Ingine: the auto shop product

Written from the code. Store type automotive (StoreFeatures::isAutomotive()). Bookings are labelled Work Orders and the booking button reads Book Service. Products are hidden unless the shop turns retail on (instinctor_auto_retail).

Estimates, work orders and job status texts

A visitor asks for a price through the estimate block. That creates a request carrying their name, phone, note, photos and the vehicle. The shop prices it, sends it, and the customer approves or declines from their own phone through a tokenised link, no account needed.

Job status moves through four steps: Received, In progress, Ready, Completed. Each step texts the customer. Statuses live in EstimateService::jobStatuses(); setting one is owner-fenced because it sends.

An approved estimate can become an invoice with a pay link (InvoiceService::payUrl, markPaidByToken), so the shop can take payment without the customer signing in.

Do you decode a VIN? Yes, on every form that asks for a vehicle

VinService::decode() reads a VIN through the NHTSA vPIC database and returns year, make, model, trim and engine. It is wired into all three places a vehicle is entered: the customer-facing estimate block, the shop's admin estimate form, and the InCommand phone panel.

A complete VIN, which is 17 characters and never uses I, O or Q, decodes itself the moment it is typed or pasted, so nobody has to press anything. The Decode button stays for a partial VIN or to force a re-read. An automatic read never overwrites a value somebody typed, and stays silent when the lookup fails, because decoding is a convenience and never a condition of sending the request. The VIN is stored with the request and shown to the shop next to the plate.

What the shop's site ships

Six service cards, a price list, opening hours, a map, a work gallery, video, and the estimate block. Photos come from the shop's own gallery in trade-first order, so an auto shop shows auto work.

What Ingine does NOT have

No parts catalogue or supplier ordering. No labour-time guide. No integration with Mitchell, Alldata, Shopmonkey or Tekmetric. No technician time tracking. No DVI video capture: photos only, attached to the request.

Where it lives

Master template: page 829 (ingine-site). Marketing pages exist per trade (auto-repair-website, mechanic-software, auto-shop-software, tire-shop-website).