NAPA TRACS

Pros

Napa has always been a very strong and wise franchise corporation there Auto part stores are worldwide easy to find what you need

Cons

I cannot find anything at all that is wrong with this page

Pros

works pretty good to do daily repair orders-has some very nice features to run my business-help desk has some of the best people ever-they know the product-usually get things done properly and quickly so you can carry on

Cons

For over 8 years I have been promised that "soon Tracs will allow industry wide ordering that works well"
Not true! Unless you order 99% of your parts from NAPA you will not be happy. Every time I contact Tracs to find out when there will be a fix I'm given another excuse-in their defense I am using the software at no charge right now but I would much rather pay them and have the product they promised to deliver.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing NAPA TRACS

Reasons for Switching to NAPA TRACS

Pros

The ability to have access to several parts suppliers on one program and the ability to write repair orders with the same system.

Cons

It is the slowest working automotive program I have ever used in 30 years. 1992 we transitioned from hand written repair orders to computer. This system is slower.

Pros

Simple, easy to use. Great integrated labor and parts ordering. Great reporting once you know how to use it.

Cons

System settings menus aren't organized very intuitive. Reporting is great but has a learning curve.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to NAPA TRACS

Pros

Easy to use and easy to make estimates. Easy to look up NAPA pricing.

Cons

I wish there was a way to add in additional owner info, like with a married couple, who wish I would call the one or the other at certain times. If there was a spot for two owners and a way to differentiate the phone numbers for each that would be very helpful.

Pros

1. ease of ordering Napa parts
2. plate and vin scan into work order

Cons

The software is cumbersome and difficult to learn for a small auto repair shop
we dont use 75% of the features

Pros

The cost is reasonable.
Once we adjusted to its unique style it is fairly functional for our daily use.

Cons

It reporting features for our 4 shops is abysmal.
Getting support or response for requests to fix items is a no-go. Mostly the solution we are offered is to purchase a third-party work around.

Pros

We use the Work Orders, Invoices, Purchase Orders

Cons

Finding a part used with a customer by description would be nice

Pros

I really like vin decoder to save me from typing vin in manually

Cons

Repair info for older vehicles is not supported

Pros

Being able to transfer parts to tickets.

Cons

Very slow in parts tech. Confusing report section. Hard to navigate. Can't remove cars on tickets for carryout parts.

Pros

The ease of use and the price point of the product

Cons

That I didn’t know about it sooner in business.

Pros

estimated costs and time frame, customized transit.

Cons

overall works fine for our purposses. we are nor a repair auto shop

Pros

We've used this program almost exclusively for the last 12 years. It has much to offer, but as it's been replaced with the Enterprise software, getting support and improvements can be difficult.

The things we like include being able to group all job-related items together; building jobs with labor, parts and sub-items; ensuring POs are received prior to invoicing; noting how our new customers heard about our business; various report options to help us learn about our productivity. We've just moved our Senior Technician to book time and the two reports that reflect book time are mostly helpful, when the data is accurate.

Cons

There is little to no support for the Legacy software, and the team is clear about there being no improvements to this software - that's frustrating. It's pointless to share other frustrations as the Legacy program is not longer offered to start-up shops for use.

Pros

Ease of use is my favorite thing about it, though I would change 1-2 things if I could. Item history has got to be my favorite tab, also I love the convenance of transferring parts directly to the work order from Napa pro-link or parts tech.

Cons

I miss the freedom we had to enter something as simple as : Dump trailer , gooseneck trailer on the pre- 3.0 version of tracs , though it did still require a year to be entered in which I usually noted 0 year, but also sometimes the customer thinks it unimportant to provide info in which case I used to enter 0 year and Unknown Vehicle into the vehicle info.

Pros

I love napa Tracs but as a mobile automotive repair business I have found certain limitations it has to be hooked to a laptop for invoicing estimates. unfortunately I will have to be looking for a more mobile option if possible . i like the ability to send and invoice work orders estimates and invoices on the fly with ease of access being able to access mitchell one for my diagnostics and being able to use that system and all the benefits that come with it. i wish i didn't have to use the software of tracs only from my laptop. also it does glitch out but that could be my laptop more than the program you have to have a lot of memory and speed to run the program also processing power is key. it does have a very professional look to the customer when they see the invoices and epicor makes ordering parts and comparing prices across the board a breeze.

Cons

i wish tracs would do a better job of integrating the parts into the work order but in order to do that you have to actually order the parts instead you spend a lot of time copying and pasting part numbers and information from the pro link screen to the work orders and also the way i use it is considering i dont always make the sales cause some customers buy and dont buy i use an item i have made called misc part and then add the part number to the estimate as i go so i can get the estimate written quicker to present to the customer it can be a challenge getting used to the program also anytime you add a new customer even if you get the quote or not they are forever stucj in the system and cant be deleted they can only be hidden. which makes it difficult also. the same with the parts and items you put in they can be altered but never removed.

Pros

As the title states TRACS is an application that will do heavy lifting for organizations of any size. The set of features and capabilities exceeds my ability to master them. I do know that when and if we need to extend the software or add a capability its likely a phone call or two away. The support folks screen share and work through issues very well.

Cons

I will welcome when TRACS moves to the cloud. The ability to login from the road and work up a quote or run reports is hampered by the server based application. Its not impossible but requires a 3rd party applications.

We would also prefer to have more control over the appearance of invoices and estimates to create an updated look.

Pros

The software for the most part is very user friendly for people of all skill levels.

Cons

There could be improvements on the back end of things as for reporting and some additional key accounting pieces that should be in place. Definitely geared towards a Mechanical type of business versus an Auto Restoration business that does both mechanical and auto body repairs.

Pros

The ease of making estimates using Napa parts and Mitchel labor is fast and easy.

Cons

Using parts suppliers other than Napa can be less intuative.

Pros

I like the customer support, email feature and the vin decoding when it works, the mitchell catalog is also a great feature when it works

Cons

the ability to text customers would be great. the VIN decoding could be a bit more accurate I have had problems where it decodes the wrong engine size or model making it likely to order incorrect parts

Pros

Many features in tracs are important to our business. As the accountant, I love how the info from tracs propagates to our Quickbooks with one click. It's a central place for all info needed by our team.

Cons

Sometimes customer payments don't close out their invoices. They show a zero balance on their account but in quickbooks they have open invoices that the payments aren't applying to. I have to manually close those invoices.

Pros

We have been through many versions of tracs. We went from paper to Tracs. It was so easy to use. The training curve was very short. The invoices are very easy to read and are some what adaptable to each shop's circumstances.

Cons

The current version, Enterprise, has totally messed up the recommended services. I would like to be able to go back to the legacy version. No one has really been able to help me set up labels under the new system.

Pros

The product is easy to use and navigate! We have been using TRACS for 19+ years. Upgrades are essential and scheduling was the best implementation.

Cons

Quickbooks implementation could be easier

Pros

Cost. Tracs offers many features at an affordable price point.

Cons

Lacking CRM features. Some things are clunky and the program runs slow and get stuck occasionally.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to NAPA TRACS

Pros

Ease of use and integration into our workflow

Cons

There have been changes implemented that seem designer friendly and not user friendly

Pros

It was a smooth integration, customer support is amazing! So wonderful to have a team behind the product to help us in the field.

Cons

There was an update made that took away my ability to edit a repair order after it was closed. I can do it the same day, but after one day, I have to call in and spend 20 min on the phone with tech support to add information or fix a mistake. I think this is absolutly crazy that I can't do this anymore. It really frustrates me that I can't do this function in my own business.

Pros

Being able to look up VIN's and license plate numbers really help in accurately identifying a vehicle.

Cons

Some small glitches may occur, so you need to check your invoices before you finalize anything. Really not that big an issue, since you should be double checking anyways.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to NAPA TRACS

Pros

I like how easy the program is to use...

Cons

The only cons. are the pricing of the addons

Pros

Convenience in ordering parts specific to my saved vehicles. Also, keeping a catalog of our vehicles and equipment.

Cons

Pricing would have to be the only con. We have 4 mechanics and 2 shops. It gets a bit expensive for our small business.

Pros

I like the fact that they have a great selection of parts.

Cons

Sometimes inventory and delivery can be an issue.

Pros

For what the software is, NAPA TRACS worked well. The pricing is great, and I think it's a good starting point for any new shops or those who aren't tech savvy. All of the features that TRACS does offer, it does well.

Cons

TRACS is slow to updates and changes. It only recently allowed the ability to capture digital signatures. There are still a lot of updates to the interface and features that it needs to make to compete with other software on the market. It works with third party software to bridge some of the features it lacks; however, having two different software is costly and clunky and often doesn't work the way it should. TRACS is very manual and unintuitive, and it very much feels like using an early 2000s software.

Pros

Being new to a SMS in a small repair shop , it saves so much time invoicing and quoting jobs.

Cons

Living in a very rural area, we don't get the hands on help to learn new system, but tech line is very helpful.

Pros

The simplest and easiest to see and understand estimating software I found

Cons

I feel like they are a little behind on technology and I have to have an additional program to do everything I would like such as DVIs.

Pros

Napa Enterprise is a good software to use to manage small business and easy to use. The work order management is a great system and is a huge improvement from Napa Legacy.

Cons

Big downer is when receiving payment you can only receive one payment at a time and you must type in the amount to receive. Napa Legacy would auto fill in the amount with the customer balance and after receiving payment you could select another customer. Napa Enterprise makes it so you have to exit the payment screen and reload it to select another customer. Slows down receiving to a crawl.

Pros

Ever since switching over to NAPA TRACS our inventory control has never been better.

Cons

Lack of part numbers from other vendors.

Pros

Very useful Auto Shop Management System. and It is up to date.

Cons

Not reply to customers E-mails. lack of customer feedback.

Pros

Helps our company maximize efficiency to grow our business.

Cons

There is nothing that comes to my mind that I dislike anything about NAPA TRACS.

Pros

I love how easy it is to look up parts and order them .and how reasonable they are.great customer service

Cons

Nothing yet that I have discovered that I haven't liked

Pros

all of the integrations with 360 payments and autovitals etc

Cons

sometimes when running updates it loses things and i have to call support to get them back

Pros

napa is affordable and parts last so you get your money worth and its nice app helps keep me info

Cons

not really anything app gives me no problems works great

Pros

Napa is a great website to help me build my auto motive business and help my clients at the same time and build my business successful

Cons

There’s nothing list about Napa. It’s just a great website to help my clients and at the same time but my might

Pros

can find shops easily, on the road, easy to find stuff

Cons

time consuming sometimes, sometimes lack of experience on workers

Pros

It's very organized easy to use and accurate all around

Cons

No complaints at all very happy with all the product has to offer

Pros

They way the orders are handle and the customer service is great

Cons

The packaging 📦 is not the best i could recommend

Pros

Close to our home with the parts we need.

Cons

The exorbitant prices higher than everyone.

Pros

the eaes of operation and the labor hours are spot on

Cons

so far we haven't had any issues up to this point

Pros

That it enables me to track my businesses well.

Cons

That is making to make all my business just using my phone and business is done.

Pros

The Schedule is easy to use. Ordering parts is very easy. ROs are clean and easy to read.

Cons

Shows another workstation in WO when they are not
Unable to edit Part number
Shows zero communication to order (1 on RO, 0 on PO; none in stock)
If unsaved "New" RO is Open, will Default to that one when trying to start another New RO
Anytime a RO is started, it should generate an appointment block
Under "Appointments" tab, allow limiting to a single day.
Receive all open PO’s at once
Can’t drag an item to the bottom, sometimes have trouble dragging the bottom item up
Put key tag number box in appointment window
An option to not print “repair notes” on job ticket
Merging vehicles sometimes erases the history of vehicle moved
Better highlighting of which Sub-Est is open
When doing a “history” search, after taking action (invoicing) going back to the search list, it is not updated, (still shows as a repair order)
Canceling a RO should delete the appointment
When adjusting price, amount does not highlight.
Needs more info when VIN decoding (is it 4X4 for example)
Automatically save and close a RO after __ (20?) minutes of inactivity.
Show how the backup is progressing
A real nice addition, be able to highlight text
At times, the system moves very slow and freezes, requiring a soft restart of TRACS. This can cause all
updates to a RO to be lost.

Pros

My favorite feature about this software is the profitability worksheet. It clearly shows me what I set me goals to be and if we meet them.

Cons

The part I liked least is not being able to change the Invoice date. It is needed randomly and would be a useful feature.

Pros

Inventory management is very useful and easy to use. We love that Repair Link and ProDemand links are now part of the screen. Being able to undo an invoice is a great add as well. Calling TRACS Support is always a great experience. Some of them even call back to make sure you're getting along ok!

Cons

Repair orders and invoicing needs a lot of work. If you have more than five items in your repair order, good luck maneuvering around. Switching over to the profitability screen or technician screen gives you a much easier view. However, they have taken away the ability to drag items around in these screens. There are also way too many columns in each of these two screens. Please bring back spell check!

Pros

Overall a great shop management tool. Full featured and handles most all aspects of your shop from estimate through invoice along with history and accounting reports.

Cons

The code that drives the software is very klunky. It's so heavy to run that the best computer you can buy off the shelf at your local electronics supplier will struggle to keep up. Be prepared to invest in a computer that is WAY above average in both processor power and ram. Otherwise you'll be restarting your Napa Tracs several times a day to release the memory the software has bogged everything down with. Often by lunch time on a busy day I'll find I "click" a tab and wait upwards of 2 minutes for the software to move. So a restart becomes mandatory. Altogether, this process costs me more time than the otherwise convenient software saves. Additionally, parts tech catalog integration is dismal at best. Works ok for looking up parts across your vendors and transferring said parts to a work order, but you cannot order from it any more. You still have to go to your individual vendor, look the parts up again and then order from there.