Overview:
One of the first steps to do when building out an estimate is selecting the vehicle.
If this vehicle has not been serviced before, click Add New and input the vehicle information (such as License Plate, VIN, Year, Make, Model)
If this vehicle is for a returning customer, first select the customer on the order, and all vehicles owned by that customer will be shown under Current Vehicles. In addition, you can search and select the vehicle by license plate, VIN, or Unit #
Note that you can add or import vehicles into Shopmonkey separately from an estimate, then later select the vehicle on an estimate or invoice.
How to add or search for a vehicle
Within an estimate, click Add New in the Vehicle section:
Additionally, you can create a new vehicle by clicking the + button from any page within Shopmonkey, and then clicking Customer & Vehicle. From there, click on Add Vehicle and enter the vehicle information then Save:
Note: Make and Model are required fields to create a vehicle.
How to add a new vehicle using VIN and License Plate decode
VIN decode saves time by populating vehicle information such as Year, Make and Model, and even sub model and engine size information.
You can decode using License Plate, VIN, or type in Year, Make, Model to search and find the exact vehicle specifics. Note that this is required for linking the vehicle and enabling labor and parts lookup capabilities.
License Plate lookup is available by activating Carfax for your shop:
Genius Monkey members will be able to enter a vehicle's license plate, VIN, or Year, Make, Model directly into the search field to decode.
At the Clever Monkey and Basic Monkey tiers, you can decode the vehicle by entering its VIN to find Year, Make and Model:
For Clever Monkey specifically, you can enter the VIN in this manner after clicking
+ Add Vehicle Manually.
How to prevent creating a duplicate vehicle
When creating a new vehicle, if the license plate, VIN, or Year/Make/Model you enter matches that of an existing vehicle, the existing vehicle will be shown as a Customer Vehicle to signify that you have this vehicle already saved in your shop:
How to search and add a vehicle to an estimate
Within an estimate, type in the Vehicle section to search:
You can search by VIN, License Plate, Unit #, as well as Year, Make and Model.
Importing Vehicles
You can add or import vehicles into Shopmonkey separately from an estimate, then later select the vehicle on an estimate or invoice. To import your vehicles, go to
Lists > Vehicles, click on the ... ellipsis (more actions) button and click Import. Download the Excel file import template and fill out the information before importing into Shopmonkey.
Vehicles can be associated with customers and fleets. All related estimates and services, owners, appointments, and messages are linked to the vehicle and can be viewed from the vehicle's details page.
Still have questions? Feel free to reach out to us through the Chat Icon in the bottom right corner of your screen. Thanks for reading!