Condensed Consolidating Statements of Income (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenue	$ 1,773,912us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	$ 1,625,777us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
Cost of goods sold	1,074,433us-gaap_CostOfGoodsAndServicesSold	973,893us-gaap_CostOfGoodsAndServicesSold
Gross margin	699,479us-gaap_GrossProfit	651,884us-gaap_GrossProfit
Facility and warehouse expenses	132,657lkq_FacilityAndWarehouseExpenses	126,159lkq_FacilityAndWarehouseExpenses
Distribution expenses	141,714lkq_DistributionExpenses	137,329lkq_DistributionExpenses
Selling, general and administrative expenses	203,241	184,530
Restructuring and acquisition related expenses	6,488	3,321
Depreciation and amortization	29,453us-gaap_DepreciationAndAmortization	26,711us-gaap_DepreciationAndAmortization
Operating income	185,926us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	173,834us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
Other expense (income):
Interest expense, net	14,906	16,118
Intercompany interest (income) expense, net	0	0
Loss on debt extinguishment	0	324
Change in fair value of contingent consideration liabilities	(151)	1,222
Other expense (income), net	1,768us-gaap_OtherNonoperatingIncomeExpense	(96)us-gaap_OtherNonoperatingIncomeExpense
Total other expense, net	16,825us-gaap_NonoperatingIncomeExpense	15,124us-gaap_NonoperatingIncomeExpense
Income before provision for income taxes	169,101	158,710
Provision for income taxes	60,098us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	54,021us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated subsidiaries	(1,908)	(36)
Income (Loss) from Subsidiaries, Net of Tax	0	0
Net income	107,095us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss	104,653us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss
Parent Company
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenue	0	0
Cost of goods sold	0	0
Gross margin	0	0
Facility and warehouse expenses	0	0
Distribution expenses	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expenses	7,631	7,911
Restructuring and acquisition related expenses	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	40	59
Operating income	(7,671)	(7,970)
Other expense (income):
Interest expense, net	12,314	13,669
Intercompany interest (income) expense, net	(10,823)	(12,324)
Loss on debt extinguishment		324
Change in fair value of contingent consideration liabilities	0	0
Other expense (income), net	25	(15)
Total other expense, net	1,516	1,654
Income before provision for income taxes	(9,187)	(9,624)
Provision for income taxes	(3,755)	(3,615)
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Income (Loss) from Subsidiaries, Net of Tax	112,527	110,662
Net income	107,095	104,653
Guarantor Subsidiaries
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenue	1,225,908	1,140,320
Cost of goods sold	740,803	680,630
Gross margin	485,105	459,690
Facility and warehouse expenses	97,761	93,100
Distribution expenses	95,992	94,884
Selling, general and administrative expenses	121,662	114,083
Restructuring and acquisition related expenses	6,060	2,988
Depreciation and amortization	19,891	18,668
Operating income	143,739	135,967
Other expense (income):
Interest expense, net	43	71
Intercompany interest (income) expense, net	7,259	6,021
Loss on debt extinguishment		0
Change in fair value of contingent consideration liabilities	(55)	1,390
Other expense (income), net	(1,790)	(1,761)
Total other expense, net	5,567	2,941
Income before provision for income taxes	138,172	133,026
Provision for income taxes	55,777	50,221
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated subsidiaries	11	0
Income (Loss) from Subsidiaries, Net of Tax	7,260	8,746
Net income	89,666	91,551
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenue	582,943	514,519
Cost of goods sold	368,569	322,325
Gross margin	214,374	192,194
Facility and warehouse expenses	34,896	33,059
Distribution expenses	45,722	42,445
Selling, general and administrative expenses	73,948	62,536
Restructuring and acquisition related expenses	428	333
Depreciation and amortization	9,522	7,984
Operating income	49,858	45,837
Other expense (income):
Interest expense, net	2,549	2,378
Intercompany interest (income) expense, net	3,564	6,303
Loss on debt extinguishment		0
Change in fair value of contingent consideration liabilities	(96)	(168)
Other expense (income), net	3,533	1,680
Total other expense, net	9,742	10,529
Income before provision for income taxes	40,116	35,308
Provision for income taxes	8,076	7,415
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated subsidiaries	(1,919)	(36)
Income (Loss) from Subsidiaries, Net of Tax	0	0
Net income	30,121	27,857
Consolidation, Eliminations
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenue	(34,939)	(29,062)
Cost of goods sold	(34,939)	(29,062)
Gross margin	0	0
Facility and warehouse expenses	0	0
Distribution expenses	0	0
Selling, general and administrative expenses	0	0
Restructuring and acquisition related expenses	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	0	0
Operating income	0	0
Other expense (income):
Interest expense, net	0	0
Intercompany interest (income) expense, net	0	0
Loss on debt extinguishment		0
Change in fair value of contingent consideration liabilities	0	0
Other expense (income), net	0	0
Total other expense, net	0	0
Income before provision for income taxes	0	0
Provision for income taxes	0	0
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Income (Loss) from Subsidiaries, Net of Tax	(119,787)	(119,408)
Net income	$ (119,787)	$ (119,408)

Distribution expenses include costs to deliver our products to our customers. Included in our distribution expense category are labor costs for drivers, local delivery and transfer truck leases or rentals and subcontractor costs, vehicle repairs and maintenance, insurance, and fuel.

No definition available.