Tips for managing multiple cars on Car Next Door

Short answer:

If you are operating multiple cars, there are a few things you can do to simplify management and make sure your cars stay in great condition. Here are our top tips for managing your admin, checking your cars' condition, keeping track of support requests, and communicating with Borrowers.

Avoid inbox overload

With more cars listed, you'll get more messages. To keep the noise down, it's important to set your notification preferences and use the Help Centre.

Learn more: Keeping your inbox under control

Use the Help Centre to keep track of support tickets

Instead of using your email to keep track of correspondence with Car Next Door about your various cars, log in to the Help Centre - it's a much easier way to see the status of your support tickets.

See: Stay up to date with support requests using the Help Centre

Pro Tip: Issues lodged via the help centre will include your car's rego and the issue type in the subject. you can search for open repair claims on a particular car with a search like "acb123 damage".

Get tips to look after your cars remotely

If your car isn't near your home, we've got some tips on how to find parking and organise mobile cleaning and servicing:

Renting out your car when you're not physically checking it regularly

Check your cars (or borrowers' trip photos) at least once a week

The more cars you have in action, the more important it becomes to stay on top of regular inspections and report any issues. You can do a lot of this from your phone or desktop, by checking the photos that Borrowers upload before and after trips.

These articles explain how to check your car and report any damage or issues:

Check and respond to reviews at least once a week

It's important to regularly check the reviews for each of your cars, and reply to any that require a response. The reviews can alert you to issues with your car that you need to address in order to get repeat bookings and increase your overall revenue.

If a review raises a genuine issue (e.g. if a Borrower says that the car’s description was inaccurate and you can see that you've omitted relevant information), fix the issue or create a reminder for yourself to do it later.

Read:

Consider a mobile cleaning service

Keeping your cars clean helps to get good reviews and repeat Borrowers. Check out this article on mobile cleaning options for Car Next Door members.

Communicate effectively with Borrowers

If you find you are getting contacted repeatedly by Borrowers with general questions about how Car Next Door works:

The Borrower will have received a booking confirmation email with all the information they need to understand how to use Car Next Door. Tell them to check their email inbox for an email from Car Next Door about their trip
Suggest that they search the Help Centre for answers - we've got articles answering all of the questions that Borrowers typically ask
Remind the Borrower that all the information they need for the trip (including the car’s location and any instructions that you have provided about the vehicle) will be available through the app 15 minutes before their trip starts

If Borrowers are asking questions about your car (for example, the dimensions of the boot), make sure that the information in your cars' profiles is up to date and answers Borrowers' common questions.

Borrowers won't be able to see the info in the 'important instructions' section until 15 minutes before their trip starts, so if there's anything they need to know before they book, make sure it's in the 'description' section.

Read: Updating your car's profile

Optional: set up your Car Next Door admin system

When you have a lot of cars out there working for you, it can be helpful to separate your Car Next Door correspondence and tasks from your other personal and business activities. You could:

Dedicated email: Open a Google account for your Car Next Door activities - e.g. your.name.carnextdoor@gmail.com
Dedicated phone number: Have a separate phone (or contact number, if your phone can handle multiple SIM cards or has esim) for calls related to Car Next Door bookings. You’ll need to ensure that you are answering calls and messages related to bookings on your cars
Car Management Calendars: Create a calendar for each car, and add service and registration reminders for each one in their specific calendar. Set reminders one month out to block out the time needed for servicing or inspections, so that you don’t have to cancel any bookings at the last minute