Supply chain issues have led to a shortage of regularly available new vehicles, turning consumers to the used vehicle market when looking to make their next purchase. Used cars are practically flying off the lot, so it’s never been more important to get them through recon and on the lot for sale, especially in a market that is always changing. Every day your inventory sits in the recon process, an average of 12.2 days nationally, is a sale you could be losing out on. What is it really costing your dealership when the process is inefficient?
Time
Reconditioning is a process that touches every part of the dealership. A vehicle in recon will change hands countless times throughout the process. At every step, there is potential for a vehicle to get caught in a bottleneck, adding time to the cycle without making progress. From recon work having to wait for approvals and parts, getting set aside for customer pay vehicles that take priority, or simply just getting left behind in the shuffle of a busy dealership, it can be easy to add unnecessary hours or days to your cycle time. Not addressing the reason for the delay can be costing you valuable time, especially when you could be spending it on the recon or sale of other vehicles. Your employees’ time is valuable, and an inefficient recon system forces them to repeat steps, question the status of a vehicle, and complete processes manually.
Volume
Not only can it be taking up more time than necessary, but with an inefficient recon process, you’re reducing the volume of cars you are able to recon. Maximizing the productivity of your reconditioning process gives you the ability to recon more vehicles in the same time and make additional sales. Taking the time to address bottlenecks and delays allows you to push cars through the process faster. Getting that recon cycle down to just a few days drastically improves how many vehicles you’re able to work on
Opportunity
If you’re able to sell a vehicle 10 days after it hits the lot but your recon process is taking 12 days or so, a 22-day turn time can seem fast enough. However, if you implement a process that can cut that cycle time in half to say, 6 days, you’re getting a vehicle out roughly 27% faster. That time can then be invested back into the recon of more vehicles or other profit centers in your dealership. When you are not maximizing the efficiency of your recon process, you are not maximizing the capabilities and opportunity of your dealership. Streamlining your recon process gives you additional freedom with time and money to seek out more inventory and invest back into the success of your dealership.
Recon is a complex process, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be a slow and costly one. Having the right tools in place to track every step of your reconditioning process is vital to the success of your used vehicle operation. Monitoring your touchpoints and being able to design a recon process that maximizes the efficiency of your dealership allows you to take advantage of a market boom while it lasts.
