AI Agent Payments for Auto Dealers and Repair Shops

A shop's spending follows the repair order: parts from the OEM or the aftermarket distributor, a sublet to the transmission specialist, a tow, a rental car for the customer. Dealers add auction purchases and advertising. Pink attaches every parts payment to a repair order, every auction purchase to a manager, and every refund to a tier, so the service manager stops signing purchase orders all day.

Vaults: where the money sits

An agent can only spend from the vault it is attached to. A vault with no agents is money AI can never reach.

Vault	Balance (illustrative)	Who may spend from it
Parts	USD 120,000	Parts AI
Service & sublet	USD 45,000	Sublet AI
Used inventory	USD 600,000	Auction AI
Customer refunds	USD 10,000	Customer AI
Marketing	USD 25,000	Marketing AI

Agents: who spends, on what, with what leash

Agent	Pays for	Monthly budget	Cap	Vault	Human owner
Parts AI	OEM and aftermarket parts, tyres, fluids, shop supplies	$100,000 / month	$3,000 per order	Parts	Parts manager
Sublet AI	Sublet repairs, towing, machine-shop work, customer rentals	$30,000 / month	$2,500 per job	Service & sublet	Service manager
Auction AI	Vehicle purchases at auction and trade-in payoffs	$500,000 / month	$45,000 per vehicle	Used inventory	General manager
Customer AI	Refunds, goodwill repairs, deductible waivers	$10,000 / month	$300 per customer	Customer refunds	Service manager
Marketing AI	Google, Meta and marketplace listing ads	$20,000 / month	$700 per day	Marketing	Sales manager

Budgets and caps are starting points an owner would type into Policy Copilot, not defaults the product ships with.

The policy, in evaluation order

Checked top to bottom. The first rule that matches decides. Fraud controls sit above amount tiers on purpose. Anything no rule covers is blocked.

01Never: gift cards, cash-like, payments to private sellers without a title checkBlock

02Payee changed bank details in the last 7 days: controller verifiesAsk a personController

03Parts AI: approved distributors under $3,000 with a repair order numberAllow

04Parts AI: without a repair orderBlock

05Parts AI: $3,000–$10,000 with a repair orderAsk a personParts manager

06Sublet AI: approved sublet vendors under $2,500 with a repair orderAllow

07Sublet AI: customer rentals up to 5 daysAllow

08Auction AI: vehicles under $45,000 within the weekly buy planAsk a personUsed car manager

09Auction AI: over $45,000 or outside the buy planAsk a personGeneral manager

10Customer AI: refunds and goodwill under $300Allow

11Customer AI: $300–$1,500Ask a personService manager

12Marketing AI: up to $700 a day across platformsAllow

13Over $50,000 in one payment: GM + controllerAsk a personGM + controller

—Everything elseBlockdefault, cannot be removed

A day in the transaction log

Illustrative. Every row keeps the rule that decided it, the approver if any, and the credential that was issued.