Digital Vehicle Inspections — graded walkarounds that protect every hand-off
Who it's for
- Installers running the walkaround on the shop tablet at drop-off/pickup.
- Front desk running the same inspection from the job screen when the tablet isn't in play.
- Owners who want a signed, photographic, graded record of vehicle condition before film ever touches the car — and the same record again at pickup.
Where it fits
Check-in (drop-off) and check-out (pickup) — the two moments a vehicle changes hands. See workflow-map.
Overview
A digital vehicle inspection (DVI) is a condition report: a photo/video walkaround, a graded checklist, damage notes, and the customer's on-screen signature. Once a report is signed it can't be resubmitted, and its photos, clips and signature can't be deleted. Every submitted report shows on the customer's tracking page; a signed one adds a downloadable PDF. Disputes about "that scratch was already there" end before they start.
Screens & navigation
- Installer tablet —
/work/<token>→ Condition Report card → Check-in walkaround or Check-out walkaround. Each row reads Not started, N photos saved, or Signed. - Job modal — Jobs → open a job → Inspection tab. Top to bottom: a quick Photos card, Start check-in inspection and Start check-out inspection, a line with an Open the tablet link shortcut, the Before/after showcase panel when the two walkarounds pair up, then one card per submitted report — Check-in inspection or Check-out inspection, a Signed or Unsigned chip, a PDF link, the graded list, the media, and the signature. Click any photo on the tab — a quick photo, a walkaround slot or a checklist close-up — to open it full size and arrow through the rest of that card's photos; clips play inline, with the player's own fullscreen button.
- Customer view — the job's tracking page renders each submitted report as Drop-off inspection or Pickup inspection, with a PDF link once it's signed.
- Template editor — Settings → Workflow → Inspection Checklist.
- Photos (legacy) — this tab shows up whenever the job's old photo store isn't empty: jobs from the older photo-only tool, and any job you've added quick Photos to. It's the Pre-Install Inspection slot grid — photos and per-photo notes, no grades and no signature — and quick photos aren't slotted, so they don't fill it. Click a slot's photo to see it full size; hover it for the notes and remove buttons. New work belongs on the Inspection tab.
Capabilities
- 9-slot walkaround grid — Front, Rear, Driver Side,
Passenger Side, Roof, Hood, Trunk, Close-up 1,
Close-up 2. Each slot takes a photo or a short video clip (MP4, MOV,
or WebM) with an optional note of its own, and the header counts what you've
filled (
3/9). One photo is enough to continue; a report with none is refused. - 4MB per file — the screen says "Photos or short video clips (under 4MB — a few seconds of video)". A big photo is compressed in the browser first, so it usually squeezes under on its own; video is sent as shot, so a long clip is refused before it uploads.
- Graded checklist — every active template item gets OK, Attention, or Fail. Every item starts on OK, so anything you don't touch is recorded as OK. Anything not OK opens a note field ("What's wrong? (shown to the customer)") and takes up to six photo/video attachments. The list is snapshotted onto the report, so editing the template later never changes past inspections.
- Overall damage notes — one free-text field for the whole report.
- Customer e-signature — Customer name plus a signature pad on the same screen, under a line that states what the signature attests to. Required at check-in; check-out also offers Submit without signature. The report locks the moment it's signed.
- Inspection PDF — generated on demand and never stored. The PDF link
sits on every report card in the Inspection tab, signed or not; the
customer's copy appears once the report is signed. It carries your shop name
and contact line, Vehicle Inspection — Check-in (or Check-out), the job
and vehicle, a Walkaround checklist table with Attention/Fail rows
bar-marked, Damage notes, a Walkaround photos grid, a Video
clips list naming each clip and pointing at the tracking link, SIGNED
BY with the signature image, the signer's name and the timestamp (or
"Not signed."), and a Reference id. It opens in a new tab as
Inspection-<job number>-checkin.pdf. - Before/after showcase — when the latest check-in and the latest check-out report both hold a still photo of the same slot, the Inspection tab offers Create showcase: pick a pair and one click publishes the composite to your social content, your directory listing's recent work, and the Studio gallery. Video clips never pair. Shops with a live hosted site — and the Marketing permission — also get Also draft a post on your website, which leaves a draft in the site editor. Completing such a job rings a one-time Before/after showcase ready — create it in one click bell.
- Quick condition photos — the Photos card at the top of the tab has an Add photos button: drop photos on the job any time, no checklist and no signature. Photos only, no clips. They land in the job's old photo store (which is what surfaces the Photos (legacy) tab), they aren't part of a signed report, and they aren't evidence-locked.
- Webhook/analytics event —
inspection.completedfires on submission (see API & Webhooks).
Step-by-step tasks
-
Run a check-in inspection on the tablet
- Open the job's installer link (
/work/<token>). - Tap Condition Report → Check-in walkaround.
- Fill the photo grid — tap a slot, shoot a photo or clip, add a note on anything pre-damaged. Write anything broader under Overall damage notes.
- Continue to checklist — grade each item, and attach close-ups to anything not OK.
- Continue to sign, hand the tablet to the customer: Customer name, signature, Sign & submit.
- Open the job's installer link (
-
Run an inspection from the front desk
- Open the job → Inspection tab → Start check-in inspection (or Start check-out inspection).
- Same flow as the tablet; the customer signs on your screen.
-
Tailor the checklist to your shop
- Settings → Workflow → Inspection Checklist.
- Rename an item in its box, move it with the arrows, hide it with the eye, or remove it with the bin. Type a new one in Add an item (e.g. Door edges) and press Add.
- Save checklist. New inspections pick it up immediately; past reports keep the list they were graded against.
-
Send a customer their inspection
- Nothing to send — it's already on their tracking page, with the PDF link once signed. Or open the PDF link on the Inspection tab and attach it to an email.
-
Turn a pair of walkarounds into a showcase
- Job → Inspection tab → Before/after showcase.
- Pick the before/after pair you want, tick Also draft a post on your website if that option is there, then Create showcase.
- The done state links straight to Social content and Listing gallery. See Marketing.
Settings & permissions
- Running an inspection from the dashboard needs the Jobs permission; opening or saving the checklist template needs Settings.
- The installer-tablet lane needs no login — the work link is the key.
- No plan gating on inspections themselves: every tier, and the 7-day free trial, can run them. Photos, clips, and signatures count against your plan's storage, and an upload past the cap fails with Storage limit reached.
- The before/after showcase is the one paid piece. It needs a live paid plan or a card-backed trial; anyone else sees an Upgrade line in that panel instead of the composer. The optional website-draft leg needs the Marketing permission and a live hosted site on top of that.
Tips & common pitfalls
- Grade honestly at check-in. The report protects you only if it reflects reality when the customer could still see the car.
- Signed means locked. A signed report for a job and kind can't be redone — the dashboard button greys out, and a resubmit from the tablet is refused. Its photos, clips, and signature can't be deleted either. That's the point.
- Check-out can go unsigned. Check-in always needs a signature; at pickup you can Submit without signature and still keep the record.
- You can't switch the checklist off. Hide or delete every item and save, and inspections fall back to the built-in list: Front bumper, Rear bumper, Hood, Roof, Driver side panels, Passenger side panels, Windshield & glass, Trim & emblems, Prior damage / paint condition, Existing film or PPF. That same list is what a shop gets when it never touches the template.
- Videos don't embed in the PDF — they're listed under Video clips with a pointer to the tracking link, where they play inline.
- Checklist close-ups are online-only. Photos you attach to a graded item show on the tracking page and in the job modal, but the PDF prints only the item's grade and note — the printed photo grid is the nine walkaround slots.
- Keep clips short. A clip over 4MB is refused before it uploads: "That video is too large — clips must be under 4MB (a few seconds)."
- The walkaround lives on the shared link. The signed-in installer view
doesn't show the Condition Report card — use the no-login
/work/<token>link, or run it from the job's Inspection tab.
Related modules
- Jobs — the Inspection tab lives on the job modal.
- Track — the customer-facing render.
- Settings — Workflow holds the Inspection Checklist.
- Marketing — where a before/after showcase lands.
- API & Webhooks —
inspection.completed. - Documents & e-signatures — the sibling signature surface for waivers and authorizations.