When a brand-new customer walks in with a car Pistonlog hasn't seen before, you don't have to create the customer record, then the vehicle record, then the jobcard separately. The Create Jobcard flow handles all three in one screen.
What you'll do
Open New Jobcard
Sidebar → Jobcards → New Jobcard.
Type the customer's name to search
Start typing in the Customer field. Pistonlog searches across every customer in your company (not just this garage — customers are company-scoped, see Multi-garage scoping). If no match comes up, click Add new customer.
Enter contact details inline
Name, phone, email. The customer is saved to your company's customer list the moment you commit — next visit, just search for them.
Type the registration to search the vehicle
Pistonlog first checks your existing vehicles, then offers a DVSA lookup for UK registrations. The lookup pulls make, model, fuel, colour, MOT due date, and tax status. Confirm and the vehicle is created and linked.
Pick an appointment date (or leave blank)
Set the date if you have one. If they're walking in, leave it blank — you can fill it later.
Save
Click Create. You now have a customer record, a vehicle record, and a jobcard linking them, all at Booked In ready to take work.
DVSA pre-fills MOT due date
When you create a vehicle via the DVSA lookup, the next MOT date is captured automatically. Set up an MOT reminder template and Pistonlog will text or email the customer when it's coming up — see Reminders end-to-end.
A vehicle's owner can change
Pistonlog deliberately doesn't bind a vehicle to one customer permanently. A car that comes in under "John Smith" today can come back under "Jane Doe" next year — the history is preserved on the vehicle, but the customer link is per-jobcard. This matches how cars are actually owned and sold in the real world.