Every car has a next step toward the front line.
Recon Plus imports inventory from vAuto, VinCue or DealerLink, tracks each car through your own recon steps with time in step, sends work to the used car manager for approval on their phone, and shows holding cost.
One truck goes from the feed to the front line.
Follow Stock 22841, a 2022 Ford F-150, through Ford Cars of Jonesville. Quinn, Casey, Avery and Drew each take their turn, with time in step visible throughout.
The feed brings the truck into recon.
A scheduled vAuto import adds or reactivates Stock 22841 and fills in its vehicle details and photos. Nobody retypes the inventory record. The truck enters In Transit, the store’s first recon step.
vAuto feed
2022 Ford F-150 · Stock 22841
Series
XLT
Body
Crew Cab
Odometer
38,214 mi
Photos
24 imported
In Transit · 10m in step
The truck gets its first work items.
During the import, the store’s auto-add rules add work items and assign Quinn as the recon tech. The vehicle page holds the truck’s work items and vehicle tags.
Work items
2022 Ford F-150 · Stock 22841
Safety inspection
Added by rule
Battery test
Added by rule
Detail
Added by rule
In Transit · Assigned to Quinn · 20m in step
Quinn records what the truck needs.
Quinn inspects the truck and adds findings as work items with photos. When Quinn finishes, the truck hands off to parts pricing. Casey gets a text or push alert that it is their turn.
Inspection
2022 Ford F-150 · Stock 22841
Front brake pads
3 mm, replace
Battery
Failed test, replace
Engine air filter
Dirty, replace
Inspection · 2h 15m in step
Casey prices the parts.
Casey adds parts prices to the truck’s work items. Once pricing is done, the work hands off to Avery, the recon advisor, to build the estimate.
Parts pricing
2022 Ford F-150 · Stock 22841
Front brake pads
Front axle set
$89.95
Battery
12-volt replacement
$189.95
Air filter
Engine air filter
$24.95
Parts · 1h in step
Avery puts the estimate together.
Avery builds the estimate from the priced work items. Total Investment shows the truck’s recon cost. Avery hands the work order to Drew for approval, and Drew gets a text or push alert.
Estimate
2022 Ford F-150 · Stock 22841
Replace front brake pads
$249.95
Replace battery
$229.95
Replace engine air filter
$49.95
Total Investment
$529.85
Estimate · 45m in step
Drew approves the work on their phone.
Drew reviews the three work items and the $529.85 Total Investment on their phone. Drew approves all three, and the work order goes back to Quinn to do the work.
Ford Cars of Jonesville
2022 Ford F-150 · Stock 22841
Replace front brake pads
$249.95
Approved
Replace battery
$229.95
Approved
Replace engine air filter
$49.95
Approved
Total Investment $529.85
Approval · 30m in step
The board shows the truck in Detail.
After Quinn completes the approved work, the truck moves to Detail. Drew can see its current step and time in step beside the other cars on the recon board.
Time in step
2022 Ford F-150
Detail
2h
2023 Ford Explorer
Inspection
3h
2021 Ford Escape
Parts
1d 4h
2024 Ford Bronco
Approval
2h 15m
Ford Cars of Jonesville · 4 cars in recon
The truck reaches the front line.
Stock 22841 reaches Front Line. Drew opens its vehicle timeline to see how long the truck spent in each step, from In Transit through Detail.
Vehicle timeline
2022 Ford F-150 · Stock 22841
In Transit
1d 4h
Inspection
3h
Parts
2h
Estimate
1h
Approval
1h
Work
1d 2h
Detail
4h
Front Line · 2d 17h in recon
vAuto feed
2022 Ford F-150 · Stock 22841
Series
XLT
Body
Crew Cab
Odometer
38,214 mi
Photos
24 imported
In Transit · 10m in step
Every day in recon has a dollar amount.
A car can sit for weeks without anyone putting a price on the wait. Enter your daily holding cost in the Production report to see what its time in recon is costing.
- You set the daily cost.
- Enter the holding cost per day you want the Production report to use.
- Time in recon becomes a cost.
- The report uses your daily rate to put a dollar amount on time spent in recon.
- The cost has its own report.
- Open the Production report to see holding cost alongside recon production.
Production report
Holding cost $45 per day
2021 Ford Escape
6 days
$270.00
2024 Ford Bronco
9 days
$405.00
2020 Ford Edge
12 days
$540.00
2023 Ford Explorer
4 days
$180.00
Holding cost, these 4 cars: $1,395.00
The next person knows when it is their turn.
Work should not wait for Casey to notice that an inspection is done. Each hand-off sends a text or push alert to the next person, through parts pricing, the estimate, manager approval and back to the tech.
- Parts gets the next turn.
- When the tech finishes the inspection, parts gets an alert to price the work.
- The estimate reaches the manager.
- The recon advisor hands off the estimate, and the used car manager gets an approval alert.
- Approved work returns to the tech.
- After manager approval, the hand-off sends the work back to the recon tech.
Recon Plus
Casey, the 2022 Ford F-150, Stock 22841, is ready for parts pricing. It is your turn.
Casey, the 2023 Ford Explorer, Stock 23106, is ready for parts pricing. It is your turn.
Outside vendors have a role in recon.
Glass, paint and dent repairs bring people outside your store into the recon process. Recon Plus includes a vendor role for that outside work.
- Vendors have their own role.
- Recon Plus includes a vendor role for businesses handling outside work.
- Your team has defined roles.
- Recon tech, recon parts, recon advisor and used car manager roles cover the in-house team.
- The car has a work list.
- Record recon work as vehicle work items, with photos.
Work items
2020 Ford Edge · Stock 20977
Windshield replacement
Jonesville Auto Glass
Door dent repair
Jonesville Dent Repair
Safety inspection
Quinn
Each store’s recon pace is there to compare.
The Enterprise report compares average days in transit, working, detail and pre-frontline across stores. Choose 7 days, 30 days or a custom range, then export the report as CSV.
- Stores share the same measures.
- Compare average days across transit, working, detail and pre-frontline.
- The date range is your choice.
- Review 7 days, 30 days or a custom range.
- The comparison can leave the screen.
- Export the Enterprise report as CSV.
Enterprise report
Jonesville stores · Last 30 days
| Avg. days | Ford | Chevrolet | Toyota |
|---|---|---|---|
| In transit | 2.1 | 2.6 | 2.5 |
| Working | 3.6 | 4.8 | 3.9 |
| Detail | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.8 |
| Pre-frontline | 6.4 | 8.3 | 7.2 |
Nobody has to retype the inventory feed.
Scheduled vAuto, VinCue, DealerLink and MAX imports add or reactivate cars, fill details and photos, and apply work-item and tech-assignment rules. Cars leaving the feed are archived; stale feeds trigger alerts.
- The import fills the vehicle record.
- Details and photos arrive with the feed, including odometer, price and description.
- Rules put the work in place.
- The import automatically adds recon work items and assigns recon techs.
- Feed changes get handled.
- Cars that leave the feed are archived, and alerts flag a stale feed.
Feed import
VinCue feed · Thursday 6:00 a.m.
Added
6 cars
Reactivated
2 cars
Archived after leaving feed
4 cars
Work items added
24 items
Stale feeds trigger alerts
Recon spend should not be a month-end surprise.
Month-end totals come too late to see what you are spending now. Recon Plus shows recon spend in real time, sortable by year, make and model.
- Spend is visible in real time.
- See current recon spend without waiting for month end.
- You can sort by year.
- Sort recon spend by vehicle year.
- Makes and models are sortable.
- Sort recon spend by make and model.
Recon spend
2024 Ford Bronco
$1,186.40
2021 Ford Escape
$749.95
2023 Ford Explorer
$2,314.50
2022 Ford F-150
$529.85
Sorted by make and model
Your recon steps belong on the board.
Recon Plus is set up around the way your store moves cars to the front line. Define the pipeline, choose which steps count as working, and configure work-item rules, staff roles and notifications.
- Your store defines the steps.
- Start with In Transit → working steps → Detail → Front Line, then define steps and flag working steps.
- Rules add the recurring work.
- Configure auto-add rules for recon work items.
- Each job has a role.
- Use recon tech, recon parts, recon advisor, used car manager and vendor roles.
- Notifications fit the hand-offs.
- Configure notifications for the people taking the next turn.
Recon time and cost have their own reports.
The Production report puts a holding cost on time in recon. Average Cost, Tech Performance, Enterprise and Archive Search give managers other views of the operation.
- Waiting has a cost.
- Enter a daily holding rate in the Production report to see the cost of time in recon.
- Cost and tech performance have reports.
- Open Average Cost and Tech Performance for their respective views of recon.
- Stores can be compared.
- Enterprise shows average days across stages and stores for 7 days, 30 days or a custom range.
- Records and exports are available.
- Use Archive Search, the between-steps CSV and the recon tech export.
The details stay with the car.
Vehicle records, feed details and staff access support the work between arrival and the front line.
Pipeline
- Default path
- The default pipeline runs from In Transit through working steps and Detail to Front Line.
- Working steps
- Flag dealer-defined steps as working steps.
- Time in step
- See time in the current step in hours and days.
- Vehicle timeline
- Review the car’s time through the pipeline in its detailed timeline.
Vehicle page
- Vehicle tags
- Keep vehicle tags on the car’s record.
- Total Investment
- See the car’s recon cost in its Total Investment figure.
- Photos
- Keep photos with the car’s recon work items.
- Vehicle links
- Open CarFax, vAuto or VinCue from the vehicle page.
Feed details
- Scheduled CSV imports
- Inventory arrives through scheduled CSV imports.
- Series and body
- The import fills the car’s series and body.
- Certified status and odometer
- The import fills certified status and odometer.
- MSRP and price
- The import fills MSRP and price.
- Description and photos
- The import fills the vehicle description and photos.
Team access
- Staff roles
- Assign recon tech, recon parts, recon advisor, used car manager and vendor roles.
- Turn alerts
- Text or push alerts tell staff when it is their turn.
- Phone approval
- The used car manager can approve work orders on their phone.
- Shared login
- One login can reach several products and stores through the store switcher.
Status Plus
- Optional pairing
- Recon Plus can be bought on its own or used alongside Status Plus.
- Internal RO number
- With Status Plus, the DMS internal RO number appears on the Recon vehicle.
- DMS tag
- With Status Plus, the DMS tag also appears on the Recon vehicle.
Your inventory feed brings the cars into recon.
Recon Plus imports inventory from scheduled feeds. Vehicle-page links open CarFax, vAuto and VinCue; stores with Status Plus also see the DMS internal RO number and tag.
- vAuto
- Recon Plus imports its scheduled inventory feed and includes a vAuto button on the vehicle page.
- VinCue
- Recon Plus imports its scheduled inventory feed and includes a VinCue button on the vehicle page.
- DealerLink
- Recon Plus imports its scheduled inventory feed.
- MAX
- Recon Plus imports the MAX feed format.
- CarFax
- Recon Plus includes a CarFax link on the vehicle page.
- Status Plus
- When the store also has Status Plus, the DMS internal RO number and tag appear on the Recon vehicle.
Your feed and your workflow set the starting point.
TODO(owner): How long does Recon Plus onboarding take, from signed agreement to the first car in the pipeline?
No. Inventory comes from a vAuto, VinCue, DealerLink or MAX feed. When your store also has Status Plus, the DMS internal RO number and tag appear on the Recon vehicle.
Yes. Recon Plus is mostly used for used cars, but it also tracks new cars through recon.
Yes. Your store defines its pipeline steps, flags working steps and configures auto-add rules for work items. Roles and notifications are configurable too.
Yes. The Enterprise report compares average days across stores for transit, working, detail and pre-frontline. One login can reach multiple stores through the store switcher.
No. You can buy Recon Plus on its own. With both products, the DMS internal RO number and tag appear on the Recon vehicle.
See one car go through your recon process.
Walk through the feed, inspection, pricing and phone approval in a demo. See where your steps fit and how the board shows time in recon.