An AI front desk for auto repair shops
How an auto repair shop uses an AI front desk to answer price and service questions, capture the vehicle and the problem, and hand anything diagnostic to a service advisor.
Frontiva · · 2 min read
An auto repair shop's AI front desk answers service and price questions from your approved list, captures the year, make, model and what is wrong, asks whether the customer will wait or drop off, and hands anything diagnostic to a service advisor with the details already written down. It keeps technicians under cars instead of at the phone, and it never guesses what is wrong with a vehicle.
The phone at a repair shop
The service advisor is at the counter with a customer, the phone rings, and the caller wants to know what an oil change costs. That question does not need a person. "My car is making a grinding noise when I brake" does, but it also needs the vehicle details before anyone can help. An AI front desk handles the first kind and prepares the second.
What it answers from your facts
- Prices for routine services: oil changes, tire rotations, alignments, inspections.
- Whether you work on a particular make, and whether you do diesel, hybrid or EV work.
- Hours, parking, loaner or shuttle policy, and how long common services take.
- Warranty and payment policies.
Anything not on the list is logged as a question, not guessed.
What it captures for the advisor
Year, make and model. Mileage if the customer knows it. What the problem is, in the customer's words. Whether a warning light is on. Whether the car is drivable. Whether they want to wait or drop off. That is the conversation an advisor would have, and it is on the record before they pick up.
What it hands off
Anything that needs a diagnosis. Anything about safety ("brakes feel soft", "smoke from the hood"). Any price for a repair that depends on inspection. Any complaint about previous work. Set these as escalation keywords so they skip the AI entirely.
Drop-off versus wait
The question that decides the booking is whether the customer will wait. A 30-minute oil change and a day-long brake job are different slots. Ask it early, and set your services with their real durations so the booking page only offers times that fit.
Frequently asked questions
Will it tell a customer what is wrong with their car?
No. It captures the symptoms and hands them to your advisor. A guess about a vehicle problem is a liability.
Can it quote a repair?
Only routine services with fixed prices from your list. Repair prices come after inspection.
What about warranty claims?
Captured and handed to the advisor with the details.
What Frontiva does here
The automotive page shows the workflows. In Frontiva the AI answers from your approved price list, escalation keywords hand safety and diagnostic questions to an advisor, customers book routine services on your public booking page at their real durations, and SMS reminders go to customers who agreed. See what an AI receptionist should refuse to answer.