Auto repair shop management software — buying checklist
From: https://www.iwantmywebsitenow.com/industry/auto/repair/
Workflow sources checked: 2026-10-01. Prices have separate capture dates.

Use this with a vendor or a builder. These are proposed evaluation tests, not claims that any product passed them.

YOUR BUSINESS
Current software:
What must work differently:
Records to bring across:
Budget and timing:

QUESTIONS TO TEST
1. Vehicle and history
Ask: Does the correct vehicle record, VIN and repair history follow the customer into a new RO?
Demonstrate: Create a fictional returning customer with two vehicles and confirm each inspection, estimate and note attaches to the right one.
Observed result:
Follow-up:

2. Inspection and authorization
Ask: Can findings, media, estimates and partial approvals be traced by person and time?
Demonstrate: Send three findings, approve one, defer one and decline one. Review customer view, estimate revision and approval audit.
Observed result:
Follow-up:

3. Parts and repair order
Ask: Do approved parts and labor become repair-order work without re-entry?
Demonstrate: Approve a repair estimate, order one available and one backordered part, add labor and compare estimate with the completed RO.
Observed result:
Follow-up:

4. Invoice and payment
Ask: Can changed work, taxes, payments and final invoice be reconciled to authorization?
Demonstrate: Change a labor line with customer approval and inspect the updated record, invoice and settlement.
Observed result:
Follow-up:

DEMO SCENARIO (SYNTHETIC)
Bring a comeback and a partial approval
1. Create a returning customer with two vehicles and open a brake repair on one vehicle.
2. Complete a DVI with a photo reference and send an estimate with three findings. Approve one, defer one and decline one.
3. Order the approved part, record work, then surface the declined item on a later visit without changing the first authorization.
4. Invoice and take a synthetic payment; reconcile RO, estimate history and customer balance.

MIGRATION
Keep the shop’s repair history connected
Request customer and vehicle records, VINs, ROs, estimates, inspection media, approvals, declined work, parts, invoices and payment references. Identify repair-data and labor-guide licenses that cannot be copied. Reconcile open orders, deposits and customer balances, then sample historical vehicles and attachment links with staff before cutover.

A POSSIBLE FIRST BUILD
Keep licensed repair data, parts catalogs and payments in systems with verified licensing and support. If intake or reporting is the gap, assess a narrow layer around the existing shop system before replacing the record of repair. 

SOURCES
Tekmetric: Shop Management
https://www.tekmetric.com/feature/shop-management
Vendor overview of repair orders, DVI, parts and customer history.

AutoLeap: Estimate workflow
https://autoleap.com/features/estimates/
Documents estimate authorization, DVI integration and approved-estimate conversion to ROs.

Shopmonkey: Auto repair shop management
https://www.shopmonkey.io/
Vendor-described shop management and digital inspection features; verify plan and integrations.

Research by Don, I Want My Website Now.
A product description is not hands-on testing. Verify the plan, current price and export access before committing.