The AI that runs your car rental business. Day and night.
Pilota is the AI fleet manager for independent UK car rental operators. It handles bookings, MOTs, PCNs, compliance, marketing, and the 15 hours of admin you do every week — all from your phone.
Invite-only · spots reviewed weekly · 14-day free trial · iOS and Android
Tap the phone to step through
Listening for renter messages…
11:47 PM. While you slept.
Sarah's Audi was 25 minutes late. Pilota detected it, messaged her, and updated your schedule — in 7 seconds. You woke up to a resolved booking.
- 0
- day free trial · no card
- 0 hrs
- admin saved per week
- < 24h
- application review
The work that steals your Sundays
Nominating PCNs with Section 66 RTOA. Tracking ULEZ exposure. Chasing MOT slots before they expire. The regulatory surface around UK car rental is hostile, and it's all on you.
A renter hits a kerb at 11pm on a bank holiday. Another wants to extend on a Sunday. Someone texts asking if the Audi's available next weekend. You answer or you lose the business.
Google Ads would bring bookings. Your Google Business Profile needs updating. Emailing past renters would work. You don't have 10 hours a week.
One AI agent. Twelve specialists. Zero forms.
You talk to Pilota the way you talk to a trusted operations manager — by voice, by text, or by sending a photo. Pilota handles the rest.
Fleet Lifecycle
Adds a vehicle from a photo and a voice note. Tracks DVLA data, MOT history, V5C status.
Bookings
Takes inquiries, quotes dynamically, verifies drivers via DVLA Share Code, handles deposits.
Pricing
Recommends the right rate using local events, flight arrivals, and competitor rates.
Maintenance
Books MOTs at your preferred centres, dispatches mechanics, tracks DVSA recalls.
Compliance
Handles PCN nominations, ULEZ/CAZ tracking, ZEV Mandate status, MTD-IT submissions.
Customer Service
Answers renters 24/7 — SMS, voice, email, WhatsApp.
Vendor Operations
Calls your mechanic, your MOT centre, your valeter — so you don't.
Financials
Syncs bookings to Xero or QuickBooks. Prepares MTD-IT quarterly returns.
Demand Generation
Runs your Google Ads, manages your Google Business Profile, re-engages past renters, and reaches out to credit hire companies including Auxilis, Kindertons, and EF Assistance.
Risk & Fraud
Verifies every renter's identity, scores fraud risk, and flags suspicious bookings before they cost you.
Fleet Acquisition
Finds your next vehicle on AutoTrader or BCA, runs HPI checks, computes ROI, and shortlists candidates — before you spend a penny.
Site Management
Keeps your booking site live, manages SEO, publishes blog content, and A/B tests to improve conversion every week.
How Pilota actually runs your business
Request your invitation
Fill out the access form — takes 60 seconds. We review every application and send your invite within 24 hours. From there: download the app, connect Stripe, snap a photo of your first car, and you're live.
Forward your inbox and business number
Renters message your usual number; Pilota picks up. Email confirmations route into your account. Nothing changes for your customers.
Choose your autonomy mode
Three modes: Copilot (you approve every action before it happens), Pilot (Pilota acts and flags exceptions for review), Autopilot (Pilota runs the operation, you see the morning briefing). Most UK operators move from Copilot to Pilot within the first fortnight.
Get your Sundays back
Pilota works while you sleep. Every morning you get a 30-second briefing of what happened overnight, what's on today, and what needs you.
The things other rental software doesn't do
PCNs nominated automatically
Every PCN that hits your inbox is matched to the rental record, nominated to the responsible driver under Section 66 RTOA 1988 with prescribed particulars, and the admin fee is charged to the renter's card on file. You don't lift a finger.
A dedicated phone line the agent answers
Every Pilota account comes with a UK business number. Renters call it, the AI answers in one ring with a natural UK voice — availability, rates, directions, MOT questions. Emergencies transfer straight to your mobile. Every SMS, call transcript, and email lives in one unified thread.
Damage documented before it becomes a dispute
Every rental starts and ends with a timestamped photographic inspection. Pre-rental and return photos are compared automatically. If there's new damage on return, a deposit charge is initiated and the evidence is packaged for chargeback defence — before you even know about it.
ULEZ, CAZ, and ZEV Mandate, handled
Pilota knows which of your vehicles are ULEZ-compliant, tracks exposure per booking, handles pass-through charges, and watches your ZEV Mandate ratio so you never drift out of compliance.
MOT booked before it expires
At 30, 14, and 7 days before MOT expiry, Pilota rings your preferred MOT centre via voice, books a slot, and confirms it with you. No more expired MOTs. No more last-minute scrambles.
MTD-IT ready
From April 2026, UK operators earning over £50k gross must file quarterly MTD-IT returns. Pilota pulls your Xero or QuickBooks data, builds the return, and submits to HMRC once you approve.
A booking website that runs itself
Every Pilota account includes a branded booking website — hosted by us, PECR-compliant, WCAG 2.2 AA accessible. Add a car and it's on your site 60 seconds later. Bookings flow end-to-end via DVLA Share Code and Stripe, and the agent A/B tests to improve conversion every week.
What Pilota does that others don't
Your plan Pilota | TSD | RENTALL | HQ Rental | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Per fleet | Per booking | Per booking | Per booking |
| Voice & photo input | — | — | — | |
| Three autonomy modes | — | — | — | |
| AI-answered phone line included | — | — | — | |
| Photographic damage inspection | — | — | — | |
| Booking website included | — | — | — | |
| Free trial | 14 days | — | — | — |
| Per-booking fees | None | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Competitor feature data based on publicly available documentation as of April 2026. Subject to change.
Questions operators ask
Is Pilota a replacement for Coastr, HQ Rental, or RENTALL/TSD?
For most operators, yes. Pilota covers the full operational surface. Cancel your current tool in your first month. Operators with deep integrations can run Pilota alongside via CSV or Zapier.
How does Pilota handle UK GDPR and the DPA 2018?UK
Pilota is built UK GDPR + DPA 2018 compliant. You're the controller; we're the processor. Customers can request their data, have it deleted, and object to processing under the statutory deadlines.
What about PECR? Can Pilota send marketing?UK
Pilota only sends marketing to contacts who meet PECR requirements (soft opt-in from past rental, explicit consent, or B2B). Demand Generation enforces these rules by default.
How does DVLA Share Code verification work?UK
When a renter books, they receive a link to gov.uk to generate a Share Code. They enter the code plus licence number and postcode into our app; we submit to DVLA and get back endorsements, categories, and validity. ~90 seconds.
What about ZEV Mandate compliance?UK
The Compliance agent tracks your BEV ratio against the annual requirement (28% cars / 16% vans in 2026) and flags drift. It can recommend BEV purchase candidates when you need to rebalance.
Can Pilota run a direct booking website?
Yes, from the Growth tier. We generate a branded site at yourbrand.pilota.me (or your own domain) with live fleet availability and Stripe checkout.
What if Pilota sends the wrong quote?
Every outbound SMS, email, or voice reply passes through a 10-second undo window. Pending high-stakes replies land in your Approval queue first. If something still goes out wrong you can recall it, and the agent will follow up with the corrected quote under your brand.
Who's liable if Pilota hallucinates?
You remain the data controller and the operator of record under UK GDPR and BVRLA codes of practice; Pilota is a processor acting on your instructions. Our MSA defines the boundary: the agent only takes actions you've explicitly authorised through Autonomy settings. Anything above threshold routes to you for human-in-the-loop sign-off.
Can I turn Pilota off?
Instantly. Settings → Autonomy has a kill switch that pauses every agent; replies go back to manual. You can also scope autonomy per workflow (Copilot, Pilot, Autopilot) so the agent only acts where you trust it.
Can I see everything Pilota has done?
Every agent action is in your exportable audit log with a cryptographic timestamp — admissible as evidence in chargebacks, ICO requests, and BVRLA complaints. Filter by booking, customer, or date. Retained for six years to match UK statutory requirements.
Want to automate your fleet?
Join the waitlist. We'll reach out personally when your spot is ready — no credit card, no setup fee.
Stop running the rental business in your evenings
Request your invitation. Get set up today. Pilota handles the rest.