"The No. 1 motivator of a [service] purchase, behind need, is convenience," Harkins says. "Any time the processes improve the transaction, it's a major win for the store."

Vendors and dealers insist that virtual advisers aren't designed to replace human ones, but to help speed things along. While you check in with a virtual adviser, they note, a flesh-and-blood service adviser can be conducting a multipoint inspection of your vehicle. They say the convenience virtual advisers offer helps dealerships boost their service business.

Nearly 500 new-vehicle dealerships use GoMoto kiosks, which can be integrated with most dealership management systems. An indoor kiosk costs $1,200 a month to lease; an outdoor version $1,600. Or dealers can buy an indoor kiosk for $6,000, or an outdoor one for $15,000, and pay a $750 monthly service fee.

Enthusiasm for using the kiosk to check in varies by customers' demographic group, says Karl Zerrenner, Volkswagen Pasadena's general manager.

"Young people, 30 and under, are using [the kiosk] like it is a natural thing," he says.

The kiosk uses machine learning to customize service recommendations to individual vehicles, says Todd Marcelle, GoMoto's CEO. For example, he says, the kiosk knows what additional service work customers at a Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram dealership are most likely to authorize.

"We pull in a lot of different data and work with OEM and vendor partners for details such as declined service history to personalize the upsell," Marcelle says.

Silko Honda in Raynham, Mass., has used a GoMoto kiosk for six months. The kiosk typically takes a minute to check in a vehicle, says Geoff Ewell, the dealership's director of operations.

Kiosk users are asked whether they want an appraisal of their vehicle's value. Five to seven percent accept the offer, Ewell says, presenting increased opportunities for trade-ins.

During some weeks, Ewell adds, more than 22 percent of kiosk users buy additional products or services. Last winter, he says, the kiosk asked customers whether they needed new tires and wiper blades. While harried human service advisers can rush through a check-in and skip some recommendations, he adds, with a virtual adviser "it is 100 percent penetration 100 percent of the time."

In response to inquiries posed by the kiosk, Ewell says, 89 percent of users at Silko Honda said the device made check-in easier and 98 percent said it answered all of their questions.