How do I set up a booking system for an auto repair shop?
Job types with set durations, one calendar per mechanic or lift and confirmation by your own team.
Specific kinds of business
An auto repair shop that takes bookings online spends less time on the phone and can plan its lifts 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 clients, so the shop confirms each request itself.
Create your job types as services with name, duration and 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 car to be moved in.
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 the option “Any available person” if clients shouldn’t have to choose.
Share the public link in your listing, on your website and in your messages. Clients choose a job type and an open time without an account. The form takes a name, an optional email address and a free note, and there are no fields for the license plate or vehicle. The note isn’t shown in the panel calendar, so ask for the car’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 text; pending requests that nobody handles are canceled quietly about an hour after their time ends. For regular checks, staff can create a recurring series when making a booking: weekly, every two weeks or every 30 days. Customers can cancel or reschedule with their management link, which you send by hand for bookings you create yourself.
What to remember
- ✓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 I also handle parts orders in the same system?+
No. 4appointments schedules appointments only. It doesn’t manage parts, stock or invoices, so keep those in your shop software.
Are clients able to 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.
More guides to explore
Own 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; see the pricing page for the plans.
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