Videos for garages and car dealers: ideas, rhythm and production for social media

Why short videos suit garages and car dealers

The car trade rests on two things that photos convey poorly: the vehicle itself and trust. A short video shows both.

• The car in motion. The engine starting, the boot, the room in the back: a few seconds answer questions the photo gallery leaves open.
• The workshop. Customers want to know who repairs their car and how. Showing a worn part or a diagnosis makes the work visible.
• The people. People buy a car from someone. A salesperson a customer has already seen on video is no longer a stranger when they walk in.

Instagram and Facebook reach customers in your area, TikTok and YouTube help the garage get discovered beyond its followers, and LinkedIn speaks to companies that run a fleet. The same vertical video works everywhere.

18 video ideas for a garage or car dealership

Rotate between five families of topics. Each idea fits in a video of under a minute, spoken to camera, in front of a car or in the workshop.

Vehicles: arrivals and presentations

• This week's arrival: a used car that has just come in and what sets it apart.
• Three details missing from the listing: the loaded boot, the rear seats, a feature hidden in a menu.
• Before and after preparation: the car as traded in, then ready for sale.
• ‘Who is this car for?’: the family, the commuter, the new driver.
• Two models from stock side by side: which one suits which use.

Workshop and maintenance

• Seasonal tyre change: when to book and how to check wear yourself.
• Preparing for the MFK, the cantonal vehicle inspection: what the workshop checks beforehand and the faults it sees most often.
• A warning light comes on: which ones mean stop now, which can wait for the appointment.
• Electric cars: the questions asked at the front desk about charging at home, winter range or servicing.
• A repair explained: the worn part next to the new one.
• Before the holidays: what to check before setting off fully loaded.

Team and behind the scenes

• A portrait of a mechanic or a service adviser: their job and speciality.
• An apprentice talks about their training, a topic that also helps with recruiting.
• A piece of workshop equipment, from the diagnostic tool to wheel alignment, and what it reveals.

Vehicle handovers

• The key handover, with the customer's written consent (see below).
• A customer question received by email or phone, answered on video without showing the person.

Car culture

• A model that shaped the history of the brand you sell or repair.
• A forgotten concept car or a surprising anecdote, told in front of a car from your stock.

A rhythm you can keep: three videos a week, one filming morning

Regularity matters more than volume. Three videos a week, one per main family, is a realistic baseline for a garage. Motoro publishes more: over four videos a week on average from April to September 2026.

Film everything in one go: one morning every two to three weeks gives six to nine videos.

1. The day before: pick the topics, reread the scripts, wash and position the cars, cover customers' number plates.
2. Before the workshop opens: with no compressor or impact wrench running, the sound stays clean; otherwise, use a clip-on microphone.
3. One location per series: the showroom, then the workshop, then outside, without moving the kit for every topic.
4. No pressure: a fluffed sentence is simply redone, and pauses are cut in the edit.

Before you publish: people on camera, number plates, brands and prices

Four points to check before every post. If in doubt, ask your trade association (AGVS/UPSA) or a legal adviser.

• People on camera. As soon as a person is recognisable, their image is personal data: publishing it requires their consent unless an overriding interest justifies it, and once consent is withdrawn, publication must stop (FDPIC). This applies to customers and employees alike; for a minor, the parents must agree. The safest option is written consent that states where the video will appear.
• Number plates. A plate number is enough to look up the holder's name and address online, unless they have blocked their data (in the canton of Bern, for example, via eAutoindex). Blur or cover customers' plates, and film stock vehicles without plates.
• Brands. A car on camera shows its logo; that is normal. But do not suggest you are an official dealer for a brand if you are not, for example by using its logo as your own. If you are an official dealer, ask your importer about its social media rules.
• Prices. A price you mention must be the price actually payable, in Swiss francs, including VAT (Price Indication Ordinance). SECO also publishes a brochure on price indication for motor vehicles.

A bilingual garage: French- and German-speaking customers

In Biel/Bienne, an officially bilingual town, and in the cantons of Fribourg and Valais, a garage serves customers in both French and German. Three options:

• Film twice, if someone on the team is comfortable in both languages: natural, but it doubles the filming.
• Subtitle in the other language: simple, but customers read instead of listening.
• Film once and dub: AI dubbing keeps the voice of the person filmed, and captions and cards are translated. With Marqo this is available on the Pro and Business plans; on Pro, CHF 299 a month plus CHF 209 per additional language.

Publish each language on its own account, as Motoro does with separate French, German and Italian accounts on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. Have a native speaker on the team check the translation: the same inspection is the ‘MFK’ in German and the ‘expertise’ in French. More in the multilingual video guide.

How to produce: three options and their costs

With Marqo, AI writes the scripts from your content strategy. You film with Prompteur Marqo on the tablet, where the text scrolls at the pace of your voice, controlled by Camera Marqo on the phone. Editing is automatic: silences cut, music, animated captions, AI-suggested cards. The videos are then scheduled on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube, not on X. The Starter plan (CHF 149 a month) includes 15 videos in one language, without AI voice-over: enough for three videos a week.

To compare: the cost of a business video, video agency or software, or book a demo on your own topics.

Frequently asked questions