Car Rental Documentation
Everything you need to run your car rental business on Smapey — from adding your first vehicle to reading your monthly revenue.
Add Your First Vehicle
Learn how to register a vehicle in your fleet, set its status, and make it available for rentals.
Open the Fleet tab
From your car rental dashboard sidebar, click Fleet. This shows all your registered vehicles and their current status.
Click "Add Vehicle"
Hit the Add Vehicle button in the top-right corner. A form will open where you can enter all vehicle details.
Enter vehicle details
Fill in the make, model, plate number, and daily rate. These details appear on every rental created for this vehicle.
Set vehicle status
New vehicles default to Available. You can set them to Maintenance if they're not yet ready to rent.
Save the vehicle
Click Save. The vehicle is now part of your fleet and can be selected when creating a new rental reservation.
Tip: Add your daily rate when creating the vehicle — it auto-fills the rental amount field when you create a reservation for that car.
Register a Customer
Create a customer profile before creating their first rental. Customer records store contact info and full rental history.
Open the Customers tab
Click Customers in the sidebar. This lists all registered customers along with their status and rental count.
Click "Add Customer"
Hit Add Customer to open the registration form. All fields you fill in here are linked to every future rental for this person.
Enter customer details
Enter the customer's full name, phone number, email address, and driver's license number. License number is important for dispute tracking.
Save the customer
Click Save. The customer is now in your system and can be assigned to new rental reservations.
Tip: Customers with completed rentals can't be hard-deleted — use Deactivate instead to hide them from active views without losing their rental history.
Create a Rental Reservation
Create a new rental by assigning a vehicle and customer, setting pickup and return dates, and recording a deposit.
Open the Rentals tab
Click Rentals in the sidebar. This shows all active, reserved, returned, overdue, and cancelled rentals.
Click "New Rental"
Hit New Rental to open the reservation form. You'll need a vehicle and customer already registered before proceeding.
Select the vehicle and customer
Choose the vehicle from the dropdown — only Available vehicles appear. Then select the customer from your registered customers list.
Set pickup and return dates
Enter the pickup date and expected return date. The system uses these to calculate the rental duration and flag overdue vehicles.
Add deposit and location details
Enter the deposit amount collected and the pickup/return locations if applicable. These fields are optional but recommended.
Save as Reserved or Active
Save as Reserved if the customer hasn't picked up the car yet. Change to Active when they do. The vehicle status updates automatically.
Tip: Once a vehicle is in an Active or Reserved rental, it's removed from available inventory and can't be double-booked.
Track Deposits
Record deposits at booking time so you always know what's been collected before a vehicle leaves the lot.
Enter deposit when creating a rental
The deposit amount field appears in the New Rental form. Enter the amount the customer paid upfront before picking up the vehicle.
View deposit on the rental record
Open any rental to see the deposit amount alongside the total rental amount. Both figures are visible on the rental detail page.
Update deposit if needed
If a customer pays an additional deposit, open the rental record and edit the deposit field. Changes save immediately.
Review deposits in your revenue report
Your revenue dashboard shows total rental amounts. Cross-reference with deposit fields to track what's been pre-collected vs. still owed.
Tip: Always record the deposit before marking a rental Active — this creates an accurate paper trail in case of disputes or damage claims.
Handle Overdue Rentals
Overdue rentals are automatically flagged when the return date passes. Here's how to find and resolve them quickly.
Check the Overdue count on your dashboard
Your car rental dashboard shows an Overdue count in the summary cards. Any non-zero value needs immediate attention.
Filter by Overdue status in Rentals
Go to Rentals and filter by Overdue. The list shows every rental that's passed its return date and is still Active.
Contact the customer
Open the rental record to see the customer's phone number and email. Reach out to confirm a new return date or report a vehicle issue.
Update the return date if extended
If the customer is keeping the car longer, edit the rental and push the return date forward. This clears the overdue flag.
Mark as Returned when the car comes back
When the vehicle is returned, open the rental and click Return. The vehicle status changes back to Available for the next booking.
Tip: Overdue status is set automatically at midnight when the return date passes. Check your dashboard first thing each morning to catch them early.
Read Your Revenue Dashboard
Understand your rental business performance through revenue totals, fleet utilization, and rental trends.
Open the Dashboard
The car rental dashboard loads automatically when you enter the module. Summary cards appear at the top with key real-time metrics.
Read the summary cards
Cards show: Available vehicles, Active rentals, Overdue count, and Monthly revenue. These update live as rentals are created or returned.
Check the Monthly Revenue chart
The bar chart shows rental revenue by month. Hover over a bar to see the exact figure. Compare months to spot seasonal trends.
Review Upcoming Returns
The Upcoming Returns section lists active rentals sorted by return date — so you can prepare for handoffs today, tomorrow, and this week.
Monitor fleet utilization
Divide active rentals by total fleet size to see your utilization rate. High utilization means your fleet is working. Low means idle inventory.
Tip: If monthly revenue is flat but rental count is up, check your daily rates — vehicles might be underpriced relative to demand.
Set Up Your Public Booking Page
Create a public page where customers can browse your fleet and submit booking inquiries — no login required on their end.
Open Public Page settings
In your car rental dashboard sidebar, click Public Page. This is where you configure your public-facing booking URL and design.
Set your unique slug
Enter a short, memorable slug (e.g. your business name). Your public page will be live at smapey.com/rent/your-slug. Slugs must be unique across all Smapey accounts.
Save the slug
Click Save Slug. Once saved, the public page is immediately live. Anyone with the link can browse your vehicles and submit an inquiry.
Share your booking link
Copy the public page URL and add it to your Google Maps listing, Facebook page, Instagram bio, or wherever customers contact you. This is your 24/7 online booking intake.
Tip: Put your public page link in your Google Maps Business profile under the website or booking URL field — customers searching nearby will see it directly in Google Maps.
Choose a Page Design
Pick from 5 unique page designs to match your brand. PRO unlocks 3 designs; ENTERPRISE unlocks all 5.
Open Public Page settings
Go to Public Page in the sidebar. Below the slug field you'll find the Page Design section with a visual preview of each available theme.
Preview the available designs
Five designs are shown: Midnight (dark, orange), Clean (minimal white), Ocean (navy glassmorphism), Forest (dark green angular), and Luxury (gold editorial). Locked designs show a lock icon with your required plan.
Click a design to apply it
Clicking an unlocked design saves it immediately — your public page updates live. No separate save button needed.
Upgrade to unlock more designs
FREE plan includes Midnight only. PRO adds Clean and Ocean. ENTERPRISE unlocks Forest and Luxury. Upgrade in Settings → Billing.
Tip: Choose a design that matches your target market. Midnight and Ocean work well for premium fleets; Clean is ideal if most customers find you via Google Maps on mobile.
Manage Booking Inquiries
Review and respond to booking requests submitted through your public page. Approve to proceed, reject to decline with a record kept.
Open the Inquiries tab
Click Inquiries in the sidebar. All submissions from your public page appear here sorted by date, showing customer name, vehicle, dates, and status.
Read the inquiry details
Each row shows the customer's name, phone, requested vehicle, pickup/return dates, and any notes they left. Click a row to expand full details.
Approve or Reject
Hit Approve to confirm the request or Reject to decline it. Both actions update the inquiry status immediately. Rejected inquiries stay on record but are visually marked.
Follow up with the customer
After approving, use the customer's phone number shown in the inquiry to confirm details directly. The customer isn't notified automatically — outreach is manual.
Tip: FREE plan supports up to 15 inquiries per month. PRO supports 200. ENTERPRISE is unlimited. Check your plan limit in Public Page settings if inquiries stop coming through.
Convert an Inquiry to a Rental
Turn an approved inquiry into a live rental reservation in one click. Customer records are created automatically if the customer is new.
Find an approved inquiry
Go to Inquiries and filter by Approved, or look for the green Approved badge. Only approved inquiries can be converted.
Click "Convert to Rental"
The Convert to Rental button appears on every approved inquiry that hasn't been converted yet. Click it to start the conversion.
Customer is created automatically
If the customer's phone number isn't already in your system, a new customer profile is created using the name and phone from the inquiry. No manual data entry needed.
Rental is created and you're redirected
A new rental reservation is created with the vehicle, customer, and dates from the inquiry. You're taken to the Rentals tab automatically to review and activate it.
Inquiry is marked as converted
The original inquiry shows a Rental Created badge. The Convert button disappears — each inquiry can only produce one rental to prevent duplicates.
Tip: Converting an inquiry doesn't automatically mark the rental Active. Review the rental record, confirm any deposit details, then change the status to Active when the customer picks up the car.
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