AI has entered the shop. Here is what it changes.
How shops run with an AI service writer, a phone that answers itself and a car that reports in. Written from the bay, published from South Florida, read nationwide.
Can AI Write a Repair Estimate a Customer Will Trust?
AI can draft a repair estimate in seconds from a VIN and a sentence. Here is what AI should decide, what a human service writer must decide, and why trust holds.
September 20, 2026 · 5 min read
Missed calls cost real repair orders. Here is how missed-call text back, an AI receptionist and a phone system inside the ticket fix it, plus what to measure.
September 19, 2026 · 6 min readAI in the shopShould a repair shop let AI answer the phone?An AI receptionist can book appointments and answer after hours at a repair shop. Here is what it should handle, what belongs to a person, and how to start.
September 17, 2026 · 6 min readGrow the shopHow auto repair shops show up in ChatGPT and Google AI answersHow repair shops get named in ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI answers: llms.txt, structured data, one page per service, fresh reviews and matching listings.
September 15, 2026 · 6 min readAI in the shopWhat does an AI service writer actually do in a repair shop?An AI service writer turns a VIN and one sentence into a priced repair order. Here is what it does, where it saves time, and where a human still decides.
September 13, 2026 · 6 min readAI in the shopWhat is the best auto repair shop software with AI in 2026?The best auto repair shop software with AI writes the ticket, answers the phone, and reads the car. A demo test to tell working AI from a chatbot bolted on.
September 11, 2026 · 6 min readConnected carWhat is a connected car for an auto repair shop?A connected car reports codes and a health score to an app on the driver's phone under the shop's name. Why fleets had it first and why shops should own it.
September 9, 2026 · 6 min readRun the shopHow do inspection photos get repairs approved by phone?How green, yellow, red inspections with photos get repairs approved from the customer's phone, and what happens on the repair order after they sign.
September 7, 2026 · 6 min readPista newsWhat should you ask a shop software vendor before you buy?Three questions to ask any shop software vendor before you buy, and why Pista was built inside working South Florida shops by a founder who still uses it.
September 5, 2026 · 5 min readGrow the shopHow Lamborghini and Porsche owners find an independent shop nowExotic owners ask an AI assistant for a specialist before they call. Here is what convinces a Lamborghini or Porsche owner to book with an independent shop.
September 3, 2026 · 6 min readRun the shopWhy your shop pays five vendors to run one businessMost shops pay a shop system, a phone vendor, a texting tool, a website builder, and an agency to run one business. What it costs and what one bill changes.
September 1, 2026 · 5 min readRun the shopHow to switch shop software without losing ten years of historyWhat moves when you switch shop software (customers, vehicles, invoices, notes), how to run both for a week, keep your number, and be live in 24 to 48 hours once your data is in hand.
August 30, 2026 · 6 min readGrow the shopTesla owners ask AI which shop to trust. How to be the answer.Tesla and EV owners now ask AI assistants which shop to trust. Here is what those assistants read about your shop, and how an independent shop gets named.
August 28, 2026 · 6 min readRun the shopGet paid before the customer reaches the counterText-to-pay, tap to pay, deposits at approval, and pay-over-time on big jobs: how independent shops get paid before pickup and take the line out of the end of the day.
August 26, 2026 · 5 min readSee Pista run a shop.
Fifteen minutes with a Pista expert, on your own numbers. No pitch, no pressure.
Pista is the AI shop platform: the system that runs the shop, the phone, the website and the customer's car in one bill. RSS