A service advisor’s job of checking in a vehicle for warranty and repair work is getting much easier as GM dealerships roll out SAVI, the Service Advisor Vehicle Interface.

Over the last year, GM has implemented a new initiative that gives all service advisors a dongle to be plugged into a vehicle’s OBD port as part of the vehicle check-in process. After June 1st, every vehicle that comes in for warranty work must be automatically scanned with a dongle assigned to each service advisor, or that warranty claim will not be paid to the servicing dealer. A process for exceptions can be made, but most of the time, a vehicle will be scanned before leaving the dealership.

The dongle that service advisors will use can scan a vehicle’s VIN, mileage, trouble codes, and auto-populate forms at the advisor’s computer automatically. The idea is that mistyped data, wrong odometer readings, or incomplete VIN numbers will soon be a thing of the past. The SAVI dongle won’t collect as much information as a technician’s scan tool can and is primarily geared toward making less work for an advisor.

Scanning a vehicle takes about 30 seconds and is done while a keyed vehicle is running or while a vehicle with a push button start is in service mode (start button held for over five seconds). The data is automatically stored and uploaded to General Motors and the Service Advisor’s computer.

The SAVI system uses one of three different types of dongles, depending on which software the dealership uses. The dongles connect to a dealership WIFI connection and can also be connected via a USB port for configuration or troubleshooting.

SAVI launched in May 2022 and was supposed to be used in 100% of warranty service visits starting January 1st, 2023. However, the program was recently delayed so 80% of visits should be logged in April, 90% in May, and 100% by June 1st.

To a customer dropping off a vehicle for repair or warranty work, they may not notice much of a change, however, Service Advisors will have less data to copy and transcribe into a repair order.