Add a car | Docs

Vehicle records are the center of the day-to-day workflow. Add a car when a customer brings in a new vehicle for storage, requests service, or when you need to track a vehicle in your facility inventory.

What you will accomplish

When you finish, a new vehicle appears on the Cars page. Your team can assign a parking spot, link the owner, schedule events, and capture photos from that record.

Expected outcome: You land on the new car's detail page (or return to the Cars list) and can see the vehicle ready for parking, billing, and scheduled work.

When to add a car

A customer is storing a vehicle with your facility for the first time.
You are creating a record before scheduling intake, inspection, or delivery work.
You need a vehicle on file for billing, contracts, or customer portal access—even if photos come later.

There are two ways to add a car:

With Photos — best when the car is in front of you and you want intake photos and readings saved during creation.
Without Photos — best when you are entering vehicles from paperwork or need a record before photos are available.

Before you start

Have the vehicle's year, make, and model ready — these are the only required fields.
If you have the VIN, keep it handy — the system can auto-fill make, model, year, color, and trim from the VIN.
Know which customer owns or manages the car (you can link the customer after creation too).
If your facility uses multiple locations, know which location this car belongs to.

Choose your creation method

From the Cars page, click the Create New Car button in the top-right corner of the page header. A dialog appears with two options:

Create New Car dialog showing two options: With Photos and Without Photos — Choose With Photos to start a camera walkthrough, or Without Photos to fill in details manually.

With Photos — creates a photo session and takes you to the photo walkthrough screen where you can capture intake photos, damage documentation, and inspection images before the car record is saved. Best for vehicle intake when the car is physically in front of you.
Without Photos — opens the quick create form right away. Best when you are entering vehicles from paperwork, importing records, or the car is not available for photos yet.

Option A: Add a car without photos

Click Without Photos
After clicking Create New Car, select Without Photos. The create car form opens as a dialog.
Expected result: A window titled Create Car (or similar) appears with fields for VIN, Make, Model, and Year.
Enter the VIN (optional but recommended)
If you have the vehicle's VIN, type or paste it into the VIN field and click Autofill Info. The system decodes the VIN and automatically fills in the make, model, year, color, and trim fields. This saves time and reduces data-entry errors.
Why this matters: A correct VIN helps insurance, transport, and registration paperwork stay tied to the right vehicle later.
VIN decoding
VIN autofill works for most US-market vehicles. If the decode does not return results, you can still type the fields manually.
Expected result: Make, Model, Year, and other decoded fields fill in automatically when the VIN is recognized.
Fill in the required fields
Enter the Make, Model, and Year. These three fields are required to create the record. Optionally add a Stock Number if your facility uses internal identifiers.
Paste the VIN and click Autofill Info when you have it. The form still works if you only know Make, Model, and Year.
Select a location (multi-location facilities only)
If your team has enabled multiple facility locations, a Location dropdown appears. Select the location where this car will be stored or serviced.
Expected result: The location you pick is shown in the dropdown before you save.
Click Create Car
Click Create Car. The system saves the vehicle record and opens the new car's detail page where you can continue adding details like customer, parking spot, notes, insurance, and photos.
Expected result: You land on the new car's detail page (the banner shows year, make, and model) with Vehicle Details and Activity Feed ready for your team to fill in.

Option B: Add a car with photos

Use With Photos when the vehicle is in front of you and you want intake photos, damage notes, and readings saved with the new record from the start.

Click With Photos
After clicking Create New Car, select With Photos. The app opens a photo walkthrough screen — a step-by-step guide that tells you which photo or reading to capture next.
Expected outcome: You leave the Cars list and see the walkthrough screen with the first step highlighted.
Complete the photo walkthrough
Follow each on-screen prompt. Depending on how your admin set up intake, you may be asked to:
- Take exterior and interior photos from specific angles
- Document existing damage with close-up photos
- Record a video walkthrough
- Scan the VIN
- Record the odometer reading
- Check the fuel level
- Complete a checklist of condition items
  
  Take your time on each step. The walkthrough will not let you skip required steps unless your facility allows it.
Finish the walkthrough
When every required step is done, submit the walkthrough. The app creates the car record, attaches the photos and readings, and opens the session detail page so you can review what was captured.
Expected outcome: The new car exists in Cars and already has photos and activity on its record.

Photo walkthrough screen showing step-by-step prompts to capture vehicle photos during intake — With Photos starts a walkthrough so your team captures the right images and readings in order.

After creating the car

Once the car record exists, open it from the Cars list and complete these recommended steps in order. Doing them now prevents billing mistakes and keeps your parking map accurate from day one.

Link the customer
On the car banner, click No customer linked (or the customer name to change it). You can also click Link customer inside the CUSTOMER block in Vehicle Details. Search for the correct owner and select them.
Expected result: The banner and CUSTOMER block show the owner's name and email. Invoices, messages, portal access, and Upload document will work for this car.
Why this matters: A car without a linked customer is easy to lose track of when billing or follow-up work starts.
Assign a parking spot
Click Assign location on the banner (it later shows Zone: or Spot: with the location name) to place the car on your facility map.
Expected result: The parking button shows where the car sits in your building. See Move a car.
Add insurance, registration, and value
Scroll through Vehicle Details and fill in insurance company, policy number, expiration dates, and Declared Value (USD) when you have them.
Expected result: Your team can spot expiring paperwork from the Cars list without opening every record.
Add a note for your team
Use the Notes section to record condition details, special handling instructions, or anything the next teammate should know.
Expected result: The note appears on the car record for staff only—it is not sent to the customer automatically.

Customer section on a car record showing linked customer name, company, and email after the car was created — Link the customer right after you create the car. The CUSTOMER block confirms who owns the vehicle before you send invoices or portal invites.

Vehicle Details section showing fields for make, model, year, color, VIN, plate, customer, and service plans — Scroll through Vehicle Details to add insurance, registration, tags, and readings after the basics are saved.

Good car records include

A complete car record helps your team find the vehicle, communicate with the customer, and stay on top of billing and service. Aim for:

Enough detail to identify the vehicle without walking the lot — year, make, model, color, and plate at minimum.
A linked customer so invoices, messages, and portal access work correctly.
A parking spot so the floor plan stays accurate.
Insurance and registration dates so your team is alerted before anything expires.
Notes that help the next teammate take action without guessing.

Troubleshooting

What to do next

Assign parking when the car is on site
Follow Move a car so Parking Spots matches the real floor.
Run intake or inspection
When the vehicle is in front of you, use Start a car session or Create New Car → With Photos next time for a full photo walkthrough.
Send paperwork or billing
After the customer is linked, continue with Send a contract for signature or Create an invoice when your team is ready.