In this episode of the PartsEdge Podcast, host Kaylee Felio sits down with longtime automotive leader Randy Kobat to discuss one of the most overlooked areas in dealership profitability: reconditioning used vehicles.
Randy, now leading the charge at Repair On Demand, brings more than 25 years of experience across major names like CDK, Cox Automotive, vAuto, and Dealertrack. He’s seen firsthand how communication breakdowns, outdated tools, and unclear processes stall profitability—and how rethinking recon can unlock serious value for fixed ops teams.
Reconditioning is more than just detailing and repairs. It’s a fast-moving, high-pressure operation that sits at the intersection of multiple departments—used car, service, parts, and often third-party vendors. That makes coordination tricky.
“It’s a choreography,” Randy said. “You’ve got managers buying cars at auction or taking in trades, and then you’ve got parts, service, and outside vendors trying to get those cars frontline-ready. And they all have different priorities.”
The problem? Most dealers are still managing this with spreadsheets, whiteboards, and crossed fingers. According to Randy, 50% of dealers use homegrown tools for recon, and most of them aren’t happy with it—or confident in the data.
As Kaylee pointed out, each used car moving through recon is basically a project with multiple steps. If you don’t have visibility into where that car is stuck, you risk:
Inventory aging on the lot
Higher holding costs in a high-interest-rate market
Over-investing in repairs that don’t yield profit
Tension between fixed ops and variable ops
That’s where Repair On Demand’s Repair360 software comes in. It acts as a project management tool that brings together used car managers, service managers, parts teams, and vendors—all within one platform. You can track where each vehicle is in the process, why it's stuck, and what’s needed to move it forward.
“It’s about creating trust in the data,” Randy said. “Everyone involved needs to know what’s going on and what happens next.”
Randy also broke down another under-discussed risk: over-reconditioning. Sometimes dealers invest so much into prepping a vehicle that they eliminate the profit before it even hits the lot.
Repair On Demand is actively working on providing better decision support tools, drawing from data across its technician and recon networks to help dealers understand:
What repairs are truly necessary
What parts of the recon process yield profit
When to stop investing and wholesale the car instead
“You make money when you buy the car,” Randy said, echoing Dale Pollak. “Knowing how much you can afford to recondition that car before you lose money is key.”
Parts managers are often stuck in reactive mode, but Randy believes there’s a huge opportunity to turn the parts department into a profit center by:
Serving as a wholesale hub for OEM parts to other dealers and independents
Aligning with used car teams to pre-stock common reconditioning parts
Using data to identify better pricing and return strategies for recon-related parts
“If you’re a Ford dealer, you’ve got the opportunity to supply parts to others selling used Fords in your area,” Randy shared. “It’s a chance to become the go-to parts distributor—not just a back-of-house department.”
Repair On Demand is evolving rapidly. Under Randy’s leadership, they’re building a Repair Exchange, a marketplace that connects businesses that need reconditioning work done with the third-party technicians already using their software.
This business-to-business approach includes:
Reconditioning software (Repair360)
Post-sale and warranty inspections
Diagnostic tools like BlueDriver
Technician coordination and mobile vendor management
Their goal? To streamline and accelerate the vehicle repair and recon process, not just for dealers, but for fleets, auctions, and anyone managing commercial vehicles.
As used car values normalize and floorplan interest rates rise, dealerships are refocusing on execution—and fixed ops is finally getting its spotlight.
“There’s more customer pay work because people are keeping their cars longer,” Randy said. “And that means service, parts, and recon have to be efficient and competitive.”
If you’ve ever felt the friction between fixed ops and the used car department—or you want to unlock new profit opportunities in recon—this episode is full of insight.
▶️ Listen now on The PartsEdge Podcast: https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/ejX4BjmPTUb