What Auto Repair Management Software are you Using?

We used to have Mitchell, but switched to WinWorks a little more than one year ago. I liked that we could pay 12 installments and own it. And if you want ongoing full tech support, it's only about $600/year. It doesn't do EVERYTHING, (it doesn't appear that there is any one platform that DOES), but it's pretty easy to pick up, is stable, and the things it does do, it does very well. It integrates with most major parts distributors (we use Worldpac), and is fairly customizable. We are still picking up new twists and tricks to making things run smoother and faster with it.

I am surprised that so few shops in this thread of replies have mentioned WinWorks. It's really nice not to have that monthly $300+ bill coming for your shop software.

We also use ALLDATA and Partslink24.

Hope this helps, email me if you want more info. [email protected]

RO Writer, I found the learning curve to be a bit steep. Worth the time.

I have been watching this topic very close for a few weeks, the more people post the more confused i get. I have been on Quickbooks since mid 90s, My brother has been doing the payables and receivables for 35 years at the store. Business has changed so much and volume has increased to the point that Quickbooks is a paperwork and input nightmare for us, although quickbooks accounting is great, we really are comfortable with quickbooks accounting. We have 1 location but maybe putting in 3 or 4 more locations in next few years. We have decided to reach out and find other options for our shop management software, I really do not use a shop management now, because of me and my brothers knowledge of Quickbooks, integration is a must. I have limited knowledge of all the shop programs, it seems from what i have read and been told is Mitchell "we have had for 18 years" INTEGRATES well with Quickbooks. The new Mitchell guy came buy last week and me and my brother discussed adding Mitchell Manager SE with him, It has really gotten mind boggling for me , out of my comfort range , I am in uncharted waters. I realize no one can tell me which program to purchase. This is my idea ,I think, I want a program that I or one of my writers basically can walk out to car scan vin or tag with camera ,write work order, assign to tech , get diag from tech,he can type in and it comes on our tablets, look up parts and tires ,give estimate , order all items, it puts them on estimate or invoice creates it , it automatically enters it in payables and receivables. We are hand typing that today. Mitchell has offered a 30 day trial, I can bail out with no charge. They do all the setup and integration. I have not made a final decision other than the Mitchell guy did come buy and see me. Ok now it gets really confusing to me, what is Bolt On, I am confused on this, I thought it was in the Manager SE or that SE is the same program . I see where bolt on and Mitchell integrate . That issue has me stuck. Is there another program that works with Mitchell labor and Quickbooks that I should look at. I understand I will be buying some tablets for my techs and SW's. I would rather have a program that does not make me own proprietary computers and cash drawers etc. I have 8 workstations now that I can use . Guys, I understand this is a broad and crazy question, as you can tell I am spending a lot of energy on this , I think this is a major decision in the direction of my shop. Has anyone here been in my situation with Quickbooks and made this changeover, if so could you quickly tell me who you went with , why, do you like it. I have read Mitchell support is not the best. I know it will be challenging for all of us , I have put this off for 3 years. I have got to make a move in this fast changing business. I understand you get what you pay for, I do like the idea of pay as you go with all the updates and changes that will come up weekly. Any input is appreciated. Thanks David

I have been watching this topic very close for a few weeks, the more people post the more confused i get. I have been on Quickbooks since mid 90s, My brother has been doing the payables and receivables for 35 years at the store. Business has changed so much and volume has increased to the point that Quickbooks is a paperwork and input nightmare for us, although quickbooks accounting is great, we really are comfortable with quickbooks accounting. We have 1 location but maybe putting in 3 or 4 more locations in next few years. We have decided to reach out and find other options for our shop management software, I really do not use a shop management now, because of me and my brothers knowledge of Quickbooks, integration is a must. I have limited knowledge of all the shop programs, it seems from what i have read and been told is Mitchell "we have had for 18 years" INTEGRATES well with Quickbooks. The new Mitchell guy came buy last week and me and my brother discussed adding Mitchell Manager SE with him, It has really gotten mind boggling for me , out of my comfort range , I am in uncharted waters. I realize no one can tell me which program to purchase. This is my idea ,I think, I want a program that I or one of my writers basically can walk out to car scan vin or tag with camera ,write work order, assign to tech , get diag from tech,he can type in and it comes on our tablets, look up parts and tires ,give estimate , order all items, it puts them on estimate or invoice creates it , it automatically enters it in payables and receivables. We are hand typing that today. Mitchell has offered a 30 day trial, I can bail out with no charge. They do all the setup and integration. I have not made a final decision other than the Mitchell guy did come buy and see me. Ok now it gets really confusing to me, what is Bolt On, I am confused on this, I thought it was in the Manager SE or that SE is the same program . I see where bolt on and Mitchell integrate . That issue has me stuck. Is there another program that works with Mitchell labor and Quickbooks that I should look at. I understand I will be buying some tablets for my techs and SW's. I would rather have a program that does not make me own proprietary computers and cash drawers etc. I have 8 workstations now that I can use . Guys, I understand this is a broad and crazy question, as you can tell I am spending a lot of energy on this , I think this is a major decision in the direction of my shop. Has anyone here been in my situation with Quickbooks and made this changeover, if so could you quickly tell me who you went with , why, do you like it. I have read Mitchell support is not the best. I know it will be challenging for all of us , I have put this off for 3 years. I have got to make a move in this fast changing business. I understand you get what you pay for, I do like the idea of pay as you go with all the updates and changes that will come up weekly. Any input is appreciated. Thanks David

Hi David, Happy Labor Day.

You’re right in taking this change seriously as each shop management system has its pros and cons. As far as being able to walk out to a car and scan the VIN, write a work order, assign a tech, etc. though, shop management systems themselves don’t do that.

This is where Bolt On (my company) comes in. We are an automotive repair software company that fully integrates with the most popular shop management systems. We provides shops with the ability to take a tablet out to the car, scan the VIN, decode the license, start an order, assign a tech, take service specific photos, text and email customers a digital multi-point inspection with photos attached, etc.

All of the information gathered with the tablet is integrated (in real time) back into the shop management system, eliminating the need to write anything down.

There are other benefits as well, but in an effort to avoid self-promotion on this forum, you may want to reach out to us. http://boltontechnology.com/contact-us/

Michael, I spoke to John at Bolt-On this morning,He was very resourceful and polite. He answered all my questions he is sending me the link for some answers I had. I spoke with my Mitchell rep a few minutes ago.We are meeting today. It is actually starting to sink in how it all operates. Us old guys are having to change the way our brains process info. John, with Bolt On,was a super polite and informative guy.Thanks for reaching out. David Mack

Michael, I spoke to John at Bolt-On this morning,He was very resourceful and polite. He answered all my questions he is sending me the link for some answers I had. I spoke with my Mitchell rep a few minutes ago.We are meeting today. It is actually starting to sink in how it all operates. Us old guys are having to change the way our brains process info. John, with Bolt On,was a super polite and informative guy.Thanks for reaching out. David Mack

Thanks David,

I appreciate you taking the time to discuss your experience with John. It sounds like you have a better idea of your options now. If you have any further questions at all, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We're here for you.

I am just a one man show, but I saw the benefit of using Mitchell 1 software (Manager SE Version 6.9). I absolutely LOVE it!!!!! I love the fact that it handles the accounting side of managing the shop as well as the service side. I use the repair estimator all the time to figure out how much to quote on the estimate. Also, Like someone said earlier, you can create your own pricing matrix. The manager SE program only cost me $212/month. I also love having the ability to email quotes to people. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Mitchell 1.

Any one got any updates on this stuff. After getting off the Phone with RO Writer today, I'm going to do everything in my power to never give them a dime of my money again. I bought my program, and now I can't get upgrades any more because they've switched to a subscription based program at almost $300 a month.

Any one got any updates on this stuff. After getting off the Phone with RO Writer today, I'm going to do everything in my power to never give them a dime of my money again. I bought my program, and now I can't get upgrades any more because they've switched to a subscription based program at almost $300 a month.

wow I had no idea. That sucks. As far as I remember they have some $65 monthly charge for tech support which they make you pay for at least a year even if you don't use them.

I purchased a Lite version of the program in 09 I believe for somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 grand, has service for another year after that. Never needed support for the last 5 years until now, Ran into an issue because my computer is taking a crap. And can't install R.O. writer on my new one, they want to charge by the minute for help.

To address a couple concerns that keep coming up on this thread:

1. We had to install an all new server setup late last year (our old hardware had become obsolete). While it wasn't totally painless, WinWorks did swap over to the new hardware with very little problem. So I can vouch that once you have the software, it can go to a new hardware setup and still function.

2. Winworks DOES integrate with Quickbooks. We have not made the leap to do it yet, but we're planning to. Winworks will generate a QB file whenever you want to produce it, ready for import into your Quickbooks.

3. Regarding opinions on subscription based vs. "buyable" software, as I said previously, I love the fact that I don't have an ongoing $300 to $500/month bill coming for my shop management program. Guys, these programs are NOT rocket science. They don't utilize high-level math or algorithms that have to be constantly changed or optimized. They are really a glorified mashup of a Word document program, an Excel spreadsheet, with a point & click ordering function for parts. Once the program is written, it's pretty much done, and if it works (which WinWorks does), it should not have to be fiddled with again. I just do not see the need for a constant payment to a software company that isn't doing anything for me, when I can buy a software package outright.

I'm not here to criticize anyone's software choice, if it works for you, that's great. But I don't like to see shop owners thinking there are no options available other than a monthly bill that comes forever. When we used to have Mitchell One, our rep couldn't answer the simplest question about the product. He was brutal to deal with. Switching to WinWorks got us a better financial deal as well as got us away from an ineffective support system.

Good luck

If I may, I'd like to give my humble opinion on some of the differences between subscription and purchased software, and why you might want to make sure your software company is doing well.

First, if a software company doesn't have some kind of recurring income from their customers, they will soon go the way of the dodo bird.

1) Subscriptions give the software company a nice steady income, and the customer really has more of a voice, because subscription based software companies do not want to lose subscription based customers.. they all add up.

2) Purchases allow the software company to make a one time amount of money, but in order to support said software, they must charge an annual support fee of some kind. The problem here of course, if the software is very good and the customer doesn't think he/she needs support, then the software company will get no recurring income. A company can literally program themselves right out of business.

So for the customers, purchases can seem like a very good way to go, but if your software company is gone because you purchased no more support, then you get to eventually go out and buy new software. If you are subscribing you have a much better chance the software company will be there for years to come.

Software companies that excel are the ones that are constantly adding new features to the program. This keeps customers interested in keeping up to date, and the expanding possibility of new customers.

As was mentioned in this topic, once a program is done... and there is the problem, a software program is never done. There are industry changes, customers want this and that, the operating systems change (How fast did we go from Windows 7 to Windows 10?). We have been working on our program (Digital Wrench) for about 3 years now, and there is no stopping the requests.

Of course no matter what, you must make sure the software you are looking at has the features you need. But if your software company is done writing the software, what's going to happen when that new feature everyone else has, will not get added to your software?

Software is more of a service than a product, and all software companies know this. Of course, I can completely understand why you might not want to pay every single month with no way out. In that case, see if you can subscribe, then purchase later. You really should have a choice, but some companies really can't afford to give you that kind of a choice. (Shameless plug: We do!)

Another thing you might want to look at is if your software has an export capability to export at least your customers and inventory, should you decide to change to another company. It is your data, make sure you can keep it.

Ray Rippey

Digital Wrench Repair Software

www.workordersoft.com

I was told that a software company can not "legally" keep you from accessing your previous records /transactions . Does anyone know how to contact whoever enforces these laws? Napa Tracs told me that when we left. And we "can" still access all our stuff. Another company has locked us out so we "CAN NOT" access our records.

This will be my last on this subject- I believe that software is not so special that it doesn't have a finite value. If you build something it should be worth a certain value. As Americans we should have a choice to buy or subscribe as we choose. The subscription idea and on-going upgrades is good for some, just not me. And how much more do we really need? If a system works well then I shouldn't have to pay for it every month -I paid what it is worth (or at least what we agreed upon) especially if there are no upgrades that benefit me.

I neither need or want "marketing tools" .

I don't want to text my customers. I want to talk to them. I can speak MUCH faster than text and if the customer doesn't understand I am right there to clarify what I said or what they may have misunderstood.

I was thinking that charging a subscription or membership fee to my customers would be a great way to have a steady income and I can work when I feel like it and Fish or Golf when I don't . I can tell them I am working on ways to upgrade the way we fix their cars (whether or not it benefits them) and if I work on it 3 hours a month I am not lying as I am actually doing "something" . I am not saying there are a lot of companies doing this but there are so many that have too many "holes" in their system that it seems they can't be working too hard to provide the "upgrades & service" they are charging for. Every year we have to pay OTC, FORD, CHRYSLER etc. for upgrades or we get behind on the repair info ,wiring diagrams ,etc. But this is info that has changed -sometimes drastically from last year, and it includes new models that have never existed before. All these updates and subscriptions take away from my bottom line- and isn't that why we work? A shop management program only does so much, And I personally don't want to have to do $500+ a month more in work to pay for it. I'd rather go home on time tonite. "GRAMPS" (THE DUMB ONE). July 1st, 2016-our 32nd year in this business.

Check out Omnique. Cloud based, can be accesed anywhere and full of features for modern shop. I demo maybe 20 systems before choosing them. Check them out and demo their system. Oh and support is great.

Ps. Ro writer also a great system. Tested it its great only thing is not cloud based. If ur back up goes then your down.

I elect cloud based because you will never loose the data and if you have no internet just hot spot from your phone and ur back online

We use alldata. I looked at mitchel at a friends shop and found the 8nterface cumbersome and confusing. Alldata is simple to use, i train my guys for 15 minutes and they can write simple RO's. Alldata repair is complete and can request information through e mail fast. I have not tried the onljne version of their management program. I do not like the idea of having my sales and customer info in the cloud and reliant on an internet connection. I suggest alldata manage dvd version with the online repair info. They now have a tablet version too but i have not bothered yet.

We used Mitchell One in the past, but switched to Winworks for a couple reasons:

1. You buy Winworks, and once its paid for, you own it. No more monthly $300-$500 charges. You can buy $600/year tech support, but they answer normal questions even if you don't have the support.

2. This may be unique to us, but our Mitchell sales rep was horrible. The guy didn't know the product and couldn't answer any questions.

3. Winworks integrates with digital inspection apps like Autovitals, which we are considering now. Winworks also has their own digital inspection add-on, but I don't know how good it is.

No doubt, there isn't one system that does everything, but we've found Winworks to be pretty good, and the fact that its paid for is great.

I think the biggest problem with shopping for shop management software, for us at least, has been cost. More specifically, it's as if the cost is a big secret, I can't find ANY of this info via Google. Perhaps the forum can post a sticky with the average price for the main SMS programs? It would help newcomers like me, I think, be able to sort out what we can and cannot afford very quickly, and then pick the best within our price range.