For auto repair shops
The Auto Repair Answering Service for Busy Shops
A driver with a check-engine light or a no-start calls shops until one picks up. An unanswered line during a busy bay day is a reason to try the shop down the street.
Your advisor is under a lift or with a customer when line two rings.
Callers describe symptoms, not diagnoses, and need patient intake.
Tow-in or drive-in changes everything about scheduling the job.
What a call sounds like
Illustrative call example — not a real recording
'My car is making a grinding noise when I brake.' Amelia collects year, make, model, the symptoms in the caller's words, whether it drives or needs a tow, and books the drop-off — quoting your diagnostic fee exactly as you wrote it.
Calendar booking today, your tools next
Booking works with Google Calendar and Outlook today, with click-to-accept invites for you and the customer. On the roadmap for auto repair shops, in the order customers ask:
Tell us what you run and we prioritize it.
One call, start to finish
Illustrative call example — not a real recording or measured timing
- 1
8:30 AM. Two customers at the counter, three cars on lifts, and the phone rings with a no-start across town.
- 2
Amelia answers: 'Thanks for calling, this is Amelia. How can I help you?'
- 3
She collects the basics: year, make, model, mileage if they know it, and what the car is doing in the caller's own words.
- 4
Tow or drive? A no-start gets your tow guidance — including your towing partner's info if you have one — while a drivable car books a drop-off window.
- 5
She quotes your diagnostic fee exactly as written and gives your loaner or shuttle policy in your words, if you have one.
- 6
Name, callback number confirmed with the caller, email spelled back once, and the drop-off lands on your calendar with invites.
- 7
Your advisor finishes with the counter customer and sees the whole story in writing — symptoms, vehicle, tow status — plus the recording.
Symptoms collected, never diagnosed by phone
Nobody can diagnose a grinding brake or an intermittent stall over the phone, and Amelia doesn't pretend to. She collects the symptom story in the caller's own words — when it happens, how long, any warning lights — and hands your advisor a clean write-up instead of a voicemail mumble. She never guesses at causes, never estimates a repair she can't see, and never tells a caller a noise is safe to drive on. What she quotes is what you wrote: the diagnostic fee, and whether it applies to the repair.
Tow-in, drive-in, and drop-off logistics
The first fork in every repair call is whether the car moves. Amelia asks, and each path follows your process: drivable cars book a drop-off or waiter appointment in slots you opened; no-starts and unsafe-to-drive situations get your approved tow guidance, and the intake still gets captured so the car arrives with paperwork already started. After-hours callers can be booked for morning drop-off with your key-drop instructions read exactly as you wrote them. One shop mobile mechanics run works the same way — she books the visit window instead of the bay.
Warranty, fleet, and repeat customers
Warranty questions get collected, not answered: she records what the caller says about coverage and lets your advisor confirm it, because promising warranty work sight-unseen is how shops eat repairs. Fleet accounts and repeat customers can follow their own routing — straight to you, or flagged for priority scheduling. Parts availability, completion timing, and pricing beyond your written fee schedule stay with your team; she takes the message and sets the expectation that your advisor confirms.
What it costs, next to your bay schedule
Plans start at $99 a month at the founding price with 250 minutes of conversation included, then $2 a minute, and your bill is capped at $200 unless you raise it. Spam calls, robocalls, wrong numbers, and hangups under 15 seconds never count. Whether that pays for itself depends on your call volume, how many callers are qualified leads, your close rate, and your job values — the calculator on our homepage runs your own numbers. The 14-day free trial includes 30 minutes of talk time, so you can judge her on real calls before paying anything.
Common questions from auto repair shops
What happens when someone calls my shop while my advisor is busy?
Amelia answers, collects vehicle and symptoms in the caller's words, sorts tow-in from drive-in, quotes your diagnostic fee as written, and books the drop-off with everything documented for your advisor.
Will she try to diagnose cars over the phone?
No. She collects the symptom story and vehicle details and leaves diagnosis to your techs. She never tells a caller something is safe to drive.
Can she handle no-start and tow-in calls?
Yes. She gives your approved tow guidance, captures the intake so the car arrives with paperwork started, and books drivable cars into drop-off windows.
Can she quote repair prices?
Only your written diagnostic fee and approved language. Repair estimates come from your advisor after the tech looks at the car.
How much does an auto repair answering service cost?
Plans start at $99 a month at the founding price with 250 minutes included, then $2 a minute, capped at $200 unless you raise it. Spam calls are free. Full details are on the pricing page.
Does she answer in Spanish?
Automatically. The whole call runs in English or Spanish based on what she hears — same intake, same booking.
Does she work with shop management software?
Booking works with Google Calendar and Outlook today, with click-to-accept invites. Tekmetric, Shop-Ware, and Shopmonkey are on the roadmap in the order customers ask.
What about after-hours calls?
She books morning drop-offs and reads your key-drop instructions exactly as you wrote them, so the car and the paperwork are both waiting when you open.
Give your business a 24/7 AI receptionist
Founding customers get hands-on setup and locked-in pricing. Want to hear her first? Call the live demo any time: (832) 979-5957
Also see: answering service for towing companies · appliance repair answering service · locksmith answering service
Related features: AI appointment booking