Walk-up flow
Walk-up customer? Add them without leaving the job.
Walk-up customer with their car in the lot? Most shop software bails you out of the new-RO form to go register them. Pitlane lets you add the contact and the vehicle inline. Never leaving the job.
New repair order
Customer
No match found
New contactThe RO form keeps every field you already filled in.
4 fields
Inline contact
0 page changes
Form preserved
Scan the VIN
Camera reads it, we decode it
Inline + New contact when nothing matches.
Type a name, phone, or email.
- Pre-fills firstName from your search text
- Email or phone required (one is enough)
- Optional notes captured at moment-zero, not in a separate Notes tab later
- Outer RO form keeps every field you'd already filled in
Scan the VIN instead of typing it.
Customer in the system but their car isn't?
- Scan a VIN with the phone camera. It reads a barcode or a stamped VIN and decodes it against NHTSA
- VIN is captured now so records are ready if parts and labor-guide lookups arrive later
- Plate + mileage make warranty tracking honest
Email or phone required, on purpose.
A walk-up who never gives you contact info isn't someone you can review-request, reactivate, or text when the truck's done.
How it works.
Start a new RO or inspection
From /service-records/new or /inspections/new. The customer search is the first field.
Search returns nothing → click + New contact
Inline mini-form expands. firstName pre-fills from your search text. Add email or phone, optional notes. Click Save.
Vehicle is empty → click + Add vehicle
Year, make, model, VIN (auto-uppercase), plate, mileage. Save creates the vehicle and selects it. The rest of your RO form stays intact.
This runs on a 30-day free trial.
Every feature on this page is in the trial. No credit card, live in under 10 minutes.
Questions about walk-up flow.
Why is email or phone required for a new contact?
Can I edit the contact later if I add them in a hurry?
Does the inline form check for duplicate contacts before creating?
Does the VIN field decode to year / make / model automatically?
Related reading.
All articlesCustomer Retention for Auto Repair: The 5 Numbers That Actually Move ARO
Forget vanity metrics. The five customer-retention numbers every shop owner should measure, the benchmarks, and how each one moves ARO.
OperationsHow to Send Repair Estimates by Text (and Why Your Customers Prefer It)
Phone tag is dead. How modern shops send estimates by text, get approval from the customer's phone, and turn 6-hour cycles into 30 minutes.
Run your next job on one work order.
Start free for 30 days. No credit card, no setup fee, no per-transaction platform fee.