New in Online Scheduling: Loaner Cars and Shuttle Rides

For a lot of customers, the hardest part of booking a repair is not picking a time. It is the question that comes right after: how do I get around while you have my car? SureCritic Online Scheduling now answers that at the moment of booking, with loaner cars, shuttle rides, and smarter waiting-room limits.

The important part: it only offers what your shop actually has free. Every option is checked against real capacity, across the whole job, so you never promise a car, a seat, or a ride you cannot deliver.

Loaner cars, offered only when one is truly free

Set your loaner fleet size once, and the scheduler does the rest. It offers a loaner only when a car is free for the entire job, not just the first day. The hold length is worked out from the total booked time on the appointment, so a two-day job holds the car for two days, weekend included.

You stay in control of when a loaner is even on the table:

• Fleet capacity. Tell us how many loaners you have. The scheduler never promises more than exist.
• A minimum-hours threshold. Only offer a loaner on jobs big enough to justify one. A quick diagnostic never ties up a car.
• Optional buffer days. If parts delays routinely bite you, pad every hold by a day or two so the calendar stays honest.

Customers see a loaner available on the dates that qualify, and a clear reason when it is not, instead of a dead end. Your advisors get an at-a-glance Loaners 2/2 out count on every day, plus a toggle-able overlay showing each car's due-back date. Need to pull a car from the pool? Mark it out of service and the scheduler plans around it. And because capacity is enforced at the moment of booking, two customers can never grab the last car at once.

Shuttle rides, requested right in the booking

Offer a shuttle? Customers can request a ride as part of scheduling, so the trip home is arranged before they ever drop off, not scrambled for at the counter. The shuttle is offered within the hours, capacity, and service area you set, and greyed out with a reason when a run is full or a customer is outside your range. No more promising a ride you cannot staff.

Smarter waiting, so your lobby never overflows

Some customers just want to wait. Now you can cap how many wait at once. Set the number of seats in your lounge, and the scheduler stops offering "I'll wait" once the room would be over capacity for that stretch of the day.

This counts real overlap, not just start times. Three one-hour jobs booked at 9:00, 9:30, and 9:45 all share the lobby at 9:45, and the scheduler knows it. Waiter appointments are flagged on your calendar too, so advisors can sequence the jobs where someone is sitting out front.

The thread through all three: never promise what you don't have

Loaners, shuttle seats, and waiting spots all run on the same capacity engine. Each one is checked server-side, against your real availability, across the full length of the job. When something is not available, the customer sees why and gets an alternative, rather than booking a promise you would have to walk back. That protects the experience and keeps your day off the phone.

Available now

Loaner cars, shuttle rides, and concurrent-waiter limits are live now in SureCritic Online Scheduling. Want to see them set up for your shop? Request a demo, or explore Online Scheduling to see how the whole booking flow fits together.