BizzyCar uses AI to make vehicle recall repairs easier

The car or truck owner receives a recall notice in the mail, then typically has to call the dealership and wait a couple of weeks for an appointment — a process Maher, who is a partner in the St. Charles Automotive dealership group, describes as awful. Recalls generate an influx of appointments that require a lot of coordination to schedule. 

“It’s a huge pain point across all of automotive in the United States and people just don’t know the scope of this problem,” Maher said. “There’s about 70 million cars on the road today in the U.S. that have a recall.”

So Maher founded BizzyCar, a fully automated service platform that connects the consumer, dealership and manufacturer. The software sends a text to the consumer on behalf of their dealership, notifying them of a recall on their vehicle. The consumer can then make an appointment by texting back, which BizzyCar will schedule and input into the dealership’s calendar. 

“Nobody competes with us. We’re the category creator,” Maher said. “The people that we compete with are sending direct mail.”

The company is headquartered in St. Louis. 

Dealerships want to perform the recall work because manufacturers reimburse them for the fixes and no cost gets passed on to the driver. Manufacturers see huge fines if they don’t address federally mandated recalls. 

Maher tested BizzyCar in his own dealerships, which include Nissan, Hyundai and Genesis. 

Eventually, the company raised $30 million through St. Louis investors, like Jerry Kent of Cequel III and Chuck Cohn of Nerdy.

Now, BizzyCar is partnered with auto manufacturers such as General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Nissan and connects with thousands of dealers across North America.

Ed Troutman, service director at St. Charles Automotive, said BizzyCar has freed up a lot of labor at the dealership by scheduling the appointments directly. 

“Our people don’t have to do anything until the customer gets here,” Troutman said. “It’s like hiring another person, or two or three.” 

Not only is BizzyCar a revenue generator for St. Charles Automotive, it’s increased customer retention and satisfaction as customers feel cared for when they are notified by the dealership of a recall, Troutman said. And, once cars are in for recalls, the dealership mechanics can review them for other issues, as Missouri does not require annual vehicle inspections, he said. 

Earlier this year, BizzyCar released an mobile service app that deploys repair trucks to a consumer’s car for recall fixes, so the consumer can skip a trip to the dealer — like roadside assistance, but for scheduled recall appointments in your driveway. In October, the business announced that it secured a $15 million investment from Dealer Tire, an Ohio-based company that manages replacement tire and parts programs for vehicle manufacturers.

BizzyCar has about 90 employees, most are around the country, but about a dozen are based in the St. Louis area. The software company has plans to grow to a staff of 120 by the end of the year.

“There’s about 18,000 dealerships in the United States,” Maher said. “Our goal is to have our product in all of them.”