Your service writer is on the phone with the customer whose transmission you just pulled. Three more calls roll to voicemail — and two of them dial the shop down the street before your callback goes out. InstaNexus picks up in 1–2 rings, captures year, make, model, mileage, and the exact symptom, and books the drop-off while your writer is still at the counter.
Tow-in at 2 AM Sunday, a check-engine-light panic on the commute, a status-update call at 4:55 PM on Friday — every one gets answered live. No voicemail, no service writer pulled off a lift.
Year, make, model, mileage, and the exact symptom — "grinding on left turns," "dashboard light on since Tuesday" — logged before the car hits the bay. Tow-ins get flagged urgent; schedulable diagnostics go in the book.
Writes the appointment straight onto your calendar with the right bay time for the job code. Texts the customer a confirmation with drop-off instructions and loaner availability.
Your labor rate, diagnostic fee, brands you service, which jobs you refer out, your tow partner — all wired in. Calls sound like your service writer, not a generic phone tree.
Three real scenarios your shop sees every week — and exactly how the AI receptionist runs each one, start to finish.
A customer on the freeway sees the check-engine light flash, pulls off, and calls the shop while your writer is walking a drop-off out to the waiting room.
Yeah, hi — my check engine light just started flashing. I'm on the 405, I don't know if I should keep driving.
Flashing light usually means a misfire, so pulling over was the right call. Can I grab the year, make, model, and rough mileage so I can get you into a diagnostic slot?
It's a 2019 Honda Civic, about 78,000 miles. It was hesitating under throttle for the last couple days too.
Got it — 2019 Civic, 78K, flashing CEL with hesitation under throttle. I've got a diagnostic bay open at 9:30 this morning or 2 PM today. Which works better?
9:30 if you can take it. Do you have a loaner?
One loaner comes back at 10, so I'll hold it for you after drop-off. The diagnostic fee from your shop menu gets applied to the repair if you approve the work — I'll text you the address, the drop-off link, and the confirmation right now.
A customer broke down overnight, the tow truck is ready to roll, and the driver is calling 90 minutes before the doors open.
Hey, this is Mike at Ramos Towing. I've got a 2017 F-150 on the hook, customer broke down on the I-10, wants to drop it at your shop. You guys open?
Not till 7:30, but we can take the tow-in — I'll reserve a parking spot and flag it urgent so it's first in the queue. What's the customer's name and the complaint?
Customer is Dan Ortiz, his number is 555-0142. He said it just died on him, won't restart, cranks but no catch.
Cranks-no-start on a 2017 F-150 — I've tagged that as a priority diagnostic for the first bay that opens. Do you know the mileage so we can pre-build the ticket?
Odometer is reading 112,430.
Perfect. Drop it in spot 4 by the fence, leave the key in the dropbox. I'll text Dan now that his truck is arriving, we'll call him by 8 AM with the diagnostic ETA, and our after-hours drop-off fee is waived for tow-ins.
A customer whose brake job was dropped off this morning wants to know the ETA, and your service writer is already on two other lines.
Hi, I dropped off my Subaru this morning for brakes — just checking if it's ready for pickup yet.
Happy to check. Can I get the last name on the ticket and the last four of the license plate?
Last name is Chen, plate ends in 7K2R.
Found it — 2020 Outback, front pads and rotors. The schedule shows the car is on the alignment rack now, coming off at 4:15, then a final road test. Your writer Dave has it slotted for pickup by 5.
Okay great. Did the final number come in higher than the estimate? He mentioned maybe needing a caliper.
The caliper wasn't needed after inspection, so the ticket is tracking right at the original $640 estimate. I'll flag Dave to call you personally in the next 15 minutes if anything changes, and I'll text you the minute it's road-tested and ready.
Books straight into the calendar your auto shop already runs on — no new numbers, no port-outs, no learning curve for your service writer at 7 AM Monday. Custom integrations with Tekmetric or Shop-Boss can be scoped during onboarding for shops that want drop-offs and DVIs flowing straight into their shop-management stack.
An auto dealer answering service covers the sales and service lines after hours, captures every caller, and books the appointment before the next store.
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Read post →Watch an ai receptionist auto shop demo book a full diagnostic plus a loaner car pickup in 90 seconds, turn by turn, with timing annotations.
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Read post →Fifteen minutes. We'll call your business line live and show you what your AI receptionist sounds like picking up.
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