# Automotive AI Receptionist: Answer Every Call Source: https://insertchat.com/industries/automotive > Book service, catch sales leads, and triage breakdowns while your bays stay busy. An AI receptionist for automotive businesses answers calls, texts, and website chats for repair shops, dealerships, towing companies, body shops, detailers, and tire shops. InsertChat’s assistant answers from your services, prices, and hours, collects the year, make, model, and problem, books appointments on your calendar, and sends breakdowns, accidents, and status checks to your team. ## Turn a weekend tow-in into Monday’s first diagnostic Example workflow: Phone call. Illustrative scenario. Answers depend on your sources; actions depend on your connected tools and permissions. This is not a customer testimonial or measured result. A driver calls on Saturday morning, and your shop is closed until Monday. > My car got towed to your lot last night after it died on the highway. What happens now, and can I get a rental? ## Explain your tow-in process Share how you handle cars that arrive after hours, where the keys go, and when your advisor starts on weekend drop-offs. ## Take the vehicle and the story Collect the year, make, model, and mileage, what happened before it died, and whether a tow company or insurer is involved. ## Book the diagnostic Reserve Monday’s first diagnostic slot, note the rental request, and leave the call summary on the contact for your advisor. ## Your team sets the boundaries Anyone still stranded, in traffic, or hurt hears your instruction to call 911 first. Repair status, estimates, and rental approvals go to your service advisor. ## Which automotive businesses use an AI receptionist? Any shop where the phone rings while hands are on a car: auto repair shops, dealership sales and service departments, towing and roadside companies, collision and auto body shops, detailers, and tire shops. Each page below covers the calls that business gets, the vehicle details to collect, and what goes straight to a person. ## How does it handle breakdowns and accidents? Safety first, then the details. A caller who is hurt, in traffic, or in danger hears your instruction to call 911. For everyone else, the assistant collects the location, the vehicle, and what happened, reads the roadside steps you wrote, and marks the call urgent so your team is notified. It doesn’t dispatch trucks or transfer the call live. ## Can it see my shop management software or DMS? No. InsertChat doesn’t connect to shop management, dealer management, or estimating software, so repair status and inventory counts stay where they are. The assistant books into InsertChat’s built-in calendar, Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, or Cal.com, and can create leads in HubSpot, Zoho, or Microsoft Dynamics 365 as actions you approve. ## Will it quote repair prices? It quotes the prices you publish and stops there. Add your oil change packages, diagnostic fee, tire install rates, detailing menu, or tow rates, and the assistant gives them exactly as written. Work that depends on an inspection gets booked as a diagnostic or estimate visit. InsertChat doesn’t create quotes or invoices. ## How much does an AI receptionist for auto shops cost? Pro is $98 a month, about $3.27 a day, and includes one phone number, monthly credits, three team seats, and three AI assistants. Calls round up to whole minutes. Dealerships that want separate assistants for sales, service, and parts across several rooftops can move to Growth at $198 a month with 20 assistants. Each extra number is $10 a month. ## AI receptionist vs voicemail vs a live answering service for auto shops | Compared | InsertChat AI receptionist | Voicemail | Live answering service | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Answers questions | Yes, from your knowledge base | No; callers leave a message | From the script you give the operators | | Books appointments | Into the built-in calendar, Google Calendar, Outlook, Calendly, or Cal.com | No | Depends on the provider and your calendar access | | When it answers | Always, after hours, or when your team doesn’t pick up | When nobody answers | During the hours your plan covers | | Record of each call | Transcript and AI summary in the shared inbox | A recorded message | Message notes from the operator | | Urgent calls | Flagged and emailed to your team, with the safety steps you wrote; no live transfer | Heard when someone checks messages | Handled with the escalation instructions you give | | Other channels | Website chat, SMS, email, and WhatsApp from the same knowledge | Phone only | Varies by provider | | Pricing | From $98 per month with monthly credits; calls billed in whole minutes | Usually included with your phone service | Varies by provider; often per minute or per call | Voicemail and answering service details vary by provider. Check the terms of any service you compare. ## Can I keep the number on my shop’s sign and Google listing? In the US and Canada, yes: forward that number to InsertChat and keep publishing it. Elsewhere, use a local or toll-free InsertChat number where one is available. Number porting isn’t offered. Place a test call from your own phone before customers reach the assistant. ## Can customers text photos of damage or a dashboard light? Yes. Customers can text your InsertChat number, and picture messages go to a person on your team instead of an automatic reply. Your estimator or advisor sees the photo with the conversation and the customer’s contact. Customers who reply STOP are opted out. ## Is there a free trial? Yes. New customers can try Pro free for 7 days with 500 credits to forward your line, place test calls, and book test appointments. A card is required at checkout, and Pro starts when the trial ends unless you cancel. ## Related features - [AI receptionist](https://insertchat.com/product/phone) - [After-hours answering](https://insertchat.com/product/after-hours) - [Scheduling](https://insertchat.com/product/scheduling) ## Automotive by business type - [Auto repair](https://insertchat.com/industries/auto-repair): Book oil changes, brake jobs, and diagnostics while your service advisor is at the counter. - [Car dealerships](https://insertchat.com/industries/car-dealerships): Book test drives and service, capture after-hours leads, and route deal talk to sales. - [Towing companies](https://insertchat.com/industries/towing): Take tow and roadside calls 24/7, get the exact location, and alert your on-call driver. - [Auto body & collision](https://insertchat.com/industries/auto-body): Book collision estimates, collect claim details, and send photos and status calls to your estimators. - [Car detailing](https://insertchat.com/industries/car-detailing): Share package prices by vehicle size, book details and coatings, and answer questions mid-job. - [Tire shops](https://insertchat.com/industries/tire-shops): Collect tire sizes, book installs and seasonal changeovers, and flag roadside flats.