The PBS Repair Order Workflow, Explained for Recon

How recon flows through PBS

For Canadian dealerships on PBS Systems, reconditioning runs through internal repair orders. The standard sequence:

1. A trade-in or auction unit lands in inventory
2. Someone opens an internal RO against the vehicle, with the store as the customer
3. Op codes define the work: inspection, mechanical lines, detail, sublets
4. Technicians clock against the lines; parts post to the RO
5. The RO is costed and closed, and recon spend lands on the vehicle's inventory record

PBS handles this accounting flow well. Every dollar of recon ends up attached to the right vehicle.

Where the time leaks

The RO tracks the work — not the waiting around it:

• Before the RO exists: the trade was appraised Friday; the RO gets opened Tuesday. Nothing in the RO will ever show those three days.
• Approval gaps: the inspection adds $1,800 of lines and sits until a used car manager happens to walk through service.
• After the RO closes: mechanical is done, but detail finds out tomorrow and sales finds out when someone asks. The car is "done" in PBS and invisible on the lot.

None of these are PBS defects — they're handoff gaps between departments that no DMS module owns.

Connecting the RO to a workflow

The fix is a workflow layer that watches the DMS and drives the handoffs:

• New trade in PBS → recon workflow created automatically, same day
• Inspection complete → approval request lands in front of the manager immediately
• RO closed in PBS → detail is queued the same minute, sales sees live status

That's the integration Deal to Delivery runs with PBS today — the RO remains the system of record for cost, and the workflow makes sure nobody is waiting on a walk-by to move the car.

Takeaway

If your store is on PBS, you already have clean recon cost data. Pair it with stage timestamps around the RO and you'll see both halves: what recon costs, and where it slows.