Rapid Recon helps dealers streamline used-car reconditioning

In less than 18 months, Performance Ford-Lincoln Bountiful in Utah, near Salt Lake City, saw its used-vehicle sales grow to about 200 in most months from an average of 100. The road to that accomplishment cuts straight through the service department.

"Used-car managers will tell you they never get their cars through service quick enough," says Denim Simkins, service director at Performance Ford-Lincoln Bountiful and Performance Ford Truck Country. "We knew that we needed to have 300 used cars in inventory if we wanted to sell 200 per month."

The old system of tracking secondhand vehicles manually on a spreadsheet had loopholes big enough for an F-450 to drive through. In August 2019, Performance started using a software package called Rapid Recon that tracks the flow of used vehicles through the store's departments.

From the moment a vehicle is bought at auction or traded in until its tires roll onto the front line of the used-car lot, Rapid Recon uses precisely timed communications to help department managers keep vehicles rolling through reconditioning. "It connects the entire dealership. Everybody gets a notification along the way as to where the car is," said Simkins.

He estimates the time it takes for most used vehicles to get to the front line at Performance Ford has been cut in half to roughly three days. "If I take in a car over the weekend, I will have it on the line ready to sell by Tuesday or Wednesday. That was not the case before," Simkins said.

Simkins' job title is service director, but he's more like an air traffic controller, keeping tabs on every used vehicle as it goes through the reconditioning process.

As soon as the store closes the deal on a secondhand vehicle, the texts start flying into the store's six "buckets" — purchase, service, parts, detail, photo and, finally, front line, which is where the photos for online ads are shot.

All used vehicles reconditioned at Performance get new filters, an oil change, new windshield wiper blades and an inspection that could lead to further repairs.

Rapid Recon software helps speed the trip through reconditioning in several ways. First, each car's reconditioning kit of parts is delivered to the bays of the store's four recon techs just before the vehicle arrives. No longer do techs waste time walking to the parts department, where they would have to wait for their orders to be filled.

The software also improves efficiency by helping manage the reconditioning process for vehicles that need extra work. Rapid Recon's software sends texts to Performance Ford's outside vendors when such things as dents need to be fixed, a new windshield is needed or upholstery repairs are necessary. Even though these outside vendors are not Performance employees, they are subject to the same scrutiny when it comes to working quickly.

"There are times when a vehicle needs to go to another dealer for a warranty repair or a recall," Simkins said. "Those cars have a tendency to drop off your radar because they are at another store, and you are at their mercy. There are vehicles that fall through the cracks whether you think so or not. Rapid Recon does not allow that to happen."

Performance Ford-Lincoln is part of the Performance Automotive Network, a family-owned group that ranked No. 38 on the 2019 Automotive News list of the top 150 dealership groups based in the U.S., with stores in Utah, Ohio and northern Kentucky. It sold 21,786 new vehicles and 25,704 used vehicles in 2019.

In fall 2019, Performance Ford-Lincoln made it a priority to increase used-vehicle sales. Simkins said he evaluated several software packages aimed at helping dealers boost used-car sales. He chose Rapid Recon after consulting with other Performance Automotive stores that were using the software.

"The kicker was that it is really simple to use, and they have some implementation managers who came in and established a baseline and what are the best practices," he said. Jim Leman, Rapid Recon's director of communications, says about 2,400 franchised new-vehicle dealerships use the company's software and pay an average of $549 a month.

About three months in, Performance started notching its first used-vehicle sales increases attributable to Rapid Recon. Not long after that COVID-19 hit, and the used-car market became extremely hot when new-vehicle inventories began to thin out. Rapid Recon helped Performance meet demand for used cars as a growing number of customers shopped online for specific vehicles.

"The days of showing up at a dealership or used-car lot and just kind of looking around and finding something are over," Simkins said. "I think a majority of customers are looking at specific price ranges and for specific types of vehicles. Getting cars pictured and online is what is selling cars."