Smartcar

What this is

This is how to connect FleetLoop to Smartcar so it can check in on your non-Tesla connected cars — many recent gas, hybrid, and electric vehicles support this. Once connected, FleetLoop can see each car’s location, mileage, and battery or fuel level. Turning tracking on for a vehicle costs $5.99 per vehicle, per month, so you only pay for the cars you choose to track.

Before you start

• You must be the shop owner. Managers and staff can’t connect Smartcar, add vehicles, or accept the monthly charge.
• Add your vehicles to your fleet in FleetLoop first, with the correct VIN entered for each one — Smartcar matches cars to your fleet by VIN.
• Know the sign-in details for the account tied to each car (for example, your car maker’s own app account) — Smartcar will ask you to sign in to that account to connect the car.
• Understand that turning on tracking for a vehicle adds $5.99/month to your bill for that vehicle, and you’ll need to accept this charge before tracking starts.

Steps

1. In FleetLoop, go to Settings → Integrations → Vehicle tracking.

📸 Screenshot: FleetLoop → Settings → Vehicle tracking, showing the Smartcar card with the Connect Smartcar button.

2. Click Connect Smartcar.
3. A new browser tab opens. Follow Smartcar’s steps to sign in and choose the car(s) you want to connect.

📸 Screenshot: Smartcar’s own sign-in and vehicle-selection screen (opened in the new tab).

4. Smartcar closes the tab and sends you back to FleetLoop. The Smartcar card now shows a Connected status.

📸 Screenshot: FleetLoop → Settings → Vehicle tracking, Smartcar card showing Connected.

5. Scroll down to Smartcar vehicles. FleetLoop lists every car it found and tries to match each one to a fleet vehicle by VIN automatically.
6. If a car says “No fleet vehicle has this VIN,” click Add to fleet to add it as a new fleet vehicle.

📸 Screenshot: The Smartcar vehicles list, showing a matched car and one needing Add to fleet.

7. Read the billing box above the vehicle list. It states the price ($5.99 per connected vehicle/month) and your current monthly total based on how many vehicles are connected.
8. Click Accept and start tracking. This means you’re agreeing to let FleetLoop charge the payment method on file $5.99 a month for every Smartcar vehicle you have turned on — now or in the future. Your monthly total adjusts automatically as you add or remove vehicles; you don’t need to accept again later.

📸 Screenshot: The billing box showing the price, connected count, monthly total, and the Accept and start tracking button.

9. Once accepted, each matched vehicle’s tracking turns on and shows an Active status. To stop tracking (and stop being charged for) a single vehicle, click Stop tracking next to it.
10. Scroll down to Automatic sync and choose how often you want FleetLoop to check in:
    • Manual only (default): FleetLoop only checks a car’s location and status when you tap Locate now, or at pickup/return.
    • Every 15 minutes, Hourly, Every 6 hours, or Daily: FleetLoop checks automatically in the background at that pace. More frequent checking uses a little more of the car’s battery.

How to know it worked

The Smartcar card shows a Connected status. Under Smartcar vehicles, each tracked car shows an Active status and the billing box shows a monthly total that matches the number of vehicles you’ve turned on.

If something goes wrong

“Smartcar connection failed.” Something went wrong during sign-in. Click Connect Smartcar and try again.

“No fleet vehicle has this VIN” won’t go away after adding the vehicle. Double check the VIN you entered on the fleet vehicle exactly matches the one Smartcar reports for that car.

“Vehicle discovery is still syncing.” Smartcar hasn’t finished reporting the car’s details yet. Wait a minute and refresh the page.

“Billing needs attention.” FleetLoop couldn’t charge the payment method on file for a connected vehicle. Check your payment method under billing settings, then try again.