THIRD BAY MARKETING Marketing for independent auto repair shops

Fill the bays that sit empty midweek.

Google Ads, local SEO, and reporting you can read in five minutes, for independent auto repair shops running 2 to 8 bays. We go after diagnostic and repair calls, and we put a dollar figure on every job you're not winning yet.

The people on your calls are the people working in your accounts. Nobody hands you off to a junior after the sale.

Google Ads Certified Google Partner
0 hand-offs after the sale 30 days’ notice to leave. No exit fee 100% of your accounts in your name 10+ years in automotive marketing

You already know what's wrong. You don't have time to fix it.

"Tuesday afternoon, two lifts down."

Car count swings hard midweek. Payroll doesn't.

"Every call is a brake quote."

Price shoppers tie up the phone. Diagnostic work goes elsewhere.

"The dealer outbids me on my own name."

Dealership service departments and national chains buy the top of the page.

"They send clicks. I need booked jobs."

Last agency reported impressions. Nobody tied a dollar to a repair order.

Every month, a dollar figure on the work you're missing.

Your own login and a written briefing each month: what happened, what's working, what needs attention, and what we're doing next. If something slipped, it says so.

A dollar value on every opportunity

Each opportunity gets an estimated monthly value from search volume in your own city, your average repair order, and your close rate. "Worth about $1,200 a month," not "we'll work on SEO."

Your map ranking across town

Google Maps checked from a grid of points across your service area. You see the neighborhoods where you're in the top three and the ones where a competitor beats you.

Whether AI recommends you

Every week the portal asks ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity what your customers ask, like "best Toyota mechanic near Folsom." You see whether they name you, and who they name instead.

THIRD BAY MARKETING Hilltop Automotive, March
30 days 90 days YTD

Calls

128

+19% vs Feb

Form fills

34

+4 vs Feb

Cost per lead

$31.40

−$12.60 vs Feb

Est. lead value

$47,910

on $5,090 spend

Calls by day

Mar 1 to Mar 31

Recent calls

3:41 PM "check engine light diagnostic" Booked
1:12 PM "transmission shop near me" Booked
11:38 AM "subaru head gasket repair" Missed
9:04 AM "pre purchase inspection" Booked
8:26 AM "brake pads price" Quote

Sample portal view with placeholder figures.

Three steps, and you stay on the floor.

We've spent more than 10 years marketing automotive businesses, from independent repair shops to online parts sellers, with niche work in performance aftermarket, off-road, and automotive machine work. We know who your customers are and what gets them to call.

Step 1

Audit

We review your ads, profile, site, and call data, then tell you what's costing you car count.

Step 2

Build

Tracking goes in first, then the campaigns and pages. Usually live inside three weeks.

Step 3

Manage and report

We manage the accounts weekly. You read a short written briefing in the portal each month: what happened, what's working, and what's next.

Two shops, before and after.

A car up on a two-post lift with the hood open in a working service bay.

A 4-bay general repair shop in a metro area of 190,000.

Cut price-shopper calls, raised average repair order.

Ads were bidding on oil change terms. We moved spend to diagnostic and drivability searches and rebuilt the call tracking so missed calls were visible.

Cost per call

$84 → $31

Average RO

$412 → $638

Six months of work. Placeholder figures.

An SUV parked in an open service bay beside an alignment rack.

A 7-bay European specialist in a metro area of 640,000.

Filled midweek bays without buying the dealer's terms.

Dealer service departments owned the top of the page. We narrowed to the makes the shop is set up for and pushed the Google Business Profile for map-pack calls.

Weekly car count

46 → 61

Bay utilization

58% → 79%

Nine months of work. Placeholder figures.

PHOTO
team
1:1

The team on your audit call is the team in your account, and on the phone in month eight.

No long contracts

Month to month after the build. Thirty days' notice, no exit fee.

You own your accounts

Ads account, Google Business Profile, analytics, call data, website. All in your name. It stays with you.

You talk to the people doing the work

No hand-off to a junior after the sale.

What shop owners ask first.

What does it cost?

Google Ads management averages about $1,500 a month, and an SEO retainer about $2,000. Every shop is different, so you'll have your number before the audit ends. Ad spend is separate and paid to Google directly.

How much should I spend on ads?

It depends on your market and how many bays you need to fill. We set a starting budget with you on the audit call.

How long before the phone rings?

Ads produce calls in the first week. Local search and map-pack movement takes 60 to 90 days.

What if it doesn't work?

You'll see it in the portal before we have to explain it. If cost per lead isn't where it needs to be by month three, we change the plan or you leave. No exit fee.

Do I keep my Google account?

Yes. Your Ads account and Google Business Profile stay in your name with you as owner. We work inside them as managers.

Can I keep the tracking numbers I already have?

Yes. Numbers from Oktorocket or another provider plug into the dynamic swap on your site. Nothing gets ported and nothing printed has to change.

How much of my time does this take?

About an hour to start, then a 20-minute check-in each month. The portal covers the rest.

In twenty minutes, you'll know where your car count is going.

Bring your last month of ad spend and your car count. We'll tell you what we'd change first, whether you hire us or not.

or call (704) 727-8220
Call (704) 727-8220 Free audit