Contents
Fleet - Plugixa Car Rental
Your fleet has three layers:
| Layer | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Category | A group of models, for your own organisation. | Economy, Compact, SUV, Premium |
| Model | What a customer books. It carries the specifications, the picture and the deposit, and rates are set per model. | Toyota Corolla Hybrid |
| Vehicle | One physical car with its own licence plate. Bookings are assigned to a vehicle, so a car can never be rented twice for the same time. | Toyota Corolla Hybrid, plate CB-58-RN |
A customer books a model, never a particular car. The plugin assigns the car.
All three screens are in the Fleet group of the app’s sidebar: Models, Vehicles and Categories. The fleet is part of the core of the plugin and cannot be switched off.
Every list on these screens has a search box, Filters, Export CSV, an Active / Trash switch, and a Status switch on each row (on is Published, off is Unpublished). Tick rows to change the status of several records at once or move them to the trash.
Categories
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Name | Required. “A category needs a name.” |
| Description | Optional, one or more lines. |
| Order | A whole number, for sorting the list. |
| Status | Published or Unpublished. |
Categories organise the Models list, which has a Category column and filter. The booking form does not show categories, and a category’s status does not change which models customers can book.
A category that still has models cannot be deleted: “3 vehicle models are still in this category. Move them to another category first.”
Models
The list shows each model’s picture and name, Category, Transmission, Fuel, Seats, Security deposit and Vehicles. The number under Vehicles is a link to the Vehicles list filtered to that model. Search with “Search models…”.
The model form
| Field | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Required. What the customer sees, such as “Toyota Corolla Hybrid”. | |
| Category | none | Optional. |
| Make | Optional, such as Toyota. | |
| Model | Optional, such as Corolla. | |
| Year | Optional. From 1950 to two years after the current one: “That year is not a plausible model year.” | |
| Transmission | Automatic | Automatic or Manual. Customers can filter by it on the booking form. |
| Fuel | Petrol | Petrol, Diesel, Hybrid, Electric or LPG. Hybrid and electric models get a badge on the booking form and can be filtered for. |
| Air conditioning | On | Shown as a feature on the booking form. |
| Seats | 5 | 1 to 99. Customers can sort by Most seats. |
| Doors | 4 | 0 to 9. |
| Bags | 2 | 0 to 20. Shown as “3 bags”. |
| Mileage limit per day | 0 | 0 to 100000. “0 means unlimited.” Shown on the booking form as “250 km per day” or “Unlimited mileage”. See the note below. |
| Minimum driver age | 21 | 16 to 99. See the note below. |
| Security deposit | 0 | An amount held at the desk. See below. |
| Order | 0 | A whole number for sorting the list. |
| Status | Published | Only Published models can be booked. |
| Description | A rich text editor with Visual and Code tabs. The booking form shows the first two lines under the model’s name. | |
| Image | Chosen from the media library with Replace image and Remove image. Shown on the booking form. |
A number outside its range is refused with a message such as “Seats must be between 1 and 99.”
The mileage limit is information only. The free plugin shows it to the customer but does not record or charge mileage.
The minimum driver age is only checked with Pro. The free plugin stores it. With the Driver age app PRO, a car whose minimum age the driver does not meet is still listed and priced, with the reason, and cannot be booked.
The security deposit is not part of the price. It is not added to the total and is not charged online. The booking form tells the customer “A refundable deposit of (the amount) is held at pickup.”, the confirmation email adds a Deposit at pickup line, and the booking’s page in the admin shows it. The deposit is copied onto the booking when it is made, so changing it later does not change existing bookings.
When a model is offered
A model appears on the booking form only when all of these are true:
- its status is Published;
- it has a Published rate that covers the length of the rental, for that pickup location or for all locations. A model with no price for the length is left off the form;
- it has at least one Published vehicle that is free for the dates. A model with no free car is still listed, greyed out, with “Not available for these dates”.
Deleting a model
A model is refused while it still has vehicles: “2 vehicles of this model are still in the fleet. Remove them first.” It is also refused while upcoming or current bookings use it: “1 upcoming or current booking uses it. Cancel or move it first.”
Vehicles
The list shows Licence plate, Model, Colour, Odometer, Home location, VIN and Status. The search box, “Search plates, VINs…”, finds a car by either.
The vehicle form
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Model | Required. Which model this car is. If there are no models yet: “No models yet, add one under Fleet -> Models first.” |
| Licence plate | Required. Saved in capitals with runs of spaces reduced to one. |
| Status | Published: the car can be booked. Unpublished: the car is out of service and is never assigned. The dashboard counts unpublished cars as Out of service. |
| VIN | Optional. Exactly 17 letters and digits, without I, O or Q: “A VIN is 17 letters and digits, without I, O or Q.” |
| Colour | Optional, for your records. |
| Odometer | A whole number of kilometres or miles. It decides which car is sent out first. See below. |
| Home location | The location the car is based at. Empty means it can start a rental at any location. |
| Notes | For your own use. |
Two cars cannot share a plate. The comparison ignores spaces, dashes and case, so “AA-21-BC” and “aa 21 bc” are the same plate: “Another vehicle already has the plate “AA-21-BC”.” Two cars cannot share a VIN either.
A car that is in the trash does not hold on to its plate. If a new car has taken the plate in the meantime, the trashed one cannot be restored until one of them changes.
Deleting a vehicle
A vehicle with upcoming or current bookings cannot be deleted: “1 upcoming or current booking uses it. Cancel or move it first.” Unpublish it instead to take it out of service.
How a booking gets a car
When a customer chooses a model and dates, the plugin looks for a free car of that model. A car is free when all of these are true:
- It is Published and not in the trash.
- Its Home location is the rental’s pickup location, or it has no home location.
- No other booking holds it at any moment of the rental, including the Turnaround time before and after. A booking holds its car while it is Confirmed or Picked up, and while it is Pending with a hold that has not run out. See Booking rules.
Among the free cars, the one with the lowest odometer reading is given first. This spreads the mileage over the fleet on its own. When two cars have the same reading, the one added first wins, so a fleet whose odometers are never updated simply gets the first free car.
The customer never chooses the car. Staff creating a booking at the desk can choose a particular vehicle. If that car is not free, the booking is refused: “That vehicle is not free for those dates.” See Bookings.
Two customers cannot get the same car. The check and the booking happen together, one request at a time for each model, and the second customer is told “Sorry, there is no car of this model free for those dates.”
When a hold runs out
A customer who has chosen a car has it held for the Hold time while they finish the form. If the hold runs out before they finish, the plugin looks for a free car again at that moment. If one is free they get it; if not: “The hold on this car ran out and it has been booked by someone else. Choose another car or other dates.”