Document arrival carefully
Keep condition photos, notes, the job reference, and available mileage and battery readings together.
For collision and body shops
A long repair. A clear record all the way through.
Parts delays, sublet work, test drives, and changing shifts create a lot to remember. GuestLot keeps the vehicle’s stay organized so the next person can pick up with context.
Arrival evidence that outlives the repair order, a reason attached to every mile added, and a visit you can still retrieve months later.
A clearer visit, from the start
- 1
Capture arrival beyond the damage
The claimed damage is on the estimate. The unrelated marks, the mileage and the battery level at intake are what nobody writes down and everybody argues about.
- 2
Attach a reason to every move
Sublet transfer, alignment, road test, recharge. A mileage delta with no note beside it is the gap a customer question falls into.
- 3
Keep the shifts synchronized
Notes stay on one visit through parts delays and shift changes, so the tech who finishes reads what the tech who started saw.
- 4
Close, retain, retrieve
The record stays available after hand-back for a customer question or an insurer’s review months later.
The work behind the visit
The record should last as long as the job.
Explain legitimate movement
Record road-test and transfer context in the visit. A location or mileage reading alone cannot tell you why a vehicle moved.
Retrieve the whole visit
Keep the closed record available for customer questions or an insurance review, and choose whether to share the owner report.
Choosing software
What should a shop that works on Teslas actually buy?
There is no single one, and a shop that buys as though there were ends up disappointed. Tesla diagnostics, calibrations and repair procedures come from Tesla’s own Service Portal and Toolbox — no third-party product replaces them, and none can put a car into Service Mode remotely, because Tesla’s Fleet API has no such command. Estimating and repair orders stay in your collision system. GuestLot covers the part neither of those owns: documented custody of the customer’s car from intake to hand-back, including available authorized vehicle readings with the times they were observed.
What GuestLot does not do for you
GuestLot records the vehicle’s stay. It does not run the rest of the shop, and these stay with the systems you already use:
- Diagnostics, calibrations and repair procedures — Tesla Service Portal and Toolbox.
- Estimating, repair orders and insurer communication — CCC, Mitchell, Audatex or your existing collision system.
- Parts procurement and cycle-time management — your production system.
If a visit record is not the gap you have, the honest answer is that GuestLot is not the tool to buy.
Respect the vehicle. Support the team.
Settings are a choice. Records are a habit.
Use Tesla’s model-specific repair procedures and the appropriate Service Portal or Toolbox workflow for the work. GuestLot is a documentation and visibility tool; it does not provide repair certification, run calibrations, or enter Service Mode through Fleet API.
Read the relevant guidance: Tesla Service Portal.
Your shop can change these. They are review thresholds and agreed settings, not remote controls: GuestLot does not set Guest Mode, Valet Mode, or driving permissions on the car, and a boundary only detects an eligible arrival — it does not grant or restrict driving access.
A collision visit records fine without a Tesla connection
Intake photos, unrelated prior damage, the job reference, road-test notes, staff handoffs and hand-back details are all shop-entered. Without owner authorization, Tesla location, mileage and battery readings are unavailable, and those fields read “not recorded” rather than showing a stale number.
The record is yours to share
Keep the shop record for later questions, and preview a private owner report before enabling its link. Documentation can support an insurance review; it does not determine coverage or a claim outcome.
Questions
Built around collision and body shops
Does GuestLot replace collision management or Toolbox?
No. Keep repair orders and estimating in your collision system, and follow Tesla procedures for diagnostics and repair. GuestLot adds a record of the customer vehicle’s stay.
Does a report guarantee an insurer will accept a claim?
No. It can organize recorded facts and condition evidence for review. Your policy, the facts, and the insurer’s assessment determine coverage and any claim outcome.
Can GuestLot put a car into Service Mode for us?
No, and no software can. Tesla’s Fleet API has no set_service_mode command — Service Mode is entered from the vehicle touchscreen or through Toolbox. Where the telemetry exposes the signal, GuestLot can show that a vehicle reported being in Service Mode. It detects that state; it never sets it.
A car sat here three weeks. Was it being monitored the whole time?
No. Authorized snapshot refreshes show available vehicle readings and the times they were observed — not a live feed and not a map. Continuous monitoring and alert delivery require supporting services to be provisioned and monitored, and a gap in readings cannot establish that a car never moved.
Keep reading
Tesla certified body shop requirements
The five gates, and why holding four of them is not certification.
Evidence a claim requires
The policy specifies duties, not a document list.
If a customer car is damaged
What actually decides the outcome.
Valet Mode vs Service Mode
Why Valet Mode is the wrong default for body work.
Weeks of repair. One retrievable record.
Document intake beyond the estimate, attach a reason to every mile, and keep the visit available long after the car goes home.