Introduction
There are a lot of mechanic shop softwares that claim to be the best solution for your auto repair shop business. But when we start researching about them we get to see their dark side and how these softwares are designed to rob people off from their hard earned money.
In the name of streamlined operations they are selling softwares that is not of any use. And in a market like this when some newbie or a guy who doesn’t have that much knowledge of tech steps in they attack him like a hungry wolf.
So what should newbies and new guys who don't have that much knowledge of tech do?
Should they just go back and not buy any software?
No!
Instead they should research it.
But researching can make you buy these so called softwares because their marketing techniques are fresh and new and can cost you a lot of fortune.
Then what should we do?
I got you today. I am going to discuss the top solutions for your business. They are the only softwares that I consider as legit softwares and can really help you in your business.
So let’s delve right into it!
Torque360
Torque360 is a new and well designed mechanic shop software for auto repair shop owners. There are several reasons it stands out from rest.
This is designed to improve supply chain efficiency and overall operations of your auto repair shop.
Efficient Job Completion
Torque360 offers next-day deposits and fast payment processing, allowing auto repair shops to complete more jobs in less time. This feature helps streamline the workflow and increase productivity.
Torque360's Inventory Organization feature includes a reorder point mechanism. Users can set minimum stock levels for each item. When the stock falls below the defined threshold, the software sends alerts, prompting the staff to reorder the necessary items. This prevents delays and ensures that essential parts are replenished on time.
Seamless Repair Order Management
Torque360 provides functionality for creating repair orders, generating estimates with help of auto body estimating software, and collecting payments, all in one place.
Order repair management
When a customer first brings their car to your repair shop, this feature helps to create a digital record called a "repair order." This record includes details like the car's type, model, ID number, what needs to be fixed , and other important info.
Torque360 helps shops create and keep track of these records without using lots of paper, making things neat and organised.
One-in-all software
The special thing about Torque360 is that it puts all these helpful things in one place. This means repair shops don't have to use many different tools, which can be confusing. When everything is together, it's easier to avoid mistakes and work better.
Plus, having all the info about repairs, costs, and payments in one spot makes it clear for both the repair shop and the customer.
Integrations
CARFAX
Torque360 offers integration with CARFAX, a platform that provides vehicle history reports. This integration allows mechanics to easily fetch vehicle information and add it to digital vehicle inspections
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MOTOR Information Systems
Torque360 has integrated with MOTOR Information Systems to provide labour/part guides, repair procedures, and wiring diagrams for auto repair shops. This integration helps mechanics carry out repair jobs in the most efficient manner possible
QuickBooks
Torque360 offers integration with QuickBooks, which is a popular accounting software used by many businesses
The main thing about torque360 is they are always upgrading their features and with time they are including new features. And it is no surprise that in the future they are also going to adopt AI.
Furthermore, they recently added digital tools features which can help you maintain your digital business and have many other exciting features. Regarding reviews i wasn’t able to find any negative reviews instead i found out many positive reviews about it.
Overall I would give it 5/5 because of its advanced and shocking features.
Shopmonkey
This is another mechanic shop software that is also putting on the table what they promise. When researching this topic it was a lot difficult for me to decide which software to discuss first. But after comparing it with torque360 I realised that they fall behind in a lot of things which I am going to discuss in upcoming paragraphs.
Ok what makes it stand out from the market?
It is a cloud-base software designed to help businesses in appointment scheduling and helping in many other tasks.
Here are some of it’s top features related to auto-repair shop software.
Work Order Management
Shopmonkey offers a drag-and-drop workflow that allows users to move any job through their shop from start to finish with just a click.
The workflow is customizable, and users can tailor it to fit their needs with modifiable milestones, add notes, or use tags to mark VIPs, pick up times, and more so everyone’s on the same page. Users can also view job completion percentages at a glance
Quoting
Shopmonkey's auto repair estimate software allows users to create quick and professional estimates with templates, parts lookups, labour times, and more. Users can send quotes and estimates with integrated customer communications to easily text and email professional estimates.
The software also allows users to view a detailed history of customer authorizations, past services, communications, comments, and more. Users can quickly add previously declined services to increase their potential total sale and view projected profitability in real-time as they create estimates
Maintenance Planning
Shopmonkey lets users pre-schedule appointments and send automated notifications to keep their service bays full.
The software allows users to pre-schedule appointments for routine auto maintenance, which can help them get a steady, predictable schedule of appointments.
This can dramatically affect both the morale and profitability of a shop. Shopmonkey's appointment scheduling software supports pre-scheduling appointments, which can help auto shops to keep their bays full.
Shopmonkey vs Torque360
Integrations
Shopmonkey also provides integrations but they aren’t that much exciting. Instead they already have negative reviews about one of their integrations.
And furthermore they aren’t partnered with companies like Nextpart or CARFAX which is quite a disadvantage. Because with torque 360 you will be able to order parts before they run out of stock resulting in better inventory management.
Negative reviews
One user of shopmonkey mentioned that there were connectivity issues with QuickBooks and that some item types were not able to transfer over from QuickBooks.
This may cause inconvenience and extra work for users who rely on QuickBooks for their accounting needs. Regarding torque360 i wasn’t able to find any negative reviews.
Why do shopmonkey lacks behind?
Furthermore some users have experienced lag during using software which can be frustrating. Furthermore when i was comparing it with torque360 i found out that they lag behind in many features here are some features that are provided by torque360 but not shop monkey.
Unlimited UsersVehicle Select through Y-M-M-E (Year-Make-Model-Engine Size)Advanced DVICustom Inspection Templates Job Board/Work In ProgressPurchase Order ManagementOBD Code LookupInvoice EditorQuick Checkout/Counter SalesNexpart
Identifix
This is another repair shop software which is designed to increase the efficiency of day-to-day work at a repair shop. Here are some of it’s features that makes it stand out:
Features
Database of repair information
Identfix offers a comprehensive database of repair information which includes diagrams, writings and repair processes. It is a database that technicians can easily access at any time and take it as a guide. Furthermore the database has over 3 million technicians confirmed fixes which is a huge resource for repair shops and can be used as guide by newbies.
Colour wiring feature
Identifix offers a colour writing feature to its repair software helping the techs to provide more convenient experience while managing a built-in database. This also allows techs to zoom in,drag and drop and one click access to wiring diagrams.
User experience
Identifix is being praised for being a user-friendly software but this isn’t the only thing that should be used to determine software capabilities. On one side it provides a good user experience but on the other side it falls behind in features when compared to shop monkey or torque360.
Features in which identifix falls behind when compared to torque360
Here are some features in which identifix lacks behind
Realtime One-Way MessagingDigital Authorization
Advanced DVI
Custom Inspection Templates
Unlimited Canned Jobs
Purchase Order Management
OBD Code Lookup
Invoice Editor
Quick Checkout/Counter Sales
Conclusion
These are the two top mechanic shop softwares that are compatible with auto-repair shop business. And they aren’t here to just rob off your money, instead they are providing services that are unmatched in the market. Yes one of the software might lack behind when compared with each other but if we compare these two softwares with other softwares they are literally no match for them.