Auto Repair answering service, Ventura & Santa Barbara County
Under a car? Night Owl’s got the phone.
While your hands are in an engine bay, Night Owl catches the calls you can’t, books the drop‑off, and texts you what the car’s doing.
- Local
- Month-to-month
- Set up in under a week
- You keep your number.
Night Owl
New lead4:52 PM
Tom W. — Ventura
2014 F‑150, shakes at freeway speed.
Booked: Thu 8:00 AM drop‑off
Callers hear up front that it’s an AI assistant and the call is recorded. Real texts include the caller’s number.
The problem
Your hands are full. The phone doesn’t care.
A small shop runs on one set of hands. When the phone rings out, the caller is deciding whether to wait for you or try the next shop down the road.
Mid‑diagnosis, hands full
You’re under a dash tracing a wiring fault, test light in one hand. The phone buzzes on the bench. Stop, and you lose your place. Keep going, and you lose the caller.
“Is my car ready yet?”
Customers checking on their car call while you’re working on it. Every one pulls you out from under a car, and a new customer calling that same minute just hears it ring.
After you lock up
Friday night, the engine light starts blinking on the freeway. They call Saturday to ask if you can look at it Monday. If nobody picks up, they book with whoever does.
How a call goes
A brake call, start to finish.
A customer calls at 6:52 p.m., after you’ve locked up. Here’s how Night Owl handles it, including the one question it won’t answer: whether the car is safe to drive.
Every call opens like this one: the caller hears it’s an AI assistant and that the call is recorded.
AI assistant: [Your Shop], good evening. You’re talking with an AI assistant on a recorded line. What’s the car doing?
Caller: Squealing brakes. It started Monday, and it’s louder every time I stop.
AI assistant: Let’s get it in. What’s your name, and what are you driving?
Caller: Rosa. It’s a 2015 Honda Odyssey.
AI assistant: Thanks, Rosa. Any warning lights on the dash? And does the pedal feel normal?
Caller: No lights. Now that you mention it, the pedal’s felt a little soft since yesterday. Is it okay to drive?
AI assistant: I can’t tell you if it’s safe to drive, so I’m marking the soft pedal urgent for the owner. Can you bring it in, or does it need a tow?
Caller: It still drives. I’m only a mile away.
AI assistant: Got it. The first drop‑off I have is tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. Does that work?
Caller: That works.
AI assistant: You’re booked for 7:30 tomorrow, Rosa. I’m texting the owner your details now, with the soft pedal marked urgent.
Booked 7:30 AM , Soft pedal: URGENT , Owner texted
What it asks
Everything you’d ask, before the car’s on the lift.
It asks what a good service writer would ask, and writes it all down for you.
Name and callback number
Who called, and the best number to reach them.
Year, make, and model
So you know what’s coming before it pulls into the bay.
What it’s doing
Noises, smells, leaks, and which warning lights are on, in the caller’s own words.
Drives in or needs a tow
Whether they can bring it to you, or it’s stuck in a driveway or a parking lot.
A drop‑off time
Booked on the call, at a time that works for your shop.
An urgent flag
Soft brakes, overheating, anything you’ve told us is urgent: marked URGENT so you see it first.
All of it lands in one text on your phone, seconds after the call ends.
Do the math
What’s a missed drop‑off worth to your shop?
Think brake jobs, diagnostics, and check‑engine lights. We started the average job at $400 as an example. Move the sliders to match your business.Here’s the math, worked out with example numbers.
- Revenue walking out the door each month
- $2,600
Night Owl pays for itself if it saves just 1 job a month. The one-time $497 setup is covered by 2 jobs.
The math
- 5 calls a week × 52 weeks ÷ 12 months = 21.7 calls a month
- 21.7 calls × 30% = 6.5 jobs
- 6.5 jobs × $400 = $2,600 a month
An estimate from the numbers above — not a promise of results.
Pricing
One plan. Two numbers. No surprises.
Night Owl
$149 a month
+ $497 one-time setup
Month-to-month, cancel anytime.
The guarantee: Your first $149 only bills if it’s catching calls you’d have missed.
What’s included
- Custom-built for your shop
- Your greeting and your info — hours, services, price ranges
- Call forwarding set up for you
- A text with every lead
- Ongoing tweaks when your business changes
- A real person to call — Nathan
FAQ
Straight answers for repair shops.
Can it give repair quotes?
Not for a repair you haven’t diagnosed: a squeal can be pads, or it can be rotors and calipers. If you give it price ranges and want them shared, it shares those and nothing more. The real number comes after the car’s on your lift.
Can it tell customers if their car is ready?
No. It doesn’t connect to your shop software, so it can’t look up a job. Who called and which car go straight to your phone, so you can call them back.
What if a caller asks whether their car is safe to drive?
It doesn’t give safety advice. It writes down what the caller describes, like brakes that feel soft, and sends it to you marked urgent. You make that call.
What about tow‑ins after hours?
It gets the details: where the car is, what happened, and the best number to reach them. It marks the call urgent and texts you, so you decide whether to take it. It doesn’t book or send a tow truck.
Will it work for a two‑bay shop with one phone line?
Yes. That’s who it’s built for. Your line still rings first, like it does now. When you can’t grab it, the call forwards to Night Owl instead of going to voicemail.
Free missed-call audit
Find out how many calls you’re missing.
Tell me about your shop and I’ll reach out within one business day. Free, and no obligation.