spends approving, and we compare three numbers with the month before: “is it ready?” calls (from your phone system’s call log, or a tick sheet for two weeks), DVI approval rate, and cycle time keys-to-keys on collision jobs. If approving takes longer than the call it replaces, we switch that job off.
Which flow should you start with?
Three questions, about a minute. The answer points to one of the moments above, or to a smaller step when a workflow would be too much.
Answer the three questions to see where to start.
This is an exercise: nothing is sent when you use this selector.
Do we have to change our shop management system?
No. The workflow reads what is already in your shop management system, your inspections and your inbox, prepares the text or the follow-up, and sends it once the service advisor or the office manager has approved it.
- A job changes or a document arrivesA repair order update, an unanswered inspection or an insurer’s email.
- The repair order is readThe job, the estimate, the parts order and the customer’s history in your system.
- A text or follow-up is preparedWith the facts it relied on shown next to it.
- The advisor decidesApproves, edits or drops it, and checks every price and every pickup time.
- Back into your toolsThe message leaves by text or email and the repair order gets a note.
- Shop management system
- Digital inspections
- Estimating system
- Parts ordering
- Text messages
- Gmail
- Outlook
- Insurer portals
Three conditions before anything acts
Your existing tools
The workflow runs inside the tools you already pay for, with the access rights they already have, so the team keeps its usual screens.
A named person approves
Every draft waits for a named person. Nothing goes out in the shop’s name without that approval, and exceptions go back to a human.
Every step leaves a trace
Sources, drafts, corrections and approvals are recorded, so you can see why an output was prepared and improve the next one.
Two ways to work with us
Managed AI agent serviceWe build, run and maintain one defined flow, with named approvals, a written boundary and a record your team can take over.See the managed service →Leverage AssessmentA recommendation on the first flow worth testing, the alternatives (including no AI) and an action plan, reviewed by a person.See the assessment →
What shop owners ask before a first test
Which shops is this for?
Independent repair and collision shops of roughly three to twenty people, where the owner or one or two service advisors still handle the phone, the estimates and the insurance paperwork. A dealership with a call center and its own service department usually has other needs.
Our shop software already sends inspections and status texts. What does this add?
Keep what your software already does. What is usually left is the follow-up: the customer who never opens the inspection, the tech’s notes that need explaining, and the supplements and documents spread across claims. That is where the workflow starts. The advisor stops rewriting tech notes for customers, and each correction is kept so the next draft needs fewer fixes.
Can you connect our shop management system or the insurers’ portals?
Tell us on the call what you use (Tekmetric, Shopmonkey, Mitchell 1, Shop-Ware, CCC ONE or others) and which insurers you work with most: we check what each allows (a direct connection, an export or the notification emails) before anything is built, and we tell you which steps would stay manual.
Where does customer data go?
The workflow reads only the accounts agreed in scope and writes only what the advisor approved: a text or email sent and a note on the repair order. A data processing agreement is signed before the test, each client deployment is isolated, the hosting and the model provider are named in writing before the build, and if you stop after the test, the access is removed.
What should we start with?
The job that pulls your advisor away from the counter most often, usually the delay calls or the unanswered inspections. Use the selector on this page, then bring three real examples to a 30-minute call.
Have you done this for other shops?
No, not yet. Our documented client work is in professional firms, chasing clients for documents and approvals. For a shop, we pick one job, test it on your real repair orders with the advisor approving each draft, and decide with you whether it is worth continuing.
Will the AI diagnose cars or set prices?
No. Diagnosis stays with your techs, and prices come from your system and your service advisor. The workflow turns their notes and estimates into clear messages, and nothing is sent without the advisor’s approval.
Bring three repair orders or claims from this week to a 30-minute call.
Blur names, phone numbers, plates, VINs, claim and policy numbers; nothing needs to be sent beforehand. On the call we look at where the phone and the paperwork pull your advisor away from the counter, which tools hold the information, and whether one flow is worth testing.