Sixteen terms used across these guides, defined once and linked from everywhere else. Seven are Tesla mechanics, two are insurance vocabulary, and the rest are the artifacts this product actually produces.
Every definition is meant to be quotable on its own, without the surrounding page.
The vocabulary this product introduces. Defined here so nobody has to guess what a receipt or a snapshot means.
The bounded period during which a shop holds a customer's vehicle and any authorized access is live. It opens at check-in and closes at hand-back, when access is revoked. Treating custody as a window rather than an ongoing connection is what separates a service relationship from surveillance.
Monitoring of a vehicle's state while it sits at a shop, reported as counts and timestamps: after-hours lot exits, Supercharger sessions, and low state of charge. Lot watch deliberately does not include a live map or continuous position display. It answers 'did anything happen' rather than 'where is it right now'.
The owner-facing report issued at hand-back, delivered as a tokenized link that requires no account. It states when access started and ended, miles driven during the visit, and after-hours and charging counts. Signals that were not collected are labeled 'not recorded' rather than shown as zero.
The staff-facing side of GuestLot: the counter app used to check a vehicle in, record key custody, apply the job policy, and hand the car back. It is the shop's working surface, distinct from the AccessReceipt the owner receives.
The Pro-tier intake module that decodes a VIN and pulls open NHTSA recall data at check-in, so a known recall surfaces before the car is on the lift rather than after. It is an intake aid, not a repair recommendation.
An authorization the owner grants before the appointment, which stays dormant until the vehicle arrives at the shop and auto-revokes at pickup. It removes the counter negotiation where a service writer asks a customer to log into their vehicle account in the lobby. The grant is still the owner's to revoke at any time.
A visit record that has been sealed at hand-back and no longer accepts new data. Closing the snapshot is what makes the record evidentiary rather than provisional: both parties are looking at the same fixed account of the same window, and nothing can be quietly appended afterwards.
Vehicle and platform mechanics, taken from Tesla's own developer and service documentation.
A cryptographic key an application adds to a Tesla so that its commands can be signed and accepted by the vehicle. The owner must add it through a tesla.com/_ak/<domain> link or QR code; Tesla states this requires a trusted user-in-the-loop, preventing even Tesla's backend from accessing these capabilities. It is removed from the car's Locks screen like any other key.
Owner-side walkthrough: give a shop access to your Tesla.
The OAuth grant an owner gives an application through Tesla's own consent screen, expressed as named scopes: vehicle_device_data, vehicle_location, vehicle_cmds, vehicle_charging_cmds, and offline_access for refresh tokens. Applications cannot escalate their own scopes. Owners revoke at Tesla Account > Security > Third-Party Apps.
Tesla's streaming data channel, in which the vehicle pushes signals to an authorized application when a value changes rather than being polled. Data is bucketed every 500 milliseconds and a vehicle can stream to five third-party applications at once. Tesla's own billing example puts telemetry at roughly $0.0067 per vehicle-hour against $0.12 for REST polling.
Technical detail: Tesla Fleet API for shops.
The plastic card that unlocks and starts a Tesla by NFC — supported on Model 3 and Model Y and on 2021-and-newer Model S and Model X. Tap the B-pillar to unlock, then tap the console and press the brake within about 30 seconds to drive. It cannot be remotely wiped, produces no verified per-card usage trail, and is removed only from the vehicle's Locks screen.
Full guide: key cards at the shop.
A Tesla restriction profile that caps speed at 70 mph, limits power, locks the frunk and glovebox, disables HomeLink, voice commands and Autopilot conveniences, hides driver profiles and the key list, and blocks new Bluetooth or WiFi pairing. It can be set remotely by an authorized application. It is the wrong default for PPF, wrap, and collision work, where crews need every opening available.
The technician state that gates Tesla calibration and diagnostic routines, including the recalibration required after windshield, bumper, sensor, and structural work. It is entered on the vehicle touchscreen — Controls > Software, hold MODEL, type the service password — or through a cable-connected Toolbox 3 session. No Fleet API command enters or exits it; software can only read the state.
Comparison: Valet Mode vs Service Mode.
A Tesla setting that lets someone drive the vehicle without gaining access to the owner's personal settings, saved profiles, or key management. It is the default in GuestLot's shipped job policies because it protects the owner's account surface without locking the panels a shop crew needs to open.
General information, not legal or insurance advice.
A bailment is the temporary transfer of possession of property without transfer of ownership; the party holding it is the bailee. A shop holding a customer's car is a bailee with a duty of reasonable care. Once the customer shows the vehicle was delivered undamaged and returned damaged, most US jurisdictions apply a presumption of negligence and the shop bears the burden of proving reasonable care.
Context: a customer car was damaged at your shop.
The garage keepers coverage form that pays only when the shop is legally liable — that is, negligent — for damage to a customer's vehicle in its care, custody, and control. It is the cheapest of the three forms and can deny a theft claim entirely if the insurer concludes security was adequate. The alternatives are Direct Primary, which pays regardless of fault, and Direct Excess, which pays after the owner's own policy.
Forms and limits: garage keepers liability.