What Really Matters for Recall Calls

Recall calls don’t behave like normal service calls.

For service departments, recall drops are high-pressure periods where advisors are pulled into triage and routine service calls overflow.

That pressure is only increasing. Today, one in four vehicles on the road has an open recall, as OEM recall volumes continue to rise. In 2025 alone, major manufacturers issued recalls affecting tens of millions of vehicles:

• Ford: 12.9M vehicles, 153 issues (highest on record)
• Toyota, Stellantis, Honda, Hyundai: 8.7M+ vehicles combined

Top dealerships prepare their recall workflows before the surge hits.

A few months ago

A few months ago, when a dealership asked us, “Do you book recall appointments?”, our honest answer was:

Not properly. But we can train the AI based on the recalls you’re seeing and how you handle them.

At the time, recall handling required deeper integrations, structured recall logic, and clear workflow mapping across departments. That work has now been in place for a while.

The Recall Challenge

Our customers were tired of other AIs that handled recall calls like regular service calls, especially on the DMS and internally.

Recall calls require decision-making before an appointment can even be offered. When handled manually, this usually means advisors spending excessive time looking at spreadsheets.

Each recall call forces your team to determine:

• Which recall applies to the vehicle
• Whether parts are currently available
• Whether the repair is straightforward or complex
• Can mobile service go out and do it

This decision-making can slow you down.

How ShortLoop’s Integrated AI Handles Recall Appointments

When a customer calls about a recall, the AI immediately identifies recall intent and collects the necessary vehicle and recall-related information.

Booking and Routing Based on Your Workflow

The AI then follows your dealership’s defined processes:

• Direct appointment for recalls that are serviceable and have parts available
• Remarks and instructions about the issue in the DMS following the format preferred by the dealer
• Mobile service transfers for recalls eligible for off-site service
• Advisor transfer for complex recall conversations that require human judgment

This ensures recall calls are handled correctly without forcing them into standard service flows.

Dealer-Controlled Recall Readiness

ShortLoop’s AI operates on dealership-defined recall readiness:

• Dealers control which recalls are serviceable
• Updates are simple to make
• Changes are reflected immediately in call handling behavior

What happens now

With recall logic handled upfront, recall calls stop disrupting the rest of the service operation.

• Fewer callbacks caused by incorrect or premature bookings
• Advisors no longer spending time triaging recall calls
• Predictable handling during recall spikes, even at high volume

If you're curious to implement this at your dealership, contact us.

About ShortLoop

ShortLoop builds AI phone agents for automotive dealerships so that they never miss a revenue opportunity. The AI platform handles inbound calls, books appointments, and runs outbound campaigns, helping businesses capture demand, reduce missed calls, and operate more efficiently using the systems they already have in place.