Vehicle Recon Tracker is a web-based vehicle reconditioning tracker built specifically for automotive dealerships. It gives your entire team real-time visibility into where every vehicle is in the recon process — from trade-in to front line.
Click "Create a Demo Account" on the home page or go to the registration page. Enter your name, email, position, select your dealership, and create a password. Your account will need to be approved by a dealership administrator before you can sign in.
Administrators receive an email notification when you register. Approval times depend on your dealership, but most accounts are approved within a few hours during business hours.
Click "Forgot your password?" on the login page. Enter your email address and you'll receive a secure reset link. The link expires after a set time, so use it promptly. If your password has been locked by an administrator, contact them to unlock it first.
Yes! Vehicle Recon Tracker is completely free to try for 30 days. Create a demo account, explore the full feature set, and see how it fits your dealership's workflow — no credit card required.
Subscriptions are sold on a per dealership (rooftop) basis. Each dealership location gets its own set of vehicles, users, statuses, and settings. There are no per-user fees — add as many users as you need at each location.
Yes. Discounted pricing is available for dealer groups with multiple rooftops. The more locations you add, the better the per-store rate. Contact us through the support form or the contact section on our home page to discuss group pricing for your organization.
The dashboard groups all active vehicles by their current status (Service, Waiting Parts, Detail, etc.) and sorts them oldest-first within each group. At the top you'll see announcement banners, stat cards showing vehicle counts per status, average recon time, recon costs, and a live clock. Your personal productivity stats and team leaderboard appear below the stats. The dashboard auto-refreshes every 10 minutes to keep data current.
Announcement banners are messages posted by administrators that appear at the top of the dashboard. There are two types: global announcements (amber, visible to all dealerships) and dealership-specific announcements (blue, visible only to users at that store). Each banner shows the message, who posted it, when it was posted, and when it expires. Announcements are automatically removed after they expire.
The "My Activity" panel shows your personal stats for today and this week — vehicles completed, added, status changes, and notes. The "Team This Week" panel shows a leaderboard of the top 5 users by completions and total actions. Your name is highlighted if you appear in the rankings.
Click the "+ Add Vehicle" button on the dashboard. Enter the stock number, description, color, select a source from the dropdown (Trade-In, Auction, etc.), choose a status, enter recon cost, and an optional RO # (Repair Order number) and note. The vehicle will appear immediately on the dashboard under the selected status.
Vehicles are color-coded by how long they've been in the system:
These visual cues help you quickly spot vehicles that are taking too long in recon.
When adding or editing a vehicle, you can optionally set a Target Front-Line Ready Date — the date you expect the vehicle to be finished and ready for the sales lot. If the target date passes and the vehicle is still active, it will be highlighted in purple with a pulsing "OVERDUE" badge on the dashboard. This is separate from the age-based color warnings.
Open the vehicle detail by clicking its stock number, then click "Completed". The vehicle moves out of the active list and into the completed vehicles section at the bottom of the dashboard. You can reactivate a completed vehicle at any time.
Yes. Open the vehicle detail and click "Print Record". This opens a print-optimized page in a new tab with all vehicle information, the complete status history, and every note — ready for your printer.
Click any vehicle's stock number to open the detail modal, then click "Full History". This opens a dedicated page with a unified timeline showing every event for that vehicle — status changes, notes, edits, completions, and emails — in chronological order with color-coded icons and timestamps.
The search bar searches across stock number, RO #, vehicle description, and color. Use the dropdown next to the search bar to search within active vehicles, completed vehicles, or both. Search results show matching vehicles from your selected scope.
Click the "Overdue" button in the dashboard search toolbar. This filters the view to show only active vehicles that have passed their target front-line date. Completed vehicles are hidden while this filter is active. Click the button again or "Clear" to return to the normal view.
The source breakdown shows how many active vehicles in your pipeline came from each acquisition source (Trade-In, Auction, Buy Center, etc.) with counts and percentages. This reflects active vehicles currently in the pipeline, not historical data.
The GM Dashboard is an executive summary available to Administrators from Admin Tools. It provides a strategic overview including pipeline KPIs, vehicle aging breakdown, status and source distribution, a 6-month added/completed trend chart, a team performance leaderboard, and a dealership comparison table for multi-store operations.
Yes. Administrators can create, rename, reorder, and color-code custom statuses for each dealership on the Dealerships page. Choose from 10 colors, set sort order, and enable or disable statuses as needed. Each dealership has its own independent status codes.
Pending Approval is a built-in status that cannot be disabled or deleted. When a vehicle is moved to this status, email alerts are sent to users who have Pending Approval alerts enabled in their profile. It's designed for vehicles that need manager sign-off before moving to the next step.
Every time a vehicle's status is changed, the system records who changed it, what the old and new status were, and the exact date and time. This creates a complete audit trail visible in the vehicle detail view and on the printed record.
All users — including the most basic role — can add notes to any vehicle. Notes are timestamped with the author's name and are visible to everyone at the dealership. They cannot be edited or deleted after posting.
Click "Email Vendor" on the dashboard. Enter the vendor's name and email, select which statuses to include, and the system generates a detailed vehicle list. An audit note is automatically added to each included vehicle documenting the communication.
Type @ followed by a team member's name in any vehicle note. An autocomplete dropdown will appear showing matching users at your dealership. Select a name to mention them — they'll receive a notification with a link to the vehicle. Mentions are highlighted in amber in the notes and vehicle history.
Vehicle Recon Tracker sends several types of email alerts:
You can enable or disable your personal alerts on your Profile page.
Vehicle age alerts are sent once per day per dealership. The alert is triggered when a user loads the dashboard each day. It emails all users at that dealership who have vehicle alerts enabled, listing every active vehicle that exceeds the configured day threshold. Administrators can reset the daily alert from the Dealerships page if needed.
The 🔔 bell icon in the navigation bar shows your in-app notifications. A red badge indicates unread notifications. Click the bell to see your most recent notifications, and click any notification to go directly to the related page. Notifications are checked automatically every 60 seconds.
You'll receive in-app notifications when:
Yes. Go to your Profile page and scroll to the "In-App Notifications" section. You can toggle each notification type on or off independently. Email alerts and in-app notifications are controlled separately.
Your role is assigned by your dealership administrator and determines what actions you can perform. Each role's specific capabilities may be customized by the system administrator.
Yes. Administrators can grant you access to additional dealerships using the "Stores" button on the Users page. Once granted, you'll see a dealership filter dropdown on the dashboard and can manage vehicles across all your assigned locations.
The Reports page (available to administrators) includes:
All reports can be filtered by dealership and time period (3, 7, 14, 30, 60, or 90 days).
Average recon time is calculated from completed vehicles only. It measures the total time from when the vehicle was added to the system until it was marked as completed. The dashboard shows the average over the last 90 days, while the Reports page lets you adjust the time period.
You can enter a recon cost when adding or editing a vehicle. When marking a vehicle as completed, you're prompted to enter a final cost — this is added to the running total. The dashboard shows the total recon cost across all active vehicles and the average cost per unit. Costs are also included in exports and the printed vehicle record.
Yes. The dashboard has export buttons for both active and completed vehicles. You can download a CSV file for use in spreadsheets, or open a print-ready PDF view that you can print or save as PDF from your browser. Exports include all vehicle details, recon cost, status, and dealership information.
Go to the Ideas page from the navigation menu. Click "+ Submit Idea", give your request a title and description, and submit. Other users can vote on your idea to show community support.
Each user gets one vote per feature request. Click the vote arrow on any request to upvote it — click again to remove your vote. Votes help prioritize which features get built. You can sort the list by most votes to see the most popular ideas.
Web: Open a vehicle detail and find the Photos section. Click the Upload button and select a photo from your computer.
Mobile: Open a vehicle, tap Upload, then choose Take Photo to use the camera or Choose from Gallery to select an existing image. Photos are automatically compressed before uploading.
JPEG, PNG, GIF, and WebP image files are supported. On mobile, images are automatically compressed to reduce size before uploading.
Upload: Users with edit vehicle permissions can upload photos to any vehicle they have access to.
Delete: The original uploader can delete their own photos, and any user with edit permissions can delete any photo on vehicles they have access to.
Yes. All photo uploads and deletions are recorded in the Activity Log with the vehicle's stock number and a file identifier. Actions from the mobile app are tagged with (Mobile) to distinguish them from web actions.
On the login page, tap the Android download badge to download the APK directly to your device. You may need to enable "Install from unknown sources" in your Android settings to install it. The app connects to the same server as the web version — use your existing credentials to log in.
The mobile app includes: dashboard with stats and vehicle list, vehicle detail with photos and notes, add vehicles, messaging, notifications, profile management, and for admins — user management, activity log, and reports. It supports multi-dealership filtering for users with access to multiple stores.
Yes. The login screen supports autofill for password managers like 1Password, Bitwarden, Google Autofill, and Samsung Pass.
Camera permission is only requested when you tap Take Photo to capture a new vehicle image. It is not required for general app use. Gallery access for selecting existing photos does not require any special permissions.
Vehicle Recon Tracker uses industry-standard security measures including bcrypt password hashing, HTTPS encryption, CSRF protection on every form, and role-based access controls enforced on every request. Failed login attempts are tracked by IP address, and accounts are temporarily locked after multiple failed attempts to prevent brute force attacks.
For security, your IP address is temporarily blocked after multiple consecutive failed login attempts. The block lifts automatically after the configured waiting period. If you're locked out and need immediate access, contact your dealership administrator.
If you see this message when trying to log in, your dealership's account has been locked by an administrator. This affects all users at that dealership. While locked, no one at the dealership can access the system. Contact your administrator or use the support contact form on the home page for assistance.
Click your name or the "Profile" button in the top navigation. From there you can update your name, position, password, and toggle email alert preferences including vehicle age alerts and Pending Approval alerts.
When logged in, click "Contact Support" in the footer of any page. Your name, email, and dealership are pre-filled — just select a subject, type your message, and send. You can also reach out to your dealership administrator for help with account or access issues.
Yes! Press ? on any page to view the full list of keyboard shortcuts. Here's a quick summary:
Shortcuts are disabled while you're typing in a text field. You can also click "Shortcuts: ?" in the footer of any page.
Click the moon/sun icon (☾/☀) in the navigation bar next to the notification bell. Your preference is saved automatically and persists across sessions and page reloads.
This notification means your account is currently active from two or more different locations (IP addresses) at the same time. If you don't recognize the other location, change your password immediately from your Profile page. This is a security feature to protect your account.
Yes. Click "Training" in the footer of any page to access the Training Guide. Lessons are organized by role — and the page automatically opens to your role's section. A progress tracker shows how many lessons you've reviewed.
Click "Messages" in the navigation bar. Select a contact from the sidebar on the left, type your message, and press Enter or click Send. Messages are delivered in real time.
You can message any active user at your dealership. If you are assigned to multiple dealerships, you can message users at any of your locations. If an administrator sends you a message, they will also appear in your contact list so you can reply.
An unread message count badge appears on the "Messages" link in the navigation bar. Inside the messaging page, contacts with unread messages show a badge next to their name. Unread counts update automatically.
Messages are between you and the person you are messaging. However, system administrators may have the ability to access message content for operational, compliance, or support purposes. Messages are intended for business use related to dealership operations.
Messages are automatically deleted based on your dealership's configured retention period (default: 90 days). Your administrator can adjust this setting. There is no way to recover deleted messages after they are purged.
Click "Share Feedback" in the footer of any page (when logged in) or "Share Your Experience" on the homepage. If you're logged in, your name, email, and dealership are filled in automatically — just write your testimonial and submit. If you're not logged in, you'll need to provide your name, email, and dealership name.
No. All testimonials are reviewed before being published. You'll see a confirmation after submitting, and once approved, your testimonial will appear in the carousel on the homepage. Only your first name, last initial, and dealership name are displayed publicly.
You cannot edit a testimonial after submission. If you'd like it changed or removed, contact support and an administrator can update or delete it on your behalf.
Click "Support" in the footer of any page, then click "+ New Ticket". Select a category, enter a subject and message describing your issue, and submit. You'll receive a confirmation with your ticket number.
Click "Support" in the footer to view all your tickets. Each ticket shows its current status: Open, In Progress, Awaiting Your Reply, Resolved, or Closed. Click any ticket to view the full conversation and add a reply.
Yes. You'll receive both an in-app notification (visible in the notification bell) and an email when staff replies to your ticket. The email includes a preview of the response and a link to view and reply.
Yes. If your ticket was marked as Resolved or Awaiting Your Reply, simply add a new reply and it will automatically reopen. Closed tickets cannot be replied to — create a new ticket if you need further help.
Yes. When creating a ticket or replying, you can attach images (JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP), PDFs, or text files up to 5MB. Attachments are linked in the conversation thread for easy access.
When a ticket is resolved or closed, you'll see a star rating prompt. Select 1 to 5 stars and optionally add a comment. Your feedback helps us improve support quality.
The billing portal is a self-service page where your dealership's billing contact can view account details, invoice history, payment status, adjustments, and late fees. It does not require a login — access is provided via a secure link shared by your administrator.
Your administrator will provide a unique portal link. Open it in any browser to view your billing information. If you don't have a link, contact your dealership administrator or reach out to support.
Yes. If online payments are enabled, each unpaid invoice will have a "Pay Now" button that takes you to a secure payment page where you can pay by card or bank transfer. You'll receive a confirmation email once your payment is processed.
If your dealership has a late fee policy, a fixed fee is automatically applied to any invoice that remains unpaid after the 10th of the billing month. The late fee amount is set by your administrator and is visible on the billing portal and in invoice emails.
The Compliance Report is an auditing tool available under Admin Tools → Compliance. It provides a summary of user access patterns, security events, vehicle processing stats, status bottlenecks, and a full activity breakdown — all in one printable page. It's designed for management reviews, audits, and dealership oversight.
Yes. Use the date range dropdown to view the last 7, 30, 90, 180, or 365 days. You can also filter by dealership if you have access to multiple locations. The report updates immediately when you change filters.
Yes. Click the Print button at the top of the report. It uses a print-friendly layout that hides navigation and filters, showing only the report content. You can print to paper or save as PDF using your browser's "Save as PDF" option.
If the CSV Export Add-on is enabled for your dealership, go to Admin Tools → Activity Log and click the Export CSV ▾ dropdown. You can export activity logs, user lists, vehicle notes, or messages. An additional export button is also available on the Users page.
The CSV export feature is an optional paid add-on that must be enabled for your dealership. If you don't see the export button, contact your system administrator to enable it. You also need to have the appropriate role permissions to access exports.
Exports include only data from your dealership (or your currently filtered dealership). Sensitive system-level actions are automatically excluded. Each export is logged in the activity log for auditing purposes.