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Motors

19th May 2019

New Irish motoring app offers to make repairing your car far more convenient

Conor Heneghan

Jalopy

A new app, called Jalopy, claims to take the hassle out of getting your car serviced.

A new app claiming to take the hassle out of getting a car serviced will offer Irish motorists car repair estimates from nearby garages within minutes and the option to book garage appointments at the touch of a button.

The newly launched Jalopy.io will find users the best mechanic in their area by putting them in touch with recommended garages through their phone at no additional cost.

Once a user has signed up and added their vehicle to jalopy.io, they can immediately price jobs with nearby garages and receive estimates within minutes.

Jalopy

Users can then select their preferred estimate and book an appointment through the app, before being contacted by Jalopy to inform them when the car should be dropped off and when it will be ready for pick up.

There is no limit to the number of vehicles that can be registered through one Jalopy profile and business and commercial vehicles can also be included.

To help ensure transparency, users can compare jobs by price and location and can examine the profile, qualifications and ratings of prospective garages.

An integrated chat feature, meanwhile, allows users to have a discreet chat with bidding garages over specific concerns such as extras or optional items and a jargon buster will help those unfamiliar with “garage speak”.

Jalopy also creates a digital service history for your car, which allows users to keep track of all the repairs and service work done to date, while mobile garages are also included in the app if a driver needs a tow or if they need the garage to come to them.

Jalopy was founded by three tech and car-loving friends, Vincent McElwain, Timmy Doyle and Chris Pender, who say they want to offer convenience, efficiency and transparency to customers in the car repair industry.

“With a billion euros spent annually in Ireland servicing and fixing cars and other vehicles, plus 2.5 million private vehicles on the road, there are lots of opportunities to give car owners an enhanced digital experience and help them get better value for money and transparency,” McElwain explains.

“If you have ever failed your NCT, you know how much of an inconvenience this can be, you end up missing out on choice as ringing round garages can be really time-consuming.

“With Jalopy on your phone you can upload picture of your NCT failure report and Jalopy will send it to garages so you receive a number of estimates quickly and in most cases within minutes.

“It’s simple to do and can help save you money and time,” he added.

40 Jalopy garage partners have already been signed up in the greater Dublin area and the founders plan to expand nationwide, as well as introducing what they describe as “exciting new features” for customers and garages, later this year.

More information on Jalopy is available here.

 

Topics:

Motors,Tech