PALO ALTO, Calif. – The used car operations of America’s franchised car dealerships continue to struggle with inventory replenishment during COVID, but data from Rapid Recon suggests dealers are getting those cars sale-ready more quickly. Even in slow supply seasons, as now, getting recently acquired inventory ready for resale quickly helps dealers convert those assets to cash faster.

These improving ADR numbers tell us dealers using reconditioning workflow software were able to pick up reconditioning efficiencies from where they left off, meaning within a few days.

“I am surprised that the data are telling us recon operations are getting back to best practices more quickly post-COVID than I would have suspected,” said Anthony Martinez, director of Customer Performance for Rapid Recon.

As COVID-19 swept the nation, the need to recondition vehicles quickly or at all for most dealerships ceased or slowed significantly, and as a result, average days in recon (ADR) numbers skyrocketed.

ADR is a measurement of a used car operation’s health and efficiency. Best practice ADR is five to seven days. From March through mid-June, dealers’ average ADR was 13.2 days. By mid-June, ADR had dropped to 10.54, a positive improvement

ADT measures the time from when a technician or detailer first touches a car as it rolls into the recon department until its photography is completed. For an accurate pulse on recon performance, dealers need to know their ADR.

“These improving ADR numbers tell us dealers using reconditioning workflow software were able to pick up reconditioning efficiencies from where they left off, meaning within a few days. ADR speed is increasingly important as online selling stimulates more sales with cars still in recon,” Martinez said. Before joining Rapid Recon, Martinez had  managed one of the largest reconditioning centers in the southeast.

ADR data was extracted from 2,000 dealerships who are using Rapid Recon time-to-line workflow software.