Industry
Automotive — dealerships & shops
New and used car dealerships, independent lots, and mechanic shops — lot and perimeter cameras that alert at the fence line, plus overnight intercom drop-offs instead of a lockbox bolted to the wall.
Representative dealership lot — inventory sits outside; coverage has to reach the rows and the fence, not only the showroom glass.
The nicest building cameras in the world still leave the inventory blind if they only stare at the glass.
New-car franchises and used-car lots share the same exposure: rows of inventory sitting outside after close. A showroom with premium cameras on the façade looks finished — and still misses the person who hopped the fence five minutes earlier. Perimeter and lot coverage is what creates the alert when the intrusion starts, not when the front door finally opens. That gap is police response time.
National vehicle theft is not a niche problem. The National Insurance Crime Bureau counted about 1.02 million U.S. vehicle thefts in 2023. Parking lots and garages sit among the top locations in FBI NIBRS reporting. Dealership properties show up repeatedly in local and industry reporting as high-value targets — whole units driven off, or converters cut in minutes from trucks and SUVs that sit high enough to work under. NICB tracked catalytic-converter insurance claims peaking near 65,000 in 2022 before declining; average dealership replacement cost still runs around $2,300 per unit (Kelley Blue Book). One converter job on an open used lot can clear a row before anyone walks the floor in the morning.
When theft is reported quickly, recovery odds jump — NICB has reported roughly a third of recovered passenger vehicles found the same day, and most recoveries within a few days. Lot cameras with person and vehicle detections, line-cross on fence lines, and LPR on exits are what make “quick” possible. Building-only coverage often means you learn about it when the sales desk opens.
Design for dealerships follows the property, not the brochure photo of the showroom. Showroom and service buildings get clean 60 GHz cnWave hops when the mid aisle is a short clear shot. The front inventory lot usually needs ePMP 6 GHz to poles where the cars actually sit. Gate Hub, intercom or Reader Pro, and Protect License Plate Unlock belong on the driveway when after-hours staff or transporters need controlled entry.
Independent mechanic and body shops are a different footprint with the same overnight math: customer cars on the lot are your temporary inventory, and bays need cameras for insurance and dispute defense. After-hours drop-offs are where a lot of shops still rely on a metal lockbox bolted to the wall — easy to pry or rip off, and nobody sees who took the keys. The pattern we design instead: customer hits the G3 Intercom or Reader Pro, owner or on-call tech sees and talks on the phone or Intercom Viewer, hits release on a secured drop door or vestibule, and keys go into a supervised drop — with video of who arrived and when. Same UniFi Access console as the lot cameras.
Site atmosphere
Representative stills — not client photos. The design problem is the lot depth, the gate, and the poles — not another camera over the reception desk.
Overnight drop-off
Call the intercom. Owner releases. Keys go in — not into a lockbox that can be ripped off the wall.
Traditional shop lockboxes are an easy overnight target: pry them, rip them, walk away with every set of keys. With UniFi Access the customer hits a G3 Intercom or Reader Pro, the owner sees and talks on the phone or Intercom Viewer, hits release on a secured drop or vestibule, and the keys land under video. Same console as the lot cameras — useful for mechanic shops and any service lane that takes after-hours vehicles.
Lot depth is the design
Building cameras watch the glass. Lot cameras watch the inventory.
The same dealership layout we use on the site-links page — 60 GHz between buildings when the aisle is clean, 6 GHz to poles on the front inventory field. Read more in why dealership lot cameras need the poles.
Example · car dealership site links
Showroom to service building is a short, clear shot across the mid aisle — that is a natural 60 GHz cnWave hop (V5000 ↔ V1000/V2000). The front inventory lot is longer and busier, so cameras on light poles usually ride ePMP 6 GHz (4600 AP with Force 4625 SM) off the same building LAN. Mix and match is the design — not one radio for every path.
Hardware reference
Product lines we spec on these sites.
cnWave V5000
V5000
60 GHz hub on the building — two sectors covering up to 280° with beamforming, distributing to several far drops when LOS is clean.
ePMP 4600 AP
ePMP-4600
6 GHz access point when 60 GHz has no clean line of sight — trees, distance, or soft path.
AI Pro camera
UVC-AI-Pro
AI-series analytics — person, vehicle, line cross, LPR, and facial recognition on capable models.
G3 Intercom
UA-G3-Intercom
Dedicated video intercom at the door or gate — directory, two-way audio, and unlock through the Access hub.
Gate Hub
UA-Hub-Gate
Independent gate head-end — readers or intercom at the fence line with lock and AUX terminals for gate operators.
Product images courtesy of Ubiquiti Inc. UniFi is a trademark of Ubiquiti Inc. Orbit Security Group is independent and not affiliated with Ubiquiti.
What we specify
Design for how the site is used day to day.
- 01
Overnight intercom drop-off
Call the door station → owner releases → keys go in a supervised drop. Replaces the traditional wall lockbox that can be ripped off overnight. Works with G3 Intercom or Reader Pro and an Intercom Viewer or the UniFi Access app.
- 02
New & used dealership lots
Inventory rows, fence lines, and exits on Protect — person/vehicle alerts and LPR where plates leave the property. Coverage sized to the lot depth, not only the showroom glass.
- 03
Perimeter before the building
Line-cross and motion on approaches and fence segments so staff and monitoring see a breach when it starts — minutes that matter for police and recovery.
- 04
Site links across the property
cnWave 60 GHz between showroom and service when LOS is clean; ePMP 6 GHz to front-lot poles when the inventory field is longer or softer. Same LAN, different radio for each path.
- 05
Gates and after-hours entry
Gate Hub with G3 Intercom or Reader Pro for unknowns; Mobile Unlock and plate unlock for known staff and transporters.
- 06
Mechanic & body shops
Bay cameras for insurance and customer disputes, lot coverage for vehicles left overnight, and the intercom drop-off path above — so mechanics and owners are not guessing what happened on the lot.
- 07
Converter and parts theft
Trucks and SUVs on open used lots are frequent converter targets. Lot lighting plus cameras with audio or spotlight deterrents where policy allows — documented on the drawing, not left to hope.
Related consulting: door access & intercom, networking & site links, camera systems, sensors & alarms.
ROI & efficiency
Where dealerships and shops see payback
Inventory sits outside. Building cameras alone do not watch the fence. Lot and perimeter coverage is where theft math and police response time actually move.
- 01
National theft scale
NICB counted about 1.02 million U.S. vehicle thefts in 2023. Parking lots and garages remain among the top locations in FBI NIBRS data — exactly the footprint of a dealership inventory field after close.
- 02
Minutes at the perimeter
An alert when someone breaks the fence line or hops a row is different from footage that only catches the showroom door later. Early detection is what shortens police response and improves recovery odds — NICB has reported roughly a third of recovered passenger vehicles found the same day when theft is reported quickly.
- 03
Catalytic converters on open lots
NICB tracked converter insurance claims peaking near 65,000 in 2022. Dealership replacement often runs about $2,300 per unit (KBB). Trucks and SUVs on used lots are frequent targets because they sit high and unattended overnight.
- 04
One unit vs the system
A single mid-line vehicle driven off an unsupervised lot can exceed the cost of a properly designed lot camera and radio package — before insurance deductibles and downtime.
- 05
Mechanic and body shops
Customer cars overnight are temporary inventory. Bay cameras support insurance and dispute defense. Overnight drop-off over intercom — customer calls, owner releases, keys go in a supervised drop — beats a wall lockbox that can be pried or ripped off when nobody is watching.
- 06
Insurance and claims
Documented lot coverage, gate records, drop-off video, and usable exit footage help with carrier conversations and claim defense — especially when converters or whole units leave after hours.
Ranges below come from common industry reports and owner feedback — your site, insurance carrier, and operation will differ. We size systems to the property, not to a brochure.
Download
Two-page PDF
Same content as this page — for a board packet or a conversation with facilities.
Designing a dealership lot or shop?
Send the address, a rough lot layout if you have one, and whether the problem is inventory, converters, overnight drop-offs, or all three. We will say what belongs on paper first.