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How independent dealer no longer loses track of cars

Jim Leman

Rust & Dust
Feb 14, 2018
27
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First Name
Jim
Camacho Auto Sales, an independent auto dealership with three used car operations serving the Palmdale and Lancaster, California markets outside Los Angeles, reconditions 220 cars a month to keep its lots filled with fresh inventory that sells faster.

Camacho’s used car superstore at the Palmdale Auto Mall does reconditioning for the operation.

Vehicles sent out to sublets for some phases of that work often were forgotten or otherwise delayed. That lost time cost Camacho Auto Sales considerable financial loss.

Second-generation operator Gus Camacho says he’s now solved that problem – one that troubles many independent auto dealers, losing control and track of used-car inventory.

“Things were a mess,” says Camacho, who also owns the nearby Camacho Mitsubishi.

“We are talking here about thousands and thousands of dollars,” adds Camacho, who stepped into his father’s footsteps when the elder Camacho retired in 1996.

Anything that delays cars’ speed from acquisition to their sale erodes vehicle sales margin. Dealers have the most control over this time to line (T2L) during vehicle reconditioning. “Delay getting cars ready to be sold increases floorplan expense, ties up money in products not available for sale, and contributes to vehicle depreciation,” Camacho notes.

The core of this problem is lack of visibility. Without T2L recon workflow software to provide real-time insight into recon flow and sublet movements, inventory problems aren’t noticed until month-end inventory. Camacho says he rarely knew how long cars were at sublets or otherwise delayed unless he checked when repair orders on those vehicles were opened, too late to address the real problem.

Spot-on vehicle tracking

Rapid Recon’s step-tracking, accountability, and location tools keep cars moving through reconditioning.

“With Rapid Recon, we know exactly where our cars are – and how long a sublet is taking to get them back to us. If that time is unacceptable, we now have the data to discuss that problem with the sublet in objective ways,” Camacho notes.

Rapid Recon software automatically organizes the many steps, tasks, and people to recondition used cars quickly so dealers can generate more profit from them. T2L automatic vehicle tracking and accountability provide real-time inventory location via QR Code and mobile tools.

The Camacho team routinely checks this software as an app on their mobile device. Notes appended to vehicle status also inform about where the vehicle is to go next in the recon process, who is responsible for those next steps, and time when vehicle will be sale-ready.

Dealers using Rapid Recon streamline recon processes, eliminate duplicate or otherwise wasteful steps and procedures, and typically reduce T2L from as much as two weeks to five to seven days or fewer. Every 2.5 days eliminated from T2L translates into one additional inventory turn, which means more used car profit.

Read more here: https://www.autoremarketing.com/technology/how-independent-dealer-no-longer-loses-track-cars
 

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