Why it matters
Grinding brakes at 9:40pm
At 9:40pm a driver hears grinding from the brakes of a 2014 sedan and finds your shop's website. There's a phone number, and the shop is closed.
They book online with a chain that shows next-day slots. You never find out the job existed.
The driver wasn't loyal to the chain. They needed three answers before bed: can someone look at it tomorrow, where do I leave the car, and is it safe to drive there. Your service writer knows all three, and so do your pages, except for the last one, which nobody should answer without seeing the car.
- 12.8 yearswas the average age of cars and light trucks on US roads in 2024, with the large 2015-2019 model years coming out of warranty.S&P Global Mobility, May 2025
- 31%of service visits for vehicles over 5 years old went to general repair shops, against 24% to dealers.Cox Automotive Service Industry Study, 2025 (1,974 vehicle owners)
- 19%of mystery-shop attempts to book service by phone at car dealerships ended without an appointment for a specific date and time, through holds, phone-tree loops, voicemail or a demand for the VIN.Pied Piper, dealership service scheduling mystery shops, 2025 (4,887 requests)
Example conversation
Soft brakes after closing time
- My brakes are grinding and the pedal feels soft. How much is a brake job?
Brake trouble gets safety advice before anything else
- If the pedal feels soft or the brakes seem to be failing, please don't keep driving it. Arrange a tow or roadside assistance instead. A brake job price depends on what the technician finds, and the shop gives you a written estimate after inspecting the car. What's the year, make and model?
No diagnosis and no total; asks for the vehicle before booking
- 2014 Honda Civic. Can you look at it tomorrow morning?
- Thanks. If it's towed in tonight, you can use our after-hours key drop. What's your name and number, so the shop can call you first thing?
Uses the drop-off details on your site; approves no work
- Jordan Reyes, (555) 010-0163.
- URGENT lead · Jordan Reyes · (555) 010-0163 · Brakes grinding, pedal feels soft · Tomorrow morning
Emailed to the shop in seconds. The year, make and model are on the lead in your dashboard
Try a sample
Ask a sample assistant yourself
Sample Auto Repair
SampleA sample auto repair shop, made up for this demo.
Nothing loads until you tap. No account, and nothing you type is saved.
What customers ask
What drivers ask before they book
- How much is an oil change?
- What's your diagnostic fee, and is it credited to the repair?
- Do you work on my make?
- What warranty do you give on repairs?
- Will getting serviced here void my factory warranty?
- Do you use OEM or aftermarket parts?
- Do you have a loaner car, a shuttle or a waiting room?
- Can I drop my car off after hours?
It answers these from your own website, and hands over any it can't.
What it does
What it does for you
Answers what drivers ask first
The makes you service, your diagnostic fee, your repair warranty, loaners and drop-off hours, straight from your pages.
Puts safety ahead of the booking
Smoke or fire, failing brakes or overheating get safety advice first, then an urgent alert to you.
Takes what the service writer needs
Year, make and model, the problem in the driver's own words, a name and number, and when they want to come in.
Books the visit
Sends drivers to your booking page, or offers openings from your Google Calendar inside your shop hours, at the length you set for each service: half an hour for an oil change, two hours for a diagnostic. A car that shouldn't be driven goes to you as urgent instead of into a slot.
Rules it follows
Safety and estimate rules it follows
Smoke or fire: 911 first
It tells the driver to pull over when it's safe, turn off the engine, get everyone at least 100 feet away and call 911, and not to open the hood or go back to the car. That's the US Fire Administration's advice. Details come after.
Failing brakes or overheating: stop driving
If the brakes feel like they're failing, a brake or temperature warning light is on, or the car is overheating, it says not to keep driving and to arrange a tow or roadside assistance, then takes details for you.
Never diagnoses
It doesn't name a likely cause or say a car is safe to drive. It writes the problem down in the driver's own words for your technicians.
No estimates, no authorizations
It quotes only your posted prices, never an estimate or a total, and never says work is approved or will be done. States such as California and Florida set rules on written estimates and customer authorization, and those stay with you.
Warranty questions get the FTC's general guidance
Asked whether using an independent shop voids a factory warranty, it explains that federal law generally doesn't let a manufacturer void a warranty just because an independent shop did the work or aftermarket parts were used. It never says whether a specific claim will be covered.
Recalls and certifications as they really are
Recall questions go to nhtsa.gov/recalls to look up the VIN, and it never says a car has no recalls. ASE certification, warranty terms and labor rates are quoted only as your website states them.
What reaches you
What reaches your service desk
The email carries the name, number, problem and timing. The full lead in your dashboard adds the year, make and model and the whole conversation, so whoever opens the bay knows what's coming in.
- Urgency
- Urgent, shouldn't be driven
- Name
- Jordan Reyes
- Phone
- (555) 010-0163
- Year, make and model
- 2014 Honda Civic
- Problem
- Brakes grinding, pedal feels soft
- When
- Tomorrow morning
Your tools
Works alongside your shop management and scheduling software
- Tekmetric
- Shopmonkey
- Shop-Ware
- Mitchell 1 Manager SE
- ALLDATA Manage Online
- R.O. Writer
- Protractor
- NAPA TRACS
Questions
Common questions
What does it cost, and how long does setup take?
There's a free plan with 100 customer messages a month and no card, and paid plans start at $19 a month. Setup is paste your website address, let it read your pages for about a minute, then add one line of code to your site or install the WordPress plugin.
My customers want a person on the phone. Why add a chat?
Keep the person on the phone. This is for the drivers on your website after the bays close, who would otherwise leave a voicemail or book with a chain. Every chat says it's an AI assistant, and a Talk to a person button stays under the message box.
Does it replace my auto repair shop software?
No. Repair orders, estimates, authorizations and your own schedule stay in your shop management system. This sits on your website and hands you the booking.
Will it quote repair prices?
Only prices your website posts, such as an oil change or a diagnostic fee. If you'd rather it quoted nothing at all, switch price quoting off in your settings and it takes details for every price question.
Can it answer after the shop closes?
Yes, at any hour, which is the point of answering after hours on your website. The alert goes out the moment a lead is captured, and reminders about leads you haven't acknowledged wait until you open, unless you switch on overnight reminders for urgent ones. Add the holidays you close for in Settings and it tells drivers you're closed on those days too.
What does it say when someone asks if an independent shop voids their warranty?
The FTC's general guidance, and nothing past it. Whether a particular claim gets paid is between the driver and the manufacturer, so it never predicts one.
Will it tell drivers whether the diagnostic fee comes off the repair?
If your website says so, yes, in your words. Where your site gives the fee but not the credit policy, it says the service writer will confirm and takes their details, rather than guessing either way.
Does it answer in Spanish?
Yes. It replies in the language the driver writes in, using the facts from your website.
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Before you start
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