Release notes

What changed in RO Engine, dated. Tell me what's broken and it shows up here. — Joe

October 17, 2026

• No card to start. The 90-day trial starts with four fields: shop name, your name, email, shop link.
• Launch price: $199 a month, locked for as long as you stay. Regular price $349.
• Check-in list on the phone. Open check-in and see the cars due today, plus no-shows from the last 3 days, customer name first. Tap a car, shoot the VIN and odometer, hit Next car. AutoHouse first
• Recalls, honestly. The recall badge no longer implies a model's recalls are open on this car. It sends you to NHTSA's VIN lookup and saves the answer on the vehicle. AutoHouse first

October 16, 2026

• Call-back alerts. When the AI phone takes a call-back request, you get a dashboard card, a push alert, and a text to whoever you put on the list. AutoHouse first
• We don't ask for your PartsTech password. Parts ordering runs through the RO Engine Parts browser extension, signed in with your own PartsTech login. AutoHouse first

October 15, 2026

• Shop in PartsTech from the RO. PartsTech opens with the vehicle loaded. Your cart comes back onto the RO, and checkout is recorded as POs with confirmation numbers. AutoHouse first
• Check in from any phone. Scan the QR code on the RO, shoot the VIN and odometer, and the desk fills in.
• Special orders follow the job. Ordered parts are tied to their RO lines and show their status on the RO.
• Inventory if you want it. Off by default. Parts come out of stock when the RO closes and go back if it's reopened or voided.
• Fluids by the quart, whatever size the jug.
• No automatic texts unless you turn them on.

October 14, 2026

• Live job board on the dashboard. A lane for every tech. Drag a job to hand it over.
• Shop-floor TV screen. The board on a TV in the shop.
• Job clock. Techs clock on and off a job; time shows on My Hours.
• Repair order tabs: My jobs, All open, Closed, Estimates.
• Faster AI. Photo intake: about 13 seconds down to 2.5 for four photos. Fluid-bottle scanner: about 15 seconds down to 3–6. Vendor invoice scanning: 8.9 seconds down to 2.3.
• QuickBooks for every shop, not just ours.
• Security. Six rounds of fixes from a hands-on security audit of the live system.

October 8, 2026

• Holiday closures and lunch breaks. Online booking and the AI phone both know when you're closed.
• Inspections save as you go. No Save button. The camera stays open for the next photo.
• New printed invoice.

October 7, 2026

• The AI phone books from the same calendar as online booking, with the same rules. Your rules guide people; they're hard limits for the AI.
• Waiter cap. Customers can't book past your daily waiter limit; staff can override.
• Waiter / drop-off badge on every RO.

October 2, 2026

• Hand-typed VINs get checked. Wrong length, illegal characters or a bad check digit warns you as you type. Year, make and model come from pick lists.

October 1, 2026

• AI recommendations land on the RO as services you can edit like any other job.
• One priority scale: critical, recommended, suggested. "Critical" now means well past due, not just due.

September 2026

• Self-serve signup opened. Your own shop at yourshop.roengine.com, set up by a wizard built around writing your first RO.
• Maintenance from the owner's manual. Recommendations use the manufacturer's printed intervals and fluid specs, with the page cited.
• Texting through RO Engine, with carrier registration handled per shop.
• Appointment confirmations and day-before reminders on every booking.
• Online booking menu editor in Settings.
• Label printing, USB or network, with your shop's own decal design.
• Free Shop-Ware import for customers, vehicles and repair orders.

Something broken, or something you need? joe@roengine.com. That's me.