Building a booking system for an auto repair shop
Job types with set durations, one calendar per mechanic or bay and confirmation by your own team.
Specific types of business
An auto repair shop that takes online bookings spends less time on the phone and can plan its bays and mechanics better. 4appointments gives you a public booking page and a calendar for each provider. It doesn’t manage parts, vehicle records or invoices, and it sends no messages to customers, so the shop confirms each request itself.
Create your job types as services with a name, a duration and a price, such as an inspection, an oil change, a suspension repair or wheel alignment. Correct durations are what keep the day from overlapping, and the pause field leaves time after each booking for the next vehicle.
Decide what a calendar represents. The tool has no lifts or bays as bookable resources, but you can create one provider per mechanic, or one per lift, each with their own weekly schedule. This is a workaround: the provider is simply the name that carries a calendar. Use “Any available person” if customers shouldn’t have to choose.
Customers choose a job type and an open time without an account. The form takes a name, an optional email address and a free note, with no fields for the make, model or licence plate, and the note isn’t shown in the panel calendar, so ask for the vehicle’s details when you confirm.
Each request arrives as pending and holds the slot. Confirm or reject it in the Bookings section and tell the customer yourself, by phone or message. Pending requests that nobody handles are cancelled quietly about an hour after their time ends.
Key takeaways
- ✓Job types with set durations and prices as services
- ✓One provider per mechanic or per lift, as a workaround
- ✓No vehicle fields: collect the details when you confirm
Common questions
Can the same system manage my parts orders?+
No. 4appointments schedules appointments only. It doesn’t manage parts, stock or invoices, so keep those in your shop software.
Will customers see a price when they book?+
Yes, each service has a price that appears on the page. If extra work turns up during the inspection, the final price is agreed with the customer at the shop.
Related guides
Do you operate an auto repair shop?
Organize your mechanics’ calendars, share one booking link and confirm each request yourself. The first 12 months are free, with no card needed.
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