Get customer approval while the vehicle is still on the hoist — even if the repairs take several days.
Every workshop knows the situation. A vehicle fails its WoF, but before the repairs can be approved, someone needs to work out the parts, labour and price, prepare an estimate and contact the customer.
Meanwhile, the vehicle comes off the hoist. The customer collects it, pays for the failed WoF and drives away.
Now you’re chasing the repair job — and the customer might be shopping around.
What if you could get the repair estimate to the customer and have the work approved while the vehicle was still on the hoist?
That’s what the new itsallauto.com AI Estimator is designed to help you achieve.
The Hidden Cost of Letting a Failed WoF Leave Your Workshop
When a customer leaves without approving the repairs, the garage can end up doing much of the administration twice.
First visit — the failed WoF:
- Remove the vehicle from the hoist and park it.
- Finalise the WoF job and prepare an invoice.
- Contact the customer and arrange collection.
- Explain the failed items and what happens next.
- Process the customer’s payment.
- Research parts prices, availability and labour times.
- Prepare a separate repair estimate.
- Contact the customer with the estimate and follow up for approval.
If the customer decides to return for repairs:
- Communicate with the customer again and arrange another booking.
- Reschedule a technician, hoist and workshop time.
- Order and organise the necessary parts.
- Arrange a courtesy car or alternative transport if required.
- Receive the vehicle and create or reopen the repair job.
- Move the vehicle back into the workshop and set it up on the hoist.
- Potentially repeat checks or diagnosis already performed.
- Complete the repairs and any required WoF recheck.
- Prepare another invoice, contact the customer and process another payment.
That’s additional administration, vehicle handling, workshop scheduling, technician time and customer communication.
And the biggest risk? The customer might never come back.
Once the customer has your estimate, they can shop around for cheaper repairs. Another workshop may win the job, even though you’ve already inspected the vehicle, identified the defects and spent time preparing the estimate.
You’ve carried the overhead, but someone else gets the repair revenue.
It’s Just as Frustrating for Your Customer
Think about the experience from the customer’s perspective.
They arrange to drop their car off for a WoF, perhaps asking someone to collect them or taking time off work.
Then they find out the vehicle has failed.
They may have to:
- Arrange transport back to the workshop to collect the vehicle.
- Pay for the failed WoF.
- Wait for a repair estimate.
- Decide whether to shop around for other quotes.
- Contact the workshop again to approve the repairs.
- Make another booking, possibly several days later.
- Arrange transport again to drop the car off.
- Organise another pickup when the repairs are completed.
- Return to pay another invoice and collect the car.
Most customers don’t want two workshop visits, two payments and two lots of transport arrangements.
They want to know what’s wrong, how much it will cost and when they can have their car back.
If they can afford the work, many would much rather get it all sorted in one visit.
What if the repairs take a few days?
Even if the repairs can’t be completed immediately, the customer may prefer to leave the vehicle with you overnight or for a few days while parts arrive or larger repairs are completed.
That’s often much easier than collecting the car, waiting for an estimate, rebooking and dropping it off again.
One drop-off. One collection. One repair approval.
For the workshop, that means less administration, less repeat vehicle handling and a much better chance of keeping the repair work.
The goal isn’t necessarily to complete every repair on the same day. It’s to get the customer’s approval before the vehicle leaves the workshop.
From Failed WoF to Repair Estimate in Seconds
The itsallauto.com AI Estimator helps your workshop move directly from identifying WoF defects to preparing a professional repair estimate.
Here’s how it works:
- Inspect the vehicle: Complete the WoF using eWOF™ and take photos of the defects.
- Generate the estimate: The AI Estimator produces a draft estimate in seconds, with suggested parts, labour times and pricing.
- Review the estimate: Check the required repairs, confirm prices and adjust anything necessary.
- Send it to the customer: Email the estimate with photos of the actual defects, helping the customer understand why the repairs are necessary.
- Get approval: The customer can make an informed decision while their vehicle is still at your workshop.
- Keep the job moving: If approved, arrange the repairs immediately or retain the vehicle for a day or two if the job requires more time.
No double entry of inspection information. No waiting until the customer has driven away to start estimating.
Instead of sending the customer home with a failed WoF and a promise to provide an estimate later, you have the opportunity to win the repair job there and then.
More Repair Approvals. Less Administration. Better Customer Service.
A clear, professional estimate supported by actual photos of the vehicle’s defects helps customers understand the work and builds confidence in your recommendations.
Rather than simply being told their vehicle has failed, they can see the problem, understand the proposed repairs and know what they’ll cost.
For your workshop, the benefits can include:
- Higher repair conversion rates: More opportunities to turn failed WoFs into approved repair jobs.
- Less lost business: Reduce the opportunity for competitors to win repairs you’ve already identified.
- Fewer repeat bookings: Avoid unnecessary return visits and scheduling.
- Lower administration costs: Reduce repeated phone calls, invoicing, payment processing and customer follow-ups.
- Better workshop efficiency: Less repeated vehicle handling, setup and disruption to your schedule.
- More profitable work: Keep more of the repair revenue generated by your WoF inspections.
- Happier customers: Fewer visits, less time off work and less inconvenience.
The real value isn’t just preparing an estimate faster. It’s eliminating much of the time, cost and inconvenience between finding a problem and getting approval to repair it.
Estimates That Get Smarter With Your Workshop
The itsallauto.com AI Estimator already supports workshop-specific pricing and gross profit margin rules, helping you prepare estimates that reflect your own business.
Traditional estimating can involve time-consuming parts research, manually calculating labour and applying inconsistent markups that don’t always produce the gross profit margins you intended.
Initially, suggested parts costs, labour times and terminology may differ from your workshop’s preferences.
As you use the system, it learns from your adjustments to parts pricing, labour times and terminology, helping future estimates become more consistent with your workshop’s practices.
You remain in control of the final estimate, including pricing, labour and the repairs recommended.
Coming Soon — Email Parts Suppliers Directly
Another exciting feature we’re developing will allow you to email parts suppliers directly from the WoF inspection or repair estimate.
The enquiry will include relevant vehicle details, required parts and photos. When suppliers reply, their quoted prices will be automatically added to the draft estimate.
This will make it even easier to confirm parts pricing and availability without having to manually transfer information between emails and estimating software.
Try the AI Estimator Free
We’re inviting existing itsallauto.com customers to try our new AI Estimator for free.
See how much administration you could eliminate, how many additional repair jobs you could win and how much easier you could make the experience for your customers.
Simply reply YES to our email, or contact admin@itsallauto.com, if you’d like to try it for free!
One WoF inspection. One set of photos. No double entry. An estimate in seconds. More approved repairs. Fewer return visits.
