Digital Vehicle Inspections: A Guide for Canadian Shops
Economic factors and local provincial developments in Canada could mean more customers turning to independent auto shops to get their cars repaired and inspected. With more business potentially on the horizon, it’s a great time for shops to consider streamlining their operations to serve more customers, better. Digital Vehicle Inspections (DVIs) are key to doing it.
The DVI is a new kind of vehicle check-up that is proving so effective, it could well become an industry standard in Canada and globally. A DVI lets a shop more easily, quickly, and comprehensively evaluate a vehicle, demonstrate to customers how problems have been addressed, and easily maintain an organised and meticulous record of each vehicle worked on. In this guide, you’ll see why every Canadian auto shop should consider getting set up to do them.
How Does a Digital Vehicle Inspection Work?
To perform a DVI, your service rep first opens a work-order, gathers basic data and any specific concerns from the customer, and enters it into the shop’s cloud-based digital vehicle inspection software.
In the garage, the technician opens the work-order on a tablet and sees the customer data and a comprehensive troubleshooting/maintenance checklist, appended with the rep’s notes about specific complaints (e.g., customer hears a squeak when turning the steering wheel). The technician performs the inspection, checking off each completed task. The technician can take pictures and even videos with the tablet, and attach them to the checklist, establishing visual records of important benchmarks (e.g., mileage stickers, tire wear) and work performed. They can also rank problems in terms of urgency (e.g., “check in a year” or “needs immediate attention”) and add detailed notes.
The benefits of this approach are myriad. In Canada, one major benefit is the improvement of every aspect of routine car inspections.
DVIs: Supercharging Inspections, Exceeding Expectations
Canadian auto shops are likely familiar with laws governing car safety and emissions which require inspections of automobiles under different circumstances, depending on the province. Using DVI software, any car inspection, whether mandated or otherwise, is more thorough, accurate, consistent, detailed, and transparent than an inspection recorded with pen and paper. DVIs produce a time-stamped digital paper trail of everything done to a car, complete with photographic/video records. For those shops certified to do safety/emissions inspections, having all the information in a consistent, easily-accessible format just makes sense.
After a DVI, each time that customer returns, the shop can easily reference and update the car’s profile, so DVIs provide a perfect foundation for regular inspections in places where they’re mandated. Even in provinces with less stringent regulations, having a comprehensive picture of a vehicle’s health allows technicians to identify and correct problems faster, so some shops now do DVIs free with any visit.
The Further Benefits of Digital Vehicle Inspections
Now that you understand DVIs, you can see how they’re good for customers, shops, and mechanics. They build customer trust, because customers can see, step-for-step, a record of what your mechanics have done and why it was necessary. They reduce stress in the garage, because technicians have proof of their thoroughness, and will never accidentally overlook a troubleshooting step, or get confused about who has done what. With everyone working off the same checklist, and everything conveniently documented with words, pictures, and videos, everyone works better.
Implementing Digital Inspection Software in Your Shop
Since the Canadian auto repair landscape can have particular demands, it’s smart when implementing a cloud-based DVI solution to work with a vendor that has knowledge of, and experience with, the Canadian market. Also make sure to work with someone who will set you up to practice using the solution during off hours, assuring your team is comfortable with it when you go live, and offers adequate training to make the whole process easy and intuitive.
DVIs: Part of Auto Repair’s Digital Transformation
Cars are getting more digital, and auto repair is undergoing a digital transformation too. Auto shops are finding that cloud-based solutions can improve every aspect of business, from marketing to servicing. DVIs are a key tool in the auto shop’s new digital toolbox.
Getting set up to perform DVIs is crucial to negotiating not just today’s demands, but ones coming down the pike. If a new in-car technology becomes an industry-standard, independent auto shops can easily add it to a DVI checklist. If new emissions or safety standards arise, DVI-ready shops can make sure that every vehicle that pulls up meets the standard. That’s why the whole industry is getting streamlined with DVIs, and to stay competitive so should you!
Fine-Tune Your Auto Shop With DVIs!
Do you want to enable your technicians to easily maintain meticulously-documented records of every vehicle interaction, at a level of detail previously impossible? Want to empower them to troubleshoot faster, identify problems earlier, keep vehicles healthier and make car owners happier? Take the next step toward implementing the technology that’s helping Canada’s auto shops do business better, request an on-demand demo from BOLT ON Technology today.
