Vehicles, VINs, and history
Add a vehicle in seconds with VIN decoding, find it later by plate or fleet number, and see everything you have done to it.
Every vehicle belongs to one customer. Work orders are written against a vehicle, and the vehicle's history is the list of those tickets.
Adding a vehicle #
Vehicles are added from the Vehicle card on New Work Order (select the customer first, then click Add New) or from the Add Vehicle button on the customer page.
- Pick the Year. The list runs from next year back to 1941.
- Pick the Make and Model. The lists come from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration database, so they cover everything sold in the US.
- If a make or model is missing, click Not Found? beside it to type it in.
- Enter the VIN and click Decode to fill in make, model, and Trim/Engine automatically. The year must be selected first.
- Add Mileage, License Plate, and, for fleets and dealers, the customer's own Fleet Number.
- Click Save.
On New Work Order the new vehicle appears in the list; click its select button to put it on the ticket.
Tip: Decode the VIN even when you know the vehicle. The trim and engine size it fills in save a question at parts-ordering time.
Finding a vehicle #
On New Work Order, type the License Plate, Fleet Number, or VIN and click Search. The vehicle's owner is loaded into the Customer card at the same time, so a plate or VIN is the fastest way to start a ticket for a returning customer.
Plate and fleet searches are exact, so type the whole plate. The VIN search matches any part of the number, so the last six or eight characters from the door jamb or the key tag are enough. Searches only look at vehicles in the store you have selected.
Vehicle history #
Click History beside any vehicle to see its In Progress work orders and Completed invoices with the date, number, total, and technician. On the customer page, a No Vehicle row collects tickets written without a vehicle.
Mileage #
Each invoice asks for the vehicle's Current Mileage and saves it to the vehicle, so the stored mileage is always from the last visit. Service reminders and the inspection report use it.
Editing, changing, and retiring #
- Edit on the customer page or the ticket changes the vehicle's details.
- Change Vehicle on an open work order swaps in another of the customer's vehicles. It takes effect immediately.
- When a customer sells a vehicle, open it from the customer page and untick Active. It disappears from searches and ticket lists but keeps its history.
Tickets with no vehicle #
Counter sales and parts-only tickets do not need a vehicle. Choose the No Vehicle row in the Vehicle card.