Custom auto repair shop software for independent shops, repair chains, and tyre service centres. Built around how the workshop actually runs: the vehicle through the bay, the parts through the suppliers, the customer through the approval.
Digital job cards and repair orders linked to vehicle history by VIN
Parts ordering consolidated across suppliers, because integration decides everything
Automated customer SMS and email updates at each stage of the repair
Bay scheduling, technician assignment, and workshop capacity management
The problem
Service advisors writing job cards on paper and chasing technicians across the shop floor for status updates?
Subscription costs stacking up: shops report paying $400 for the platform plus $300 for the CRM, for features they use a quarter of?
Customers calling every hour because there is no automated way to tell them their car is ready?
Short answer
Auto repair shop software covers digital repair orders linked to VIN service history, digital vehicle inspections with customer approval, parts ordering across suppliers, automated customer updates, and bay scheduling. The right route may be an existing shop management platform, a configured system, or custom software built around the shop's workflow, parts suppliers, and approval process. Parts integration decides more than any feature list: if ordering still means phone calls and retyping part numbers, the software has failed.
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01 Diagnosis
Subscription costs stacking out of control
Four hundred a month for the shop management platform. Three hundred more for the CRM add-on. Then the extras. Shop owners describe the cost as out of control for monthly subscriptions, while using maybe a quarter of what the software can do. Custom software costs once. There is no per-user meter running, no add-on tier for the feature that should have been included, and no billing department to fight when you try to leave.
Estimates got slower, not faster
Shops switch platforms for faster estimates and discover everything is three or more clicks, the labor guide is full of holes, and the invoice bottom line is obscure enough to cost hundreds in mistakes. Speed was the promise; friction is the delivery. We build the estimate flow around the service writer's actual sequence: vehicle in, inspection done, parts priced, customer approved. If it takes more clicks than the old way, it ships back to us.
Parts ordering still means phone calls and retyped part numbers
The integration that decides everything. If ordering means picking up the phone, manually typing descriptions, part numbers, pricing, and core charges, it is error-prone and slow, and the shop orders less from the supplier with the worse integration. Best integration with the parts the shop actually needs wins the business. We consolidate ordering across suppliers into one interface, raised directly from the job card, so the part and the repair are never separated.
Approvals that ambush instead of educate
A customer comes in for an oil change and leaves with a list for thousands of dollars of work they never asked for. That is how trust dies. Approval flows have to educate, not ambush: photo-documented inspection reports the customer reviews on their own phone, line items they approve or decline individually, and plain explanations of what each item does. When customers understand what is being sold, selling gets easier.
02 What we ship
Digital job cards created at vehicle intake and linked to the customer record and vehicle VIN. Technician assignment with status tracking through each stage: received, in inspection, estimate sent, approved, parts ordered, in repair, quality check, ready for collection. Service advisor dashboard showing every open job with current status and time in stage. Technician view built for the workshop floor, not a desktop. Job notes and comments captured against each repair order.
Photo and video capture against each inspection point. Condition ratings for tyres, brakes, lights, fluids, and visual checks, with photos attached to every flagged item. The report generates automatically and goes to the customer for estimate approval via a link. Approval or rejection tracked with a timestamp. Additional findings presented as a clear list of recommended work with costs. Inspection history stored against the VIN for future visits.
Ordering consolidated across suppliers in one interface, raised directly from the job card. Stock level management for fast-moving parts with reorder alerts. Arrival tracking linked back to the job card so the advisor knows when every part for a job is in. Supplier comparison on pricing and availability. Backorder tracking with expected arrival dates against the job record.
Automated SMS and email updates at each key stage: vehicle received, inspection complete, estimate ready, parts ordered, repair complete, ready for collection. Estimate approval via the message link, no phone call required. Two-way SMS for customers who want to respond. Full communication history against the job record. Configurable triggers controlling which events send messages. No customer needs to call to find out what is happening with their vehicle.
Bay-level scheduling with a visual workshop calendar: each bay, assigned technician, job duration. Capacity management showing bay and technician availability before booking. Job time estimates by repair type blocking the right time per bay. Technician skill and certification tracking for specialist work. Throughput reporting on jobs completed, average duration, bay utilisation, and technician productivity. End-of-day status on every open job with expected completion.
Full service history against each vehicle by VIN: every job card, inspection report, parts fitted, and technician note from every visit, across every location. Service reminders triggered by mileage or time since last service. Fleet account management with consolidated billing across vehicles, fleet reporting, and per-vehicle service schedules. Fleet customer portal for job status and history across the fleet.
The auto repair software question is really about whether the platform fits the shop's workflow, or whether the shop keeps paying for a workflow it doesn't run.
Buy or rent
A shop management platform, for the standard shop
Tekmetric, Shop-Ware, or similar when the workflow is standard, the integrations exist, and the subscription math still works.
Wait, while it's paper
A small shop where the paper job card still works and the switching cost exceeds the pain. The fear of an alien workflow is legitimate.
Build custom
When subscriptions stack past sense
Platform plus CRM plus add-ons, for a quarter of the features used. Custom costs once and the meter stops.
When parts integration is the business
Multi-supplier ordering that no platform consolidates the way the shop buys. The integration decides everything.
When the shop runs its own way
Multi-location groups, tyre centres with high-volume fitment flows, or a product being built for other operators. The software runs the way the shop runs, not the other way around.
Bottom line
Stay on the platform while the workflow is standard and the subscription math works. Build when the costs stack, the parts integration doesn't exist, or the shop's workflow is the differentiator.
04 How we work
05 Track record
08 Why us
09 Questions
Off-the-shelf workshop platforms work well for straightforward operations. Custom software makes sense when subscriptions have stacked past sense for features the shop barely uses. When parts ordering across the shop's suppliers is not consolidated by any platform. When the workflow has steps the platforms do not support, like a multi-brand group needing consolidated reporting. Or when building a product for other operators. We will tell you honestly when a platform configuration would handle it.
Yes. Automated notifications triggered by job status changes are one of the highest-value features we build. The system watches each job card and sends the configured message, SMS or email, when the status hits a trigger point. Estimate approval links go out with the inspection report so the customer approves or declines without calling. The advisor sees the approval in real time. No manual sending, no tracking who was called, nobody falling through the gap.
Yes, and this is the integration that matters most. Parts requests raise directly from the job card so the part and the repair are never separated. The technical complexity depends on what each supplier exposes: some have documented APIs, others need portal or EDI integration. We scope supplier integrations during discovery, because the available method for each supplier determines the effort. If ordering still means phone calls and retyped part numbers, the software has failed.
It depends on the number of supplier integrations, the complexity of the multi-location setup, and how much of an existing system needs replacing rather than extending. A focused repair order and customer communication system costs less than a full platform with inspections, parts ordering, bay scheduling, VIN history, and fleet accounts. Most shops launch a validated v1 first, then iterate. We scope every project before pricing. Fixed cost, agreed before work starts.
The VIN is the primary identifier for the vehicle record. Every job card, inspection report, parts fitted, and technician note from every visit across every location stores against that VIN. When a customer visits a different location, the advisor pulls up the full history immediately. Fleet customers get a consolidated account view with per-vehicle history at any site.
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Tell us the workflow problem: job cards, parts ordering, customer updates, or fleet management. We'll tell you what we'd build and how.
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