Protect your shop, your customers' vehicles, and your fleet

A customer drops their car off Monday morning and picks it up Wednesday claiming there's a new scratch on the hood. You know it was there when they arrived—but without footage of the vehicle entering your lot and moving through your bays, it's your word against theirs. Auto repair shops hold customer vehicles under bailee liability, which means you're legally responsible for those cars while they're in your care. Video documentation of every vehicle from arrival to departure is your primary legal protection against claims like this, and your insurance company will ask for it the moment a dispute is filed.

Parts theft is an escalating problem that hits auto shops particularly hard. The National Insurance Crime Bureau documented more than a 1,000% increase in catalytic converter theft between 2019 and 2022, with repair shops and dealer lots among the most targeted locations. Organized theft rings operate quickly—cutting converters from four or five customer vehicles in under ten minutes at a poorly monitored shop and disappearing before anyone notices. Beyond converters, shops stock specialty components like turbochargers, transfer cases, and OBD modules that are increasingly targeted because they're expensive, identifiable to the trade, and easy to resell.

Service and tow vehicles add a third layer of exposure. These are expensive assets that carry liability when employees drive them outside business hours. A customer who claims your driver damaged their property, or a technician involved in an after-hours incident with a company truck, creates a dispute that GPS trip history resolves immediately—or compounds badly if you don't have it. Knowing where every vehicle was, when it returned to your lot, and how it was driven isn't overhead. For an auto shop, it's basic protection.