Auto shops and dealers
Cameras on the lot, card payments kept apart, and customer files protected.
A shop holds customers' cars, keys, and card payments overnight. A dealer also holds credit applications. We put cameras you own over the bays and the lot, keep the card terminals on their own network, and handle the FTC Safeguards Rule, which FTC staff say covers most dealers that finance or lease.
What shops and dealers need
Cameras come first. Over the bays, the lot, the key box, and the front counter, with live view from your phone and footage kept on site. The call usually comes after a camera subscription lapsed and the footage disappeared, or after a dispute about a car that sat in the lot overnight.
Card payments come next for shops. Processors expect the terminals to sit on a network of their own, apart from guest Wi-Fi in the waiting room and the office computers. Our card payment readiness project puts that separation in place and fills out the yearly card industry self-assessment with you.
FTC staff guidance says most dealers that finance or lease are financial institutions under the FTC Safeguards Rule. That means one named person responsible for customer data, two-step login for anyone who opens a credit application, encryption, access controls, and staff training, plus a written risk assessment and incident plan once you hold records on 5,000 or more people. Our compliance point person add-on, which would hold that named role in writing, is paused for new sign-ups while we finish reviewing its terms. Until then we help with the technical work while someone at your firm holds the role.
Wi-Fi ties it together. Metal buildings and a home router in the office mean the diagnostic tablets lose connection in the back bay. Business-grade access points placed where the bays are fix that, on gear you own.
What we put in place
In plain words, and written down so you can show it.
Cameras over bays, lot, key box, and counter
4 or 6 camera packages, installed, footage kept on site.
Card terminals on their own network
Separate from guest Wi-Fi and the office, with the self-assessment filled out.
Credit applications behind two-step login
Every person who can open a deal jacket or a lender portal signs in with a code on their phone.
Wi-Fi that reaches every bay
Access points placed for a metal building, not a house.
A badge door for the parts room or key room
Who went in and when, with a lost badge shut off from your phone.
How we usually help
Pick one project or let us look after all of it every month.
Who we fit, and who we don't
Honest on purpose, so nobody wastes a call.
We fit
- Independent auto, tire, body, and detail shops
- Independent and used car dealers, with larger dealers reviewed before we quote
- Owners who want to check the lot at night
We don't fit
- Dealer groups whose IT is run centrally, unless that team wants defined local work
- Shop management or dealer software support. We keep the computers and network it runs on healthy, and the vendor supports the software.
Questions owners ask
We sell cars and arrange financing. Does the federal rule apply to us?
FTC staff guidance says most dealers that finance or lease are covered, whatever their size, and your attorney or compliance advisor can confirm your case. The paperwork scales with how many customer records you hold, and the controls apply to everyone. We put the controls in place and write down what is there. The compliance point person add-on is paused for new sign-ups while we finish reviewing its terms.
Do you handle the card terminals?
We put them on their own network and fill out the card industry self-assessment with you in the card payment readiness project, from $900. The terminals themselves come from your processor.
Do the cameras cover the lot at night?
Yes. UniFi cameras include night vision and we place them for the lot, the gate, and the bays. Live view from your phone at any hour.
Can the Wi-Fi reach the back bay in a metal building?
Yes. That is the usual problem and the usual fix. Wired access points mounted where the bays are.
What does it cost?
4 cameras from $3,200 installed, 6 from $4,500, card payment readiness from $900, Wi-Fi and network from $2,500 plus hardware, and the first badge door from $1,800. See the pricing page.
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