OctoMail for auto repair shops
Keep the bays full without touching a keyboard.
When someone's car makes a new noise, they email a couple of shops and go with whoever answers. OctoMail reads each inquiry the moment it lands, asks the right questions about the vehicle, and replies in your voice in about 30 seconds.
No card required to start. Works with Gmail and Google Workspace.
Your hands are in an engine bay, not on a keyboard
The service writer is at the counter with three customers and a ringing phone. You're chasing an electrical gremlin under a dash. Meanwhile the email asking about a timing belt sits unanswered, and by end of day that car is booked at the shop across town.
A repair inquiry is a customer with a problem they want solved now. OctoMail makes sure they hear back from your shop first, with a reply that sounds like you wrote it between jobs.
What it looks like in your inbox
My 2018 RAV4 is making a grinding noise when I brake. Can you take a look this week?
Hi Chris, that grinding is worth getting checked soon. Is the car still okay to drive? Let us know which day works and we'll get it up on the hoist.
Do you do out-of-province inspections? Just moved here with a 2020 Golf.
Hi Sana, welcome to town! We can certainly help with that. When were you hoping to bring the Golf in? Mornings are usually quickest for inspections.
What OctoMail pulls out of every inquiry
Your leads list reads like a job board for the week:
- Year, make, and model, when the customer shares them
- The symptom, in the customer's own words
- Whether the vehicle is drivable and how urgent it feels
- When they want to come in
- Real customers separated from parts spam and vendor pitches
How it works
Connect the shop Gmail
One tap with Google sign-in. No new software at the counter.
Every inquiry gets read
Vehicle, symptom, urgency. OctoMail understands what's rolling toward your bays.
You approve the first reply
Make sure it sounds like your shop before anything goes out. Straight talk, no fluff.
Then it runs on its own
New inquiries get answered in about 30 seconds, even mid-brake-job on a Friday.
What it will never do
- It never quotes a repair price. Diagnosis first, always.
- It never promises a completion date or a loaner.
- It never sends the first reply without your approval.
- You can switch off automatic sending anytime and review every reply yourself.
Questions shops ask us
Will it quote repair prices?
No. Estimating a repair without seeing the vehicle is how shops get burned, so OctoMail never quotes prices. It gathers the vehicle, the symptom, and the urgency, then invites the customer in so your techs can diagnose it properly.
I'm under a car all day. How much attention does this need?
Almost none. Connect your Gmail once, approve the first reply so it sounds like your shop, and OctoMail handles new inquiries from there. You look at the leads list between jobs, not instead of them.
What details does it collect about the vehicle?
Whatever the customer shares: year, make, and model, the symptom in their own words, whether the car is drivable, and when they'd like to come in. If something important is missing, the reply asks for it naturally.
Does it handle parts and vendor emails too?
OctoMail focuses on customer inquiries. Vendor pitches, newsletters, and spam are sorted away from your leads so the list stays about cars that could be in your bays.
What does it cost?
$99 per month in the US ($129 CAD in Canada), with a free 7-day trial. No card is charged until you decide to keep it, and you can cancel anytime.
Every repair inquiry answered before the customer moves on.
$99/month after a free 7-day trial. Canadian pricing $129 CAD. Cancel anytime in two clicks.
Start free 7-day trial