Fix cars.
Not your software.

“A mechanic at an independent shop in Scarborough spent 25 minutes on hold with three different parts suppliers trying to find a catalytic converter for a 2018 Honda CR-V. The customer's car sat on the lift for an hour doing nothing.”

Most independent auto repair shops in Ontario still order parts by calling distributors one by one, checking availability verbally, and writing part numbers on scrap paper. There's no centralized lookup, no price comparison, and no digital trail of what was ordered, when it shipped, or what it actually cost versus the estimate.

“A regular customer brought her 2016 RAV4 into a Brampton shop for a noise complaint. The mechanic had no record of her last three visits because the old invoices were in a filing cabinet, a different POS system, and one handwritten on a carbon copy pad.”

Independent shops rarely have a unified vehicle service history. Records live across paper invoices, old software the shop stopped using, and the mechanic's memory. When a returning customer comes in, the shop can't quickly see what was done before, leading to redundant diagnostics and missed warranty coverage.

“An auto shop in Hamilton quoted a customer $800 for a brake job. Mid-repair, the tech found the rotors were warped and the caliper pins were seized. The final bill came to $1,340. The customer left a one-star Google review saying they got scammed.”

The gap between estimate and final invoice is the number-one source of customer complaints in auto repair. Shops discover additional issues mid-job but communicate the cost change verbally or not at all. The customer feels blindsided, the shop looks dishonest, and the Google review damage is permanent.

“A quick lube shop in Vaughan has 3,000 customers in their database who should get oil change reminders every 5,000 km or three months. The owner bought a bulk SMS tool once but never set it up. Repeat visit rate sits at 35% when it should be above 60%.”

Preventive maintenance is the bread and butter of auto service revenue, but most small shops have no automated way to remind customers when service is due. The data exists (mileage at last visit, recommended intervals, contact info), but without automation, those reminders never happen.

“A body shop in Etobicoke installed an aftermarket bumper with a 12-month parts warranty. Eight months later the paint started peeling. The shop had no record of which supplier the bumper came from, no invoice number, and no batch details to file the warranty claim.”

Warranty tracking in small auto shops is almost nonexistent. Parts get installed and the supplier invoice goes into a pile. When a warranty issue surfaces months later, nobody can trace which part from which supplier was installed on which car. The shop either eats the cost or tells the customer they're out of luck.